Chef Martha Williams from the 5-star Plettenberg Hotel has been invited to cook at the Cape Malay Food Festival at Vasco’s, Hilton in Abu Dhabi from 28 September to 6 October 2018. She will present her delicious South African recipes in her unique Cape Malay cooking style. 

During this week she will present a special Cape Malay menu with meals like Bobotie, Tomato Bredie and Masala Fish to name a few. For desert she will present true South African treats like Malva Pudding and koeksisters. Martha will share her stories and tell visitors more about her love for the Cape Malay cuisine.

Williams said: "Food is an incredibly important part of Cape Malay culture. Our food reaches into a rich history and our culinary traditions have travelled down foodways stretching around the world. This is what makes Vasco’s the perfect venue for people in Abu Dhabi to try out Cape Malay’s cuisine.”

Martha got exposure to traditional dishes and ingredients typical of the Cape Malay style - a fusion of spice-rich and fragrant east-Asian cuisines that developed in the kitchens of the Cape during the 17th century – and her innate understanding of flavours and hard work saw Martha being promoted to Head Chef at the hotel’s newly launched Cape Malay restaurant. 

The restaurant was a huge success, proving immensely popular with both local and international guests and Martha established an excellent reputation leading to her ultimately being invited to present her Cape Malay culinary skills at a number of event, in South Africa and abroad. A flagbearer for Cape cuisine, she has travelled extensively to represent The Liz McGrath Collection in a variety of destinations, from Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong and Taipei, and now Abu Dhabi.

Martha has returned once more to The Plettenberg, where she’s able to create the authentic flavour-filled dishes she loves that draw on her personal narrative. Her favourite food to prepare is that which reflects her Cape Malay heritage – beloved traditional dishes like bobotie (a baked beef-mince dish using spices and topped with egg), pickled fish (firm white fish typically pickled using curry spices), and seafood potjies (a stew slow-cooked in a special pot over a fire). 

For more information visit www.theplettenberghotel.com