Ten Gauteng chefs will face off for a good cause at the Slow Food Serengeti Eat-In, which takes place in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, on Saturday 25 March 2017. For the unique event, each chef will prepare a different cut from a Nguni cow to showcase the nose-to-tail philosophy of using an entire animal, not just the more popular, expensive cuts.

Members of the public will be able to taste five of the different dishes created (adult tickets are R335 per person) and vote for the dish they enjoyed the most. All proceeds from the event will go towards establishing the Slow Food Farmers’ School under the 10 000 Food Gardens Programme, which has already established 27 gardens in South Africa, and hundreds elsewhere on the continent.

There will also be a market where 40 Slow Food producers and urban farmers will sell everything from organic veggies and charcuterie to chicken and eggs. (Entrance will be free.)

Organiser Caroline McCann of award-winning Braeside Butchery says, “Every time the chefs have blown us away with such interesting stuff.” The chefs will also prepare a secondary (offal) cut for guests to taste. “The offal always runs out first. It really gets people talking!”

A dish from previous Slow Meat events, featuring beef broth with bone marrow, smoky mayo and edible flowers. Photo supplied.

The chefs

The competing Eat-In chefs are Adele Stiehler-van der Westhuizen (Prue Leith); Adrian Vigus-Brown (Melrose Arch Hotel); James Diack (Coobs); James Khoza (Sandton Convention Centre); Kalpesh Hansjee (Michelangelo); Klaus Beckmann (La Luna); Matthew Foxon (54 on Bath); Rocco Verster (Emoyeni); Shanei Dinna (Hyatt Regency) and Shane Smit (Jamie’s Italian).

They will work with meat from an Nguni cow, a threatened indigenous breed that has been added to Slow Food’s Ark of Taste for its cultural significance. The chefs have just taken part in a blind draw to determine their cut of meat and will work with urban farmers from Soweto to select seasonal organic produce to use in their dishes.

In previous years, the chefs have produced the likes of Korean steak tartare; espetada with milho frito and chunky chutney; tongue salad; 18-hour braised beef in molasses and red wine; dumplings in broth; and bone marrow with smoky mayo and edible flowers. This year the chefs will have Weber braais at their disposal.

The details

Eat-In will run from 10am until 5pm at the Serengeti Golf & Wildlife Estate. Tickets to the Eat-In are R335 per adult, and include five coupons, each for a different dish of Nguni beef, as well as one ticket for a secondary (offal) cut. Visitors will also receive full membership to Slow Food for a year. (For existing members the cost is R295 per person). Children pay R75 for an Nguni beef burger, hand-cut fries and a juice. There will be a full cash bar featuring Vrede en Lust wines and craft beer.

Click here to buy a ticket.

Nguni artwork, hides and clothing will also be on sale, and there will be live music for the whole family to enjoy.

A slow-cooked dish from a previous Slow Food event. Photo supplied.

Similar Eat-In events will be held in July in Durban, in October in Soweto and in November at Bela-Bela in Limpop. For more information, visit the Slow Food website, slowfood.co.za, or follow them on Facebook.