Editor’s letter

FELLOW SOUTH AFRICANS…

it’s been a year. One whole year since we packed up our desks, emptied the beloved TASTE kitchen in the middle of the year’s tightest deadline and finished the May issue at our dining-room tables. Which makes this an anniversary issue.

Last May, TASTE was full of family recipes and food we crave as the days get shorter and shelves start sprouting pears and parsnips, whole pumpkins and Tuscan kale. This issue is also full of comfort food and, fittingly for an anniversary, it is also the first of our bigger, bi-monthly issues. Yes, you read correctly – from now on, you will get a fatter issue of TASTE, more jam-packed than ever, just every second month.

Now, far from being a print detractor’s harbinger of doom, this is what I like to call A Very Good Thing. Something I am proud of, even. Because it means we have successfully evolved.

The decision to bring out bigger issues every two months, instead of our skinnier monthlies, has been years in the making. As it has done the world over, for better or worse, COVID simply escalated our plans. We knew the virus would have farreaching effects, but it has already changed the way we eat, cook and shop, forever.

Before COVID, I’ll admit I had done very little grocery shopping online. Now, I have a folder on my iPhone home screen labelled “shop”, with all the apps I use on a weekly basis. When you’re working in isolation, a home delivery can be as cheering as a press drop.

I used to think shopping for groceries online would be too frustrating, too joyless – I am a farmer’s market gal after all, I want to sniff the spanspek and feel the weight of an heirloom tomato in my hand. But when you have a three-year-old and a demanding work schedule, and you want to spend your free time going on adventures, instead of trying to stop her touching every surface in the supermarket, shopping online is a gift.

Woolies’ challenge, of course, is to make your online shopping experience as seamless as the one IRL, and we plan to simplify and enrich that experience, in every way we can.

Every issue of TASTE will feature more recipe inspiration than you could possibly get through in two months. We will share treasured recipes and stories from diverse contributors for every special occasion you can imagine. We plan to track down and master the definitive methods for SA’s most beloved dishes. We want to be able to help and inspire you, whatever your religious beliefs or dietary preferences, and we want to be able to do it everywhere.

We have lofty goals, not all of which I can share in detail, yet. What I can say is that at TASTE and Woolworths, we believe that having to shop and cook (often) should never detract from the joy of eating together. We want to relieve the stress of decision-making and give you the tools to make eating with your family – vegans, allergics, food nerds and salad dodgers alike – a reality that won’t drain your bank account or your will to live.

Of course, the magazine will always be my first love. It’s where the magic begins. It is where you can really see golden goodness of chicken broth and visualise the warmth of the person who could create skopas ice cream and Maltabella cookies (p 90). The sheer deliciousness of Abi’s citrus bakes (p 78), Hannah’s dynamite roast chicken (p 105), Zorah’s celebratory prawn curry and Sam’s hiccup-curing self-saucing pudding (p 56) becomes tangible on the printed page. An editor I once worked for used to call it “fairy dust” and I believe it’s something you can see only when it is in your hands.

A year after we sent that first remotely produced issue to print, this May/June issue marks the beginning of a new era for TASTE. My dream is that our food philosophy, our stories and our faces will become an even bigger part of your lives. Because we’re here for you. Stick around.

The decision to bring out bigger issues of TASTE every two months has been years in the making”