Report from the Field, August 2009.

Doing: August is for getting things done.
August is my birthday month, and my first month as a married man—as such, it seems like a good month for getting things accomplished. I haven’t been giving too many updates about Piesang here, but I will gratefully report that things have gradually been going better and better—we’re gathering more repeat clients, getting some word of mouth, and we even had a small mention in a South African magazine—our first press! Most importantly, we’re growing into our roles, and figuring out what we’re doing. But now we’d like to expand Piesang beyond the Saturdays only market. So this month our primary goal is finding a space for a full time Piesang Café. We’ve started looking around and noticed that finding a rental space isn’t easy—so this may take some work. Let us know if you spot any attractive 30-70 sqm properties around Cape Town!

Eating: Pork Belly.
I may be about a year and a half behind world food trends, as I’m only now opening up to the wonders of pork belly. Admittedly, I had previously developed a taste for fatty porcine meat in Bangkok, where five-spice pork knuckle was one of my favourite street foods. But its only recently that I’ve gained an appreciation for the cholesterol-rich deliciousness that is pork belly. I made a delicious braised pork belly on rice, and have been finding excuses to add streaky bacon to salads, stir-fries and pastas. Have any good recipes using pork belly or bacon? I’m listening… I’ve also been experimenting with dim sum lately (along with the new found appreciation of pork, maybe there’s a general Chinese food fascination happening?), so I’ve got a plan for a Thai pork belly steamed bun in the works…

Enjoying: Signal Hill.
A recent bout of warm weather in the middle of what should be winter gave us the chance to enjoy some of Cape Town’s natural charms. After the depressing grey of winter (and I used to think I liked rain…) it was fantastic to be outdoors again and feeling the sun. A quick visit up to Signal Hill just before my family departed reminded me of what might be the most beautiful spot in Cape Town: surrounded by ocean below, a perfect view of the City Bowl to one side, and watched over by Lion’s Head. So a few days later, Bordeaux and I returned for a picnic on the hillside, with boerewors and chutney rolls, jars of ginger lemonade, and lemon meringue cupcakes to complement the stellar surrounds. It was the kind of afternoon that reminded me why, despite all, I am lucky to be living in Cape Town.

What’s on your mind and on your plate this August?