The unsavoury truth is that industrialised food production lines almost invariably heat the flavour out of ingredients. They use chemically altered, inferior raw materials to cut costs and then pack the products with salt, sugar and additives to boost taste and increase shelf life.
Add the recent big business bread price-fixing revelations to the mix and it should come as no surprise that there is a widespread hunger to re-establish the alimentary satisfaction of palate and soul that comes from eating real food created by skilled epicurean artisans.
Sausage king - Franschhoek's Neil Jewell
All over SA there are butchers, bakers and cheese-makers working tirelessly to ensure that price collusion, E numbers and heartburn are not the only dishes on the menu.
What follows is the artisanal food hero hall of fame:
May the wors be with you
Franschhoek's Neil Jewell (021 876-3692) is indisputably the sausage king of the southern hemisphere. Every mouthful of his sausicon sec bursts with deep, dense porcine pleasure.
But those in search of lower cholesterol charcuterie should sample Wayne Rademeyer's Buffalo Ridge salami (082-375-0977) in Wellington.
Jammy jewels - Products from Karma Preserves
Rademeyer keeps SA's only herd of Mediterranean Riverine Buffalo (as found in the Campania region of Italy) from which he produces a superb mozzarella cheese and the problem of what to do with surplus gentleman buffalo has le d him into the sausage business. The gender divide has seldom tasted so good.Johannesburg-based banger buyers opt for Peter James Smith's thyme- and sage- laden Lincolnshire sausages (011 615-4184) for comfortingly classic culinary moments, while Pretoria fleischmeister Alois Fogenzutter at Alma Butchery (012 803-3335) makes a pork knackwurst (so called because it makes a "knack" noise when you bite into it) that will have you "knack-knacking" with delight.
Blessed are the bread makers
From bunny chow to bagels, there is nothing so satisfying as a sandwich. Those in North West province are blessed by the presence of Penny Zeffert's Oliveberry Kitchen (074-197-9051), where sensational sour doughs and mouth-wateringly wonderful cranberry and cardamom loaves cause loyal fans to drive out to this tiny farmhouse bakery situated on the slopes of the Magaliesberg.
If it's an African epicurean experience you are after, Johannesburg's Congolese Market on Rockey Street, Yeoville, has the finest chikwanga cassava breads this side of Kinshasa.
While you're there remember to look out for the rare but truly delicious fromage du Kivu cheese, which is now mainly made in Rwanda due to political instability in Kivu. Don't ask how the stall holders get this nutty-flavoured dairy delight into SA, just be thankful that they do.
Those in search of crackling-crisp baguette crusts and the flaky perfection of a butter-laden croissant should head for Cape Town's Jardine Bakery (021 424-5644), but for dough with the deity seriously on its side only KwaZulu Natal's Marianhill Monastery Market (031 811-0445) will do. Sister Marco and her team from the Jabulani Self Help Centre really do make rye bread from heaven. Sister Ludmilla's hand-crafted cheese is pretty good, too.
The joy of jam
What is bread without jam? Vera Ann Sluis-Cremer of Karma Preserves (058 653-1433) makes eat-with-a-spoon marvellous, über-glamorous jams on her Free State smallholding. Whether you want pear and pinotage preserve on a scone or plum and walnut jam spread thickly on toast, this is fruit and sugar sexed up like never before.
Similarly, Shahrzad Hone's Kuhestan Persian pickles range (082-887-8029), produced on her organic farm in Magoebaskloof, Limpopo, offers epicurean exotica deluxe. Those in search of good old fashioned jams just like Bobba used to make will find berry-laden bliss in every mouthful of the Selwyn Segal strawberry jam made at Kibbutz Lubner in Olifantsfontein (072-012-1168).
The cheese stands alone
In recent years, SA has churned up several world-class cheese champions. Greyton's Eddie Bestbier's cheddar (076-040-6969) won the 2008 UK Tesco Cheese Challenge, while Bapsfontein's Hester Hoogendijk won the bronze medal at the 2008 World Cheese Show in London for her cumin-infused gouda (082-893-3135). Hoogendijk's latest offering, an admirably hole-laden Emmental, is a thing of beauty to behold but you won't be beholding it for long before you gobble it up.
Perhaps best of all is the goat's milk camembert produced by Aidan Pomario (072-427-3892) on his farm outside Wilderness. With just the right ratio of rind containment to sexy central ooze, this is a camembert worthy of love songs and poetry. Pomario also makes a baked cheesecake that would give the best of New York a serious run for its money.
Comfort kos and affordable luxury
The aforementioned eats are undoubtedly excellent but, given that nearly all of us now tuck into our lunch with a side dish of recession, can we stump up the cash to pay for them?
Quality ingredients and skilled labour don't come cheap. Such foods are often (though not always) more expensive than their mass-produced counterparts. The sales figures seem to suggest that where there's a will there's a way. Despite the tough economic environment, artisan producers across the country are reporting an up turn in business.
Award-winning baker Rachel Botes of Pretoria's Delicious Carlton Café (012 460-7996) attributes the phenomenon to the notion of affordable luxury.
" Those who are cutting down on expensive electronics and overseas holidays treat themselves with decent breads," she says. "Food can merely feed or it can nurture.
"When the going gets tough and big treats are no longer possible, little luxuries can make all the difference."
Besides, one bite of Sister Marco's Mariannhill Monastery rye bread and you will be convinced that God himself is calling you to rescue food production from the jaws of big business.
- Anna Trapido was a judge at the 2010 Eat In Food Awards
Ranking the Analysts 2009
