Cape Town’s Table Bay hotel is introducing a new guest experience to allow food connoisseurs to discover authentic South Africa experiences and explore Cape Town’s flora and fauna with the hotel’s Executive Chef – Jocelyn Myers-Adam. The Table Bay hotel guests will be able to join Jocelyn as she hosts customized ‘foraging’ expeditions on Table Mountain to be followed by her own cooking workshop to utilise the fruits of the expedition.

“The Cape’s exquisite ecosystem boats a diverse array of native plants that can be used creatively to enhance the flavors of food and even define dishes,” says Jocelyn who is recognized for putting The Table Bay hotel’s new restaurant Camissa firmly on the Cape Town fine-dining map. “It is great to be able to highlight South African cuisine by sourcing beautiful local products and creating dishes that will showcase them in their full glory.”

The foraging experiences are guided by recognized local urban hunter-gatherer Charles Standing, who has developed an intricate knowledge of the Cape’s landscape and its opportunities to harvest wild plants for culinary use.

Jocelyn regularly forages for herbs and plants for use in Camissa’s kitchen, incorporating seasonal plants into her cooking to add unique flavors to dishes. For instance, edible flowers like hibiscus blooms, with their cranberry-like flavor and citrus overtones, are used as a colorful and delightful addition to salads, while Nasturtium blossom with their sweet yet spicy flavor, are an ideal ingredient for open sandwiches and savory appetizers. Num Nums foraged from the nearby V&A Waterfront are innovatively used on a compote for her signature pork belly dish, while Dune Spinach, with its interesting meaty texture and sea flavour, foraged in Sea Point, can be used to draw out flavours in a variety of meat and fish dishes.

The foraging expeditions are run for groups of about four people and available for all Table Bay Hotel guests subject to availability. Price on request.

Table Bay Hotel, www.suninternational.com