HOT OFF THE PASS | This week in food news: August 6 2020

As I hide away in the safety of my home behind a desk, the clickety clack of my keyboard having replaced the sounds of an office full of colleagues, the thought of heading out to the supermarket — a necessity — leaves me cold. It’s no surprise that online grocery shopping is on the rise.

Two forward-thinking entrepreneurs, Sibongiseni Mkhungo and Vusi Mthimunye, have seen a gap in the market and in launching their new online grocery delivery service, eButler, aim to go beyond the reach of existing services.

Apart from the big cities — they're talking nationwide — eButler will deliver to townships, inner city precincts and rural areas. Another plus is those without computers can shop via WhatsApp.

Their offerings, they say, for starters are focused only on dry goods and are competitively priced as they can pass on the discounts they get by working directly with manufacturers to shoppers.

It almost sounds too good to be true in a time of spiralling costs and dwindling or no incomes. I see potential for those in out-of-reach areas and the chance to support people in need and make donations.

Beyond this new delivery service, here's what else has been making news in the world of food and wine:

PAP GETS EVEN MORE POPULAR

The latest Uber Eats Cravings Report is full of interesting titbits about SA's takeaway habits: not only are we fussy about burger toppings — read more below — we're also increasingly requesting pap as an alternative to another common starchy side dish, rice.

Given the popularity of pap, I asked local food blogger Bathandwa Nkambule to share some creative ideas for cooking with it. Check out her easy recipes here. 

A GLUT OF CHAMPAGNE

The impact of Covid-19 including fewer celebrations has seen the producers of fine champagne struggling to shift their stock which — with some pure speculation on my part — means bubbly could potentially be sold at lower prices.

To avoid adding to the surplus of bottles in their cellars, France's big boys like Bollinger and Moët & Chandon are currently engaged in a standoff with the vineyards from which they buy their grapes. The producers want a smaller harvest this year, but the grape growers are not accepting the proposed quotas they've put on the table.

While champagne lovers around the world wait to see who will win this round, those of us in SA can only reminisce about the days before the pandemic and subsequent booze ban when one could enjoy a glass of ice cold bubbly with friends in a gorgeous restaurant.