BEDFORD’S feisty foodies and their support teams have clocked up hundreds of kilometres over the Easter season catering for large weddings at picturesque destinations on farms, a game reserve, in the mountains and at the beach.
“Fine food is part of Bedford’s economy and the district’s itinerant chefs help promote local talent and the exceptional quality of local meats and fresh produce,” said Estelle Gathercole, general manager of The Duke of Bedford Inn.
“It’s all about teamwork.”
This coming Saturday, chefs Marelise van Niekerk and Tanja Lötter will head up into the mountains to present a formal feast for 230 wedding guests on a historic farm.
They recently travelled even further into Bedford’s hinterland to present a plated five-course wedding banquet for 200 guests at another historic farm – a 65km drive on a treacherous gravel road.
“Destination weddings are right on trend and it’s awesome that professionals like these Bedford chefs are prepared to improvise kitchens away from their comfort zones,” said wedding planner Debbie Johnson, who is based on a farm near Fort Beaufort.
She and another farm talent, Lea Davies, run Country Décor Specialists. They pride themselves on excellence, no matter how remote the destination.
Their recent Winterberg mountain wedding was featured in the UK Brides magazine.
“We can pull it off even where there is no Eskom power or cellphone communication – let alone GPS to guide the couriers. And the weather doesn’t always play along.
“We have even been towed to a venue by tractor.”
In spite of the rain that has blessed Bedford recently, their vehicles coped with the terrain for the March wedding.
The festivities took place in a marquee and the wedding kitchen popped up in an adjacent tent.
Ironically, one of the main logistical challenges was keeping the food and the plates hot.
Visitors came in from far and wide for both weddings, typically staying in the Bedford district for three nights, filling local accommodation establishments and keeping farm cooks busy catering for scores of before and after meals.
Going the extra mile
During the same period, Karen Morgan, the well-loved foodie of The Butcherbird restaurant fame, reinforced her reputation for destination wedding catering. She has a true countrywoman’s resilience when it comes to transporting superb food over long distances.
The current wedding season has seen her go the extra mile for three events – each catering for well over 100 guests.
On March 17 she travelled from her home kitchen in Bedford to a wedding on a game farm near Morgan’s Bay. “You seldom get to see the venue in advance,” she said.
“You don’t know what the working conditions are going to be like and you have to hit the ground running.”
To reduce the stress of transporting a large contingent of staff (or working with staff she hasn’t met before), she encourages her clients to opt for platters on the tables – the middle route between a buffet and a plated meal.
Fewer waitrons are required to place the platters and guests can remain seated but still interact as they pass the food around.
“Fortunately this is now a trend,” she said. “There is less wastage when people help themselves to what they want to eat.”
The weekend of March 24, saw Karen Morgan setting off on a six-hour drive to Barkly East to cater for a wedding and this coming Saturday, she will whip up some culinary magic for a wedding at Kenton-on-Sea.
“When I started more than 10 years ago, I would drive home in the middle of the night after an event, but now I write stay-over accommodation into my quote.”
Morgan, her husband, Keith, and their son, Kieren, have a farm butchery in Adelaide, with a branch in Bedford. In addition to special events, they migrate The Butcherbird brand to Grahamstown in late June each year, setting up a full restaurant for the duration of the National Arts Festival.
“It means a lot of awkward packing and shifting equipment around but at least it isn’t for one meal, like a wedding! We love it and we have made such good friends over the years we have done it.”