Quickly get to Slow Food

24 August 2016 - 09:23 By Andrea Burgener

One of the coolest local food events ever is around the corner. It's big and it's beautiful and it's something we should all support. Slow Food, that most pedigreed of gastro-political movements, has a more active Johannesburg chapter than most people realise. SLOW FOOD IN SOWETOOne of the coolest local food events ever is around the corner. It's big and it's beautiful and it's something we should all support. Slow Food, that most pedigreed of gastro-political movements, has a more active Johannesburg chapter than most people realise.Amid numerous other initiatives this year (I strongly encourage a visit to www.slowfood.co.za to check out the details), the Slow Food in Soweto event on September 3 shines most brightly. The organisation is putting together an event which is truly epic in scale and gloriously local in feel.There'll be around 100 farmers selling their goods, ranging from small food gardens to large tunnels showing off produce that's grown in and around Soweto. There are also wines on offer and the 7 Colours Market, where traders are selling craft beer and other local-feel food and drink (plus cool arts and crafts).There's even a conference aspect to the event, titled Food System Revolution, inside the Blue Theatre. Six panels will discuss a variety of topics, (speakers include local government officials, academics, growers and chefs), with the focus on sustainably producing and sourcing food within townships and cities; and addressing the often screwed-up and complicated relationship between food production and urban living in our particular context. It promises to be fascinating stuff.If you're a carnivore and into naturally produced beef, then The Slow Food Meat Competition should be one of the most exciting events of the day. Ten teams, made up of local chefs and foodies, will be entering an Nguni cow cook-off which, in keeping with Slow Food values, promotes the use of the entire animal.Each team will make two dishes: one from a primary cut of beef (topside, silverside, rump, and so on), the other from offal (liver, kidneys, tripe and the like). Each team will be paired with a food garden in Soweto, from which they'll source all the plant produce to be added to their dishes.A ticket for the meat competition (R295) will buy you a taste of five teams' primary-cut offerings and one team's offal dish. One golden ticket comes along with this, so you can vote for your favourite.To pre-book tickets, both for cow eating or the general Earth Market (R20 which includes the conference), go to www.webtickets.co.za or www.sowetotheatre.com.To book telephonically, call 0861-670-670. You could also pay at the gate, but for the meat competition there'll be a limit to the tickets, so pre-booking is probably wisest. Things get going at 10am, with the Nguni cow eating starting around 12pm. Head for the Soweto Theatre, cnr Bolani Link and Bolani Road, Jabulani...

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