Why 'The Great South African Cookbook' is no ordinary recipe book

"In putting the book together we asked South Africa's favourite chefs, cooks, producers and local food heroes a simple question: 'What is the food you make for the people you love?'," says Libby Doyle, publisher and editor of 'The Great South African Cookbook'.

The result is a cookbook with 67 contributors, 150 recipes and 372 pages that features personal stories alongside stunning photography shot entirely on location around South Africa.

All royalties from the book go to The Nelson Mandela Foundation, who will donate to Food & Trees for Africa. Food & Trees, in turn, support food gardens, empowering and making a difference.

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"We wanted to show the diversity of our country and the spirit of our people in the cookbook," says Doyle.

"The balance of recipes was tricky; we wanted to incorporate our traditional boboties and biltong while also highlighting some of our green warriors in ingredients. We also wanted to include people who are breaking new boundaries in food.

"The team of Jules Mercer (stylist and project manager), Toby Murphy (photographer) and Brad Theron (videographer) had five months to put it together.

"It was excruciatingly difficult to select the personalities featured in the book. To start, we appointed a steering committee: Reuben Riffel, Errieda du Toit, Cass Abrahams, Anna Trapido, Dorah Sithole, David Higgs, Phillippa Cheifitz, and Hilary Biller; we then compiled a list and ran it by the committee.

"There's a bittersweet irony in a book produced in a country where so many face starvation daily. Hopefully, the book will help raise awareness of the vast and complex issues around food security in SA. If we sell 50,000 copies, it would raise a meaningful amount that could go towards food security and changing many peoples lives."

Try celebrity chef Siba Mtongana's chorizo & broccolini papizza recipe from 'The Great South African Cookbook' (Quivertree, R450)