When executive chef Terrence Ford of Santé Wellness Retreat & Spa in Paarl explained how he'd turned 5kg of stinging nettle into pesto and velouté I was intrigued - and a little dubious. I needed to see the kitchen where hormone-free, low-GI food featuring no sugar, dairy, gluten or preservatives was created - and did such creations even need a kitchen?
The kitchen was different. The antithesis of many hospitality kitchens, this one was a quiet and calm environment with people going about their work. Spotlessly clean, it was a reflection of a laboratory kitchen featuring rows and rows of bottles of interesting things in various stages of fermentation.
There were unusual ingredients. The chef proffered a plate of cashew-nut cheese very proudly.
Barrels of fermenting vinegars and olives were in a cool section with containers of freshly pressed olive oil from olives grown on the farm - and fancy equipment like a Pacojet that made ice cream out of anything healthy except milk, cream and eggs.
"I had to re-invent the way I prepare food," said the chef of his move a year ago from a hotel kitchen. "It meant changing the way I thought of the concept of a chef as a feeder, feeding people food that wasn't healthy, and I asked myself what the point was," he said.
"I now think of food in a nutritious and meaningful way. The positive impact that food can have on people's health - the miracle of proper nourishment - is hugely exciting for me."
Of course the proof of the pudding lies in the eating.
Sitting in one of Santé's restaurants overlooking the extensive estate, I started with homemade gluten-free bread made from teff flour with wholesome seeds and a bean (almost tahini-like) spread. The avocado salad teemed with different flavours. All the helpings are small, yet satisfying and as pretty as a picture.
The ultra-smooth "ice cream", a combination of celery and matcha sweetened with natural sucrose from reduced apple juice, was the cherry on the cake, the one made without sugar, dairy, gluten or preservatives...