How I became a foodie.

My life as an avid foodie began in 2013 when I attended Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland, Cork. With high school recently completed, I felt I was not ready to begin studying again and so... off I went to a small town called Shanagarry in a very cold Ireland.

The Allen family (Yes, Darina and Rachel Allen from every food channel on TV) run an incredible three month course on a farm in the Irish countryside. The course did not focus only on Irish cuisine, but rather tried to teach it's students as broad a range of culinary knowledge as possible in as short a time frame as possible. The 50 odd students ranged from 18 to 60 years old (I was 18); the class was made up of lawyers, divorcees, students, and about 30 hopeful people needing a change in their career path.

The environment at Ballymaloe was nothing short of passionate; over weekends students practiced their bread making skills, played around with different sourdough starters, practiced rolling the perfect tagliatelle, turned cheeses and collected ingredients for an exotic range of practice dishes from the biggest veggy garden I've ever seen.

Anyone that does their homework on Ballymaloe will realise that despite the course being short, this cooking school is incredibly intense and has produced many top chefs all over the world. This was evident when I moved to London in March and was able to set up work experience in some top restaurants (with minimum effort, merely by using the Ballymaloe name); including Trinity in Clapham, and Bocca Di Lupo in Soho - whilst watching fellow students with work permits move into the likes of River Café and Ottelenghi’s restaurants full time.

Following my time in London, I moved on to do three months in Greece on an Island called Naxos. There I worked in an Italian restaurant called Amore Mio, which despite producing unbelievable authentic Italian food, could not keep a staff member for very long; the politics and language barriers were intense and after a month and a half I took another job offer at a pool café serving behind the bar and making lunches.

Soon (too soon) my gap year came to an end and I returned to South Africa. I went on to study a B.comm degree at Stellenbosch University, majoring in financial management and marketing, finishing in November 2016.

My hospitality work did not end after my gap year, I managed a restaurant one summer holiday, and I worked at Rust en Vrede Wine Estate in the Cape for a year; polishing up my knowledge of Cabernet Sauvignon’s and Syrah’s, whilst acquiring quite the taste for quality red wines. Over my three years in Stellenbosch I spent two years working as a jewellery sales consultant, however since that has nothing to do with food or travel, I will spare you the details.

All in all, my four years leading up to where I am right now have been jam packed with jobs, travelling adventures, amazing memories, and delightful food. I regret not starting this blog sooner, however I will backtrack a bit to some of my more exciting adventures, whilst keeping up to date with my current ones. This is my forum to share and document all the experiences in my life I don’t ever want to forget- enjoy!