LEISURE
BOOKS
SUMMER READING
A book for your coffee table and one for your kitchen – and both make great gifts. TASHAS INSPIRED: A CELEBRATION OF FOOD & ART
MAURITZFONTEIN: THE STORY OF A KAROO GARDEN At historic Mauritzfontein, a renowned thoroughbred stud near
MAURITZFONTE
A collection of classic recipes
The story of a Karoo
garden
IN
from cuisines around the world, beautifully illustrated with over 80 pieces of original art and stunning
Kimberley in South Africa, there’s
photography. Each of the seven
an astonishing nine-hectare
chapters in the book recreates a
garden that emerged against all
place that has had a lasting impact
odds from the hot, red dust of the
on Natasha Sideris, the founder
surrounding Nama Karoo veld
and creative force behind the
about half a century ago. This
popular tashas boutique cafés
book is the story of that garden’s
Paul Duncan & Art
evolution – much of it the work
in South Africa and the UAE: the hur Mennigke
of horticulturist and landscape
New York deli, the Spanish tapas bar, the Parisian bistro, the Greek
designer Arthur Mennigke, who
taverna, the Levant kitchen, the
inherited a garden pioneered
location. There are green lawns
English country home and the
by Joane Pim in the 1950s. The
and scattered copses, eye-catchers
classic international café. This
native tree species planted half
and vistas, and a vegetable garden
book is more than just a collection
a century ago are reminiscent
producing abundant supplies of
of recipes from around the world.
of what might have been in the
fruit, vegetables and herbs for the
tashas inspired is designed to evoke
Kimberley veld before prospectors
kitchen. Mauritzfontein, The Story
emotion and memory, and to
searching for diamonds stripped
of a Karoo Garden will appeal to
inspire you to create these sensory
it of nearly everything growing
those with an interest in gardens
adventures and experiences in
there. Ranged across two
and horticulture as much as it will
your own home. •
koppies, there is a succulent
appeal to those with an interest
garden teeming with indigenous
in the evolution of a green oasis
horticultural specimens, and
close to where the history of
a woodland garden filled with
industrialised South Africa began..
native tree species. In the grass meadows, endemic plants not seen in the surrounding veld for generations are coming back to life, coaxed by Arthur and a team of gardeners in tune with nature, ecology and this spectacular
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SILVER DIGEST // SUMMER 2020/2021
