COOK!
Rediscover. Explore. Nourish.
A quarterly residential cooking experience bringing together a small group of curious people, an expert guide, and two days of getting your hands properly dirty.
Each edition explores a different culinary tradition — its ingredients, its techniques, its stories. Not as observers. As participants who leave having made something real, having fed each other, and having understood something new about the world through the most universal language there is.
COOK! is a joint venture between House of Shem, African Secrets, and Bastion House.
COOK! Africa
1 & 2 August 2026 — Bastion House, Irene
Our first edition travels between two of the continent’s most distinctive culinary traditions — the spice-laden seafood culture of Zanzibar and the bold, aromatic cooking of Morocco. Two coastlines. Two completely different relationships with fire, spice, and the act of feeding people well.
Guided by Chef Ishvara of African Secrets, fifteen participants spend two days cooking, learning, and eating together at the beautiful Bastion House in Irene — one of Gauteng’s most characterful guest houses.
Programme
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, made together
09:00 — Preserved lemons to take home
10:00 — Moroccan cooking class
13:00 — Lunch
15:00 — Departure
What’s included
All ingredients, tuition & recipe books. Fully residential. Beverages available separately at Bastion House.
Please bring
Apron — sharp chopping knife — chopping board — pen
Pricing
Single occupancy — R3,800 per person
Double occupancy — R3,300 per person
Minimum 10 participants. Maximum 15.
Book your place
Tickets via Quicket: www.quicket.co.za/events/381294-cook
Our partners
Bastion House, Irene: www.bastionhouse.co.za
African Secrets Cultural Walks: www.africansecrets.co.za
Enquiries: fis@houseofshem.org
Ag shem, you need to Rediscover. Explore. Nourish.
