Claire updates us on adventures with the Culinary Arts Studio in Plettenberg Bay

A sing along, a few car games and an exchange of funny YouTube videos… this is what helped the time pass when we recently trekked to beautiful George on a field trip to visit our local butcher and meat supplier Hartman & Sons. They made a very special visit to our culinary campus a few weeks ago to give us a demonstration of the different meat cuts and meat qualities, so armed with this information as well as lectures on the subject; we were thrilled to be invited by the owner of the butchery to enjoy a full onsite tour at their premises.

It was a fascinating couple of hours and we learned how they make, cure and smoke sausages; how the meat arrives from the slaughter house; the storage conditions of the carcasses and all the procedures involved with the cutting up and distribution of the meat. It was great to see our theory notes our lectures at culinary school put into practice in a real world environment. The fresh meat smell was a little overpowering for me at first, but we all eventually got used to it as we moved from section to section in the factory.

For health and safety reasons, we got to dress in white coats over our chef’s jackets and wear hairnets and shoe boot covers. It was such fun to ‘dress up’ and we all thought that we looked hilarious! It was also really interesting to see the extent of the food safety precautions that the butcher has to take in order to protect the food and the customers. They make use of foot baths and knee operated washing stations as well as some foot operated machines. #Amazing

But it’s not all work and no play. After the tour we were treated to lunch at a pizza deli just outside of George. Honestly, this was possibly the best pizza I have ever tasted! Fresh and crisp with just the right amount of topping to be moist but not soggy… and the flavour was amazing!

The atmosphere at the restaurant was very casual and the deli, which was situated on the highway road next to a ‘Padstal’, sold all sorts of local products such as dried fruits and wines from the area. We all thoroughly enjoyed the lunch – it was the perfect way to end off a wonderful field trip. Even though the drive back was quite long, we played a general knowledge game to pass the time which was thoroughly entertaining!

This amazing event is just another reason why living here and attending school at the Plett campus is such fun and a place where it is beautiful to be a chef.