When I started blogging way back in 2004, as far as I know, there was only one other South African blogging about food and that was my friend Brian over at Kitsch 'n Zinc. And that's the way it stayed for some time.
And then, since about 2007, South Africans have started peeping over the parapet and coming out as food bloggers. Some are living abroad like me, others are still in South Africa, while others are foreigners who have emigrated to South Africa - but the wonderful thing is that they all write about the tastes of the place my heart calls home, to a greater or lesser extent.
I started this directory of South African food and wine bloggers here on CookSister as a way to keep track of the the ever-increasing number - and the growth seems to have continued exponentially! I encourage you to cast your eye over the growing list, and to go and browse their diverse interpretations of South African food and wine. And if you know of a blog (must be predominantly about food and must have strong South African connections) that I have missed, please drop me an e-mail and I will add it.
On a (fairly!) regular basis I will also feature short interviews with some of the bloggers on the list below so that you can get to know them a little better.
FOOD BLOGS
2 Friends 4 Cooking - South African expat Ren runs cooking classes in Rome
20Something in Cape Town - Amy is a foodie, 20something, and in Cape Town - like the title says!
66 Square Feet (The Food) - Marie lives and cooks in New York - with frequent visits to South Africa!
A Cook on the Funny Side - Crystal hails from my hometown of Port Elizabeth and now blogs from France
Add to Taste - great home cooking from Cape Town
Alunanaartjie - chef Kerry is back and cooking in Cape Town after a stint in Egypt
A Man in the Kitchen - food wine and travel from Norman in... the kitchen. ;)
A Spoonful of Sugar - initially from my hometown Port Elizabeth, now blogging from Cape Town
Bakercourt - Stacey is anohter South African living in London, baking up a storm
Batonage - Hennie & Maggie in Cape Town rating restaurants and wineries
Betty Bake - beautiful baking from Cape Town that's gluten- and (sometimes) sugar-free
Cape Town by Mouth - Marianna and Cameron working their way around Cape Town's restaurants
Chef Caro - not only a great Cape Town food blogger but also Food24's resident chef
Chef Privé - Jaclyn is a trained chef in Cape Town, now working in product development
Chocswirl - Join pastry chef Robyn in Cape Town for sweet temptations
Cookie (Not Cheffy) - [inactive] Michelle eats largely local and organic in Cape Town
Cooking and Eating with Polkadot Cupcake - Polkadotcupcake talks about food, cooking & eating in Cape Town
Cooking Through the Seasons - Kate blogs from Clifton with gorgeous photos
CookSister! - that would be... me here in London
Confessions of a Hungry Woman - talented writer Sam blogs from Cape Town
Cucina Carolina - Carolina runs a coffee shop & deli and blogs from The Strand
Deelishuss - Ms Kamini indulges her food (and crockery!) passion in Cape Town
Diary of a Food Nobody - Indressa blogs in London - when her hectic schedule allows
Dishing up Nirvana - Nirvana keeps the South African foodie flag flying in Sydney
Domestic Goddesses - less fat, less sugar but ALLthe flavour with Thekla in Cape Town
Drizzle and Dip - Samantha is a boutique baker and food stylist from Cape Town
Eat Cape Town - Independent restaurant reviews from around the Mother City
Eating Alphabetically - eating their way arond Cape Town's restaurants... sometimes alphabetically ;-)
Fairy Food - Debs is the first other PE food blogger I've come across
Faridah's Flavours - sugar, spics and all things nice from Faridah in Joburg
Fired-up Cooking - Zabwan shares her recipes from Pietermaritzburg
Flavour Cape - Cape foodie Kim Maxwell shares restaurant reviews and recipes
Food & Family - Kit did what I did in reverse and moved from England to the Cape
Food and the Fabulous - Ishay in Cape Town is fabulous and loves food - need I say more?!
Forage - Aletta in Cape Town writes about & styles beautiful food
Gluten-Free South Africa - Living gluten-free in Cape Town - with desserts and baked goods
Greedy Gourmet - SA Expat Michelle takes some of my favourite food photos
Homemade Heaven - Rosemary - another Cape Town foodie!
How to Cook an Elephant - Chef Lara blogs from Cape Town
I Love Cooking - Fab recipes from Anne in Cape Town - with gorgeous photos!
Jamie Who? - Jamie writes up recipes and restaurant reviews from Cape Town
Janice Tripepi - cooking and eating Italian (and Thai... and Chinese...) in Durban
Jo's Pot of Endeavours - yummy recipes from Joburg
Just Food Now - no recipes, but cosmopolitan culinary essays from Jacoba
Just Me Shel! - Michelle in Port Elizabeth dishes up food - and beautiful tablescapes
Kitchenboy in Taiwan - Wynand cooks South African in Taiwan
Kitchen Cowboy - restauranteur Peter Goffe-Wood's blog
Kitchen Diary - gorgeous cooking and baking from Browniegirl in Cape Town
Kitsch 'n Zinc - Brian used to work in Cape Town restaurants but he's better now
Koek! - Robyn prepares and eats gorgeous food in Cape Town
Kosserasie Stories [in Afrikaans]- Dirk cooks fearlessly - think potjie soufflés!
Lavender and Lime - inspiring cooking from Tandy in Cape Town
Leaine's Kitchen - learning to eat deliciously around dietary limitations in Johannesburg
Lick Your Own Bowl - Robyn is a South African expat blogging from Canada
Love Bites - Caylee in Cape Town cooks and bakes... with love
Marita Says - A South African foodie blogging from Bangkok
Marmite on Toast - Lisa-Jane in Durban - interior designed by day, food blogger by night!
Meals on Speed - Saaleha's speedy cooking blog for working wives (Johannesburg)
Midweek Feast - Gina is a fellow South African blogging about food in London
Mieliepap (in Afrikaans)
Minnie's Kitchen - Quick & easy family cooking from Minnie in Pretoria
Mint Tea and Tagine - Wendy serves up exotic posts and stunning photos from Morocco
Mother City Living - living the "green" life in Cape Town
My Easy Cooking - Nina cooks up a storm in Cape Town
My French Kitchen - Ronell lives the good life in France
My Mezzaluna - recipes, markets and drop-dead-gorgeous photos from Edwina in Dubai
Now Cooking - gorgeous Italian food from talented Fabio in Cape Town
Piece of Cake (formerly Hell's Kitchen) - join Nafisa in Joburg as she shares her yummy recipes
Rainbow Cooking - Marietjie and Jaco educating New Zealanders about South African food
Real Men Can Cook - Fritz in Cape Town is a blues man and a fan of good food
Recipe Food Revolution - Marc in Cape Town is cooking his way through his cookbook collection
Relax with Dax - Dax keeps you up to date with restaurant reviews from Cape Town
Rosseau's Restaurants - restaurant reviews in the Western Cape & garden route
Sardines on Toast - Kobus cooks up a storm on the beautiful Cape West Coast
Scrumptious Blog - Juno in Cape Town answers the age-old question "what's for supper?"
Shawza Life - good food, good drink and good times in Cape Town
Simply Delicious - the clue's in the name - delicious recipes from Ally in Pretoria
Sommelier Miguel Chan Wine Journal - a wealth of info on top South African wines
Sophia Lindop - Sophia is a trained chef and blogs from Cape Town
Sout en Peper - talented Neil blogs beautifully from near De Kelders (in Afrikaans)
Spice4Life - Aisha in Durban invites us into her kitchen
Spill - recipes, reviews and restaurants from Clare in Cape Town
Taste and Treats - Gaby cooks up tasty treats in Cape Town
The Aspirant Locavore - Candice in Cape Town tries her best to eat local and get to the bottom of where our food comes from
The Complete Cookbook - Mandy (now in Mauritius but soon to be in Sundays River) shares her family recipes
The Creative Pot - Marisa in Stellenbosch and her obsession with food
The Food Fox - Ilse dishes it up beautifully from Stellenbosch
The Foodie - based in Cape Town, The Foodie knows that wine and bacon are all you need in life
The Good Food Quest - Mary seeks out tasty, sustainable food & destinations in Cape Town
The Gorgeous Gourmet - Candice, Cape Town catering company queen-in-the-making
The Healthy Lunchbox - Debbie's healthy luchbox inspirations
The World Needs More Chocolate - vegetarian cuisine and beautiful photos from Johannesburg [inactive]
There can be only Juan - Juanita's gluten-free deliciousness and life in general
Till We Meat Again - Sarah cooks up a storm in Sydney
Timeless Herb Secrets - Di-Di Hoffman owns the Bouquet Garni Nursery and knows his herbs
Tongue Tickle - beautiful photos and a wealth of interesting recipes
UndomestiKATEd - writer, actress and foodie Kate in Cape Town
Vanielje Kitchen - the lovely Inge hails from Cape Town but blogs from Wiltshire [inactive]
Voer - Arcadia and Jvdh blog beautifully in both English and Afrikaans, from Pretoria and the UK
Wat Eet Ons? - Barry in Cape Town: proper manly South African cooking (in Afrikaans)
Whale Cottage Blog - Chris's outspoken views on the Cape Town restaurant scene
What's Cooking - Barry's English blog - expect barbecues
Whipping It Up - the exploits of a trained pastry chef living in Cape Town
Wicked Food - blog of a Johannesburg-based cooking school
Wide-eyed and bushy-tailed - Caro in Pretoria shares yummy recipe and travel tales
Will Fork for Wood - Mark in Seattle often blogs about food
Will Work for Biltong - Adele flies the culinary flag from Melbourne, Australia
Word Chef Says... - restaurant reviews, recipes and more from Joburg
Wots For Lunch - daily bento-style lunchboxes from Cape Town
Yum!! - Shamz in Cape Town shares great recipes
WINE BLOGS
A Minute of Wine - a blog of short film clips about South Africa's top wine estates and personalities
A Word from the Herd - news and views from Fairview wine estate and cheesery
Back Chat Blog - blog by Simon Back of the Backsberg estate
Bubbles on Wine - blog by Pieter Ferreira of Graham Beck wines
Cape Chatter - the official Wines of South Africa blog
Cathy's Blog - blog by Cathy Van Zyl, a Master of Wine
Grape - a collection of blogs by various independent South African wine writers
Hand To Mouth - a professional wine writer talks food & wine
Haute Espoir - blog of the Haute Espoir boutique winery in Franschoek
Hein on Wine - wine blog of La Motte wine estate's MD
Kumkani - the blog of Kumkani wines
Leopard's Leap - the blog of Leaopard's Leap wines
My Wine Cellar - South African wine lover Brandon blogs from Sweden
Pendock Uncorked - unbiased expert opinions on wine from Neil Pendock
Serious About Wine - not only wine but also marketing, packaging, design & tourism
Spit or Swallow - reviews of South African wine estates
Stormhoek - blog of Stormhoek Wines
The Cru - Brendon shares his obsession with South African wine
The Pinotage Club - Peter's celebration of this unique South African cultivar
Under the Influence Blog - tastings, first-growths, top producers and the wonderful world of wine
What I Drank Last Night - good booze food & company from a former WINE magazine editor
Vilafonte Luxury Wine - a joint American-South African winemaking venture
Warwick Wine - blog of the Warwick wine estate
Wine Country - a group blog featuring the best of SA wine writing
Wine Diva - news and views from wine diva Caroline
Wine Exclamations - Stanley casts a wise eye over the world of wine
Wine Goggle - talking about food and wine in Cape Town and the winelands
What a great idea, Jeanne! There are lots here I haven't yet visited and I didn't know there were so many Capetonian food and wine blogs about! I'm looking forward to exploring.
Posted by: Kit | May 18, 2008 at 05:51 PM
Hello there! ...
What a treat - i just came across my blog on your listing :) -thanks!-
Posted by: Tongue-Tickle | June 16, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Hi, It's jacoba from justfoodnow. I would love you to list me here. Thanks so much. And thanks for the links.
Posted by: Jacoba | July 11, 2008 at 03:22 PM