A bite into Bitten

30 Apr 2013

Peppermint tea and scrambled egg on rye. Good ol' no fuss food is what Sarah ordered and it's what her new cooking show is all about. Bitten: Sarah Graham Cooks Cape Town, an exploration of simple, unintimidating food and the way it should be enjoyed with the people we love.

Meet lovely Sarah, wife to Rob, mother to Sophie and foodie heroin to many.

Luck landed in my inbox to enjoy brunch with blogger-turned-author (and soon to be TV host) Sarah Graham at quirky Starlings on Saturday, 27 April.

Over practical, wholesome food (of course), we had a chat about her foodie blog-cum-recipe book-cum-cooking show.

Sarah's obsessed with cooking shows. Her latest fave is Rachel Khoo's The Little Paris Kitchen, a "gorgeously colourful cooking show", described Sarah. Why? After many a reason, put simply: "She just rocks."

Perhaps what our homegrown foodie is most proud of about her own show is that it's in support of local, traditional Cape Dutch food. For example, Sarah's "Beautiful butter chicken bunny chows", "Baie lekker bobotie, boet" and "Proudly South African malva pudding". "Simple food that we've made really beautiful," she said, giving credit to food stylist Luisa Farelo.

Giveaways during each episode

The show, comprising 13 episodes, commences on Sunday afternoon. Some episodes are based on location at a house in Kenilworth, while others were filmed everywhere from the Winelands to the West Coast, hosting some of South Africa's most talented chefs and food lovers alike, as well as a wine connoisseur or two. What's more, Bitten has some amazing sponsors and top brands in the food and wine industry, among the likes of Smeg, Le Creuset, Nomu and Yuppiechef, from which you can expect giveaways during each episode.

One I will make every effort not to miss is episode three on 19 May, featuring the Foodbarn's Franc. An incroyable French cook who owns my favourite Sunday-morning breakie "deli". Apparently, he makes Crocs look cool ... Hmmm, that's something I'll have to see to believe.

Visit Sarah's blog, A Foodie Lives Here, after each episode for her featured recipes and a behind-the-scenes blog post. She said: "Blogging is an intimate conversation giving people full access," and she wants it to feed from her show, much like she wanted the recipes to come from her cookbook, Bitten: Unpretentious recipes from a food blogger. "I wanted that connection to be made," she said.

What's next? Well, Smitten rhymes with Bitten.

Another book? Definitely. Another series? Maybe.

One thing's for sure, and that's Bitten: Sarah Graham Cooks Cape Town on SABC3 this Sunday, 5 May at 4pm. Bite in.