There’s no question that one of my favourite foods is, and always has been, chocolate. It therefore made sense that my food-related challenges should include one that focused on this delectable substance. Originally I’d intended to take part in a workshop in London or Reigate - the nearest I could find - though they were quite expensive and accommodated up to 30 people per session, including young children provided their parents were present. That didn’t sound too enticing, as individual time with the tutor would be very limited and I had visions of toddlers running around screaming with excitement and/or hen parties doing much the same.
One day in Franschhoek, however, I noticed that a chocolate shop had opened and asked whether they offered any workshops. They only provided demonstrations, but they told me about a truffle-making workshop at De Villiers Artisan Chocolate, about an hour’s drive north from Cape Town, in a place called the Spice Route. I’d never heard of it before but it sounded ideal - only £8, for which you would come away with a box of 9 truffles made during the hour and a half, and a maximum of 12 participants - so I booked a place for 9 February, by which time we’d have moved on to an apartment in Cape Town.
The only downside was that it started at 10am and I’d forgotten that the 9th was the date of President Zuma’s annual State of the Nation address, so the city would be heaving with traffic and security, and some of the main roads would be closed. To be sure of getting there in time, I had to set the alarm for 6am, which was rather a shock to the system, especially as we’d been up late the night before. Anyway we groggily munched our cornflakes and toast, and set off.
It was a beautiful drive as the weather was fine and sunny, and there was a spectacular view across to the mountains in the distance. Apart from some roadworks, it was a smooth journey and we arrived an hour early, giving us time for a leisurely cappuccino in the courtyard of the coffee roastery that’s part of the Spice Route:
One day in Franschhoek, however, I noticed that a chocolate shop had opened and asked whether they offered any workshops. They only provided demonstrations, but they told me about a truffle-making workshop at De Villiers Artisan Chocolate, about an hour’s drive north from Cape Town, in a place called the Spice Route. I’d never heard of it before but it sounded ideal - only £8, for which you would come away with a box of 9 truffles made during the hour and a half, and a maximum of 12 participants - so I booked a place for 9 February, by which time we’d have moved on to an apartment in Cape Town.
The only downside was that it started at 10am and I’d forgotten that the 9th was the date of President Zuma’s annual State of the Nation address, so the city would be heaving with traffic and security, and some of the main roads would be closed. To be sure of getting there in time, I had to set the alarm for 6am, which was rather a shock to the system, especially as we’d been up late the night before. Anyway we groggily munched our cornflakes and toast, and set off.
It was a beautiful drive as the weather was fine and sunny, and there was a spectacular view across to the mountains in the distance. Apart from some roadworks, it was a smooth journey and we arrived an hour early, giving us time for a leisurely cappuccino in the courtyard of the coffee roastery that’s part of the Spice Route:
Peter wasn’t interested in taking part in the workshop, so he wandered off to explore the area and take some photos. It’s a location that is relatively new and still being developed, with the emphasis on small enterprises producing specialist high quality goods, and a sprinkling of restaurants. The enterprises include a microbrewery making craft beers, a gin and grappa distillery, and a glass blowing studio called Red Hot Glass (more of the studio later):
Meanwhile I went into the chill of the air-conditioned DV Artisan Chocolate building - it was 33 degrees outside and the contrast was striking. There were 8 of us taking part in the workshop - a friendly South African family of six, who very kindly agreed that it could be held in English rather than Afrikaans, a delightful Ghanaian woman who lives in Johannesburg and is exploring the possibility of setting up a chocolate making business in Ghana, which produces and exports cocoa but not chocolate, and me. She and I teamed up together and the session started with an interesting introduction by the master chocolatier on the cocoa shell and beans, and how chocolate is made, followed by a demonstration of how to make ganache (the mixture of cream, chocolate and glycerine that forms the heart of truffles):
Then it was our turn to have a go, which went reasonably smoothly until it was time to move to the next stage, of rolling the piped and chilled ganache in our hands to create little balls and coating them in tempered chocolate, and then dipping them in three different toppings. At that point my team-mate received a text telling her she needed to leave immediately or risk losing her flight to Johannesburg, as the traffic had become so snarled up. She had no choice but to head off, which meant I had to do the rolling and coating - wearing surgical gloves - as well as the dipping. The difficulty with that is that the coating has to be done using your fingers, scooping the tempered chocolate over the ganache balls until they are thoroughly covered, but the dipping requires deftness unhindered by dripping molten chocolate everywhere. Our little work station looked a complete mess by the time I’d finished, with swirls and streaks of chocolate all over the place, whereas the children had kept theirs immaculate. Happily the end result looked OK in its little presentation box, and they certainly taste all right:
Peter joined me afterwards, was force-fed a truffle and required to admire it, and we wandered off to Red Hot Glass to look at their latest designs. This was the only building we recognised from what had originally been part of a wine estate. We have visited it several times over the years and bought two lovely bowls, one of which - a very large red one - sadly didn’t survive the journey back to the UK (our fault, not theirs).
We had a chat with the chief designer, whose brother we know. David is a furniture designer and producer in Cape Town, and when we owned a house there some years ago we had bought a number of items from him. When we decided we needed a few more pieces, he came round to check exactly what we wanted and noticed the bowls, recognising them as his sister’s work. He commented on the artwork in the house, which was mine, and we agreed a deal - I would produce a huge abstract painting for his showroom (so large that it had to be transported by van as it wouldn’t fit in an estate car), in return for a console table, two sets of floating shelves and a couple of side tables. The snag was it had to be completed before we returned to the UK in only four days’ time, and at that point I didn’t even have the canvas. It was rather hairy but it got done and everyone was happy.
It was very nice meeting his sister and admiring her new projects. Here are just a few examples:
By now we were peckish and went to the Grapperia restaurant for a delicious lunch of carpaccio, pizza made in their wood-fired ovens and a glass of red wine, sitting outside in the shade of an old tree and looking across the vineyards to the mountains in the distance. What a wonderful way to end another challenge.
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