Cook!

Rediscover. Explore. Nourish.

Food is one of the last genuinely universal human acts. Everyone eats. Most people cook. But cooking together with strangers — really together, around a shared theme, over a full residential weekend — is almost entirely lost as a social format.

COOK! uses that act as a methodology. The kitchen becomes the third space. The discomfort of collaboration with people you don't know, producing something meaningful together, is exactly the condition for genuine connection.

Rediscover. Explore. Nourish. isn't about the food. It's about what the food does to the people making it.

  • Rediscover. Explore. Nourish.

    COOK! Africa is a two-day residential cooking experience guided by Chef Ishvara of African Secrets.
    Fifteen participants. African culinary traditions. One unforgettable weekend.
    Nestled in the little hamlet of Irene, Bastion House is built from dolomite stone unearthed from the very ground on which it stands. Wood, stone, lavish gardens, cobblestone paths, and the kind of hospitality that makes you feel like family — it is exactly the right place to spend a weekend learning to feed people well.

    Saturday explores the seafood barbecue traditions of Zanzibar over an open fire. Sunday moves into the aromatic world of Moroccan cooking — beginning with a group Chakchouka and ending with preserved lemons you take home yourself.

    All ingredients, tuition, and recipe books included.

    Fully residential.


    COOK! Africa — Programme Overview

    Saturday 1 August

    10:00 — Arrival & orientation

    12:00 — Introduction to African cuisine & ingredients

    13:00 — Lunch: a tasting of African cuisines

    15:00 — Zanzibar Seafood Barbecue cooking class

    19:00 — Dinner around the fire

    Sunday 2 August

    08:00 — Breakfast

    09:00 — Moroccan Chakchouka & preserved lemons

    10:00 — Moroccan cooking class

    13:00 — Lunch

    15:00 — Departure

    Please bring: Apron, sharp chopping knife, chopping board, pen.

    1 & 2 August 2026

    How to secure your spot:
    Single occupancy — R3780,- /person
    Double occupancy — R3280,- /person

    Please Send us your reservation by email to: reservations@housebastion.co.za

    For further information and general enquiries you can reach House of Shem here: fis@houseofshem.org /