from east to west
Silvery mullet – known all along the Cape West Coast as harders or haarders – are caught out at sea and end up in the historic drying huts that line the Berg River mouth. Salted and set out in the sunshine to dry, they become bokkoms, and are to the West Coast what Champagne is to France.
It was these small fish that ignited my inspiration to draft a cookbook detailing not only the foods that have been providing the Weskus with flavour over the decades, but how people are cooking with them today.
Add to that my passion for the simplicity of Mediterranean food – the basic ingredients, the uncluttered way of cooking, the honesty in the final dish – and the decision was cemented to combine the cuisine of the Cape West Coast with that of Greece, of coastal Italy, of southern France. Earthy flavours found in bokkoms, the heady fragrance of wild rosemary, the salinity of oysters and the flintiness of Weskus wine all contributed to a series of recipes which celebrate the ingredients endemic to
