Cooking tours in the Karoo offer culinary adventures for travellers to feed their inner-foodie and learn about the region’s history and traditions. Karoo lamb, fruit preserves, and baked goods immediately spring to mind when we talk about traditional Karoo foods. But there is a world of other Karoo delicacies like Skilpadjies (braaied fat parcels of spiced liver), pofadder (spiced fat sausage made from kidneys, liver, and offal), and Karoo oysters (let’s just say they don’t come from female sheep) that say a lot about the Karoo’s history.

Considering the harsh, infertile territory and war-filled past, traditional Karoo food was born out of necessity. The land’s earliest inhabitants, the Khoi San, lived on wild plants, roots, grass seeds, locusts, river fish, reptiles, ant larvae (“Bushman rice”), ostrich, ostrich eggs, and antelope when they could find it. The early Boers favoured porcupines, hares, tortoises, and the occasional aardvark – animals that are under protection today. Life was slow-paced for the 19^th century sheep-farming Boer, and it’s the same for cooking today. South Africans still enjoy long, lazy wood-fire braais and an entire cooking culture has developed around the Boer’s favourite 3-legged cooking pot – the potjie.

Here are 3 places where you can learn to cook traditional Karoo cuisine and discover more about this fascinating region:

VELD TO THE FORK

If you love the outdoors and are serious about what you eat and where your ingredients come from, “Veld to the Fork” cooking school in Graaff-Reinet is for you. Chef Gordon Wright, owner of Andries Stockenström Guesthouse and Gordon’s Restaurant, invites you on a culinary adventure to discover the origins of traditional Karoo cooking. Gordon sources most of his ingredients locally and personally hunts his own venison and catches his own fish, literally taking food “from the Karoo veld to your fork”.

Spend 3 nights at the Andries Stockenström Guesthouse while you learn African bush craft and ethical hunting skills. With Gordon’s guidance, you can ethically hunt your own game (if you’re up to it), and then plan and prepare a 4-course gourmet dinner in his restaurant. Vegetarian-friendly experiences and other tailor-made packages, with day trips to working Karoo farms, are also available.

AFRICAN RELISH

African Relish is one of the most popular recreational cooking schools in South Africa. Set in the small town of Prince Albert, they offer several half-day and full-day courses, as well as custom designed classes. Keep a lookout for their scheduled Gourmet Cycle Tours in partnership with Escape Cycle Tours.

Karoo-inspired ANYTIME® cooking classes for the passing traveller include:

• Karoo Classics: Learn the culinary secrets of the magical and mysterious Karoo, complete with interesting anecdotal stories about each dish.
• Tapas – Karoo Style: Adding quirky Karoo twists to traditional crowd-pleasing snacks and canapés.
• Preserving: Learn about old-world processes and get creative with modern interpretations, for “when nature gives so generously, we should preserve as much as possible for when times are lean”.
• Xmas in the Karoo: Conjure up new and creative ideas for a real South African Christmas Feast.
• KreativKaroo: Create new and exciting dishes using abundant local seasonal produce.

HILLSTON

Hillston guest house in Middleburg, Eastern Cape, is passionate about food, and every meal they serve is an opportunity to show you just how superb food in the Karoo can be. Join on-site Cordon Bleu Chef, Adrienne Southey, for either a demonstration or hands-on cooking class where each member will be personally guided to cook a part of the meal. Whether you opt for a demo or get stuck in yourself, you’ll have the chance to sit around the farmhouse table and taste your delicious fare.

Although a lot has changed since the early 19^th century, the basics of traditional Karoo cooking remain the same: Slowly cooked and quickly enjoyed!