In preparation for our South Africa Tour, BGMC members recently took a field trip to Karoo Restaurant in Eastham, the only South African restaurant in Massachusetts, for a divinely delicious preview of the cuisine we’ll enjoy during our visit next month.
Tyler Brewer, co-chair of BGMC’s Membership Tour Committee for South Africa, said the outing was not just educational, it also was “a bonding experience” for chorus members who will be traveling together on the two-week tour.
“We get to taste the tastes and hear the sounds all together and kind of create that group memory and I think it’s going to gel things for us,” Brewer said at the restaurant. “I’m just excited for what we have in store for us and all of what we’re going to be able to bring back.”
Judging by the delicious dishes glimpsed in this short video of the trip to Karoo, chorus members will be feasting and eating well while in South Africa! Chef Sanette Groenewald introduced the chorus to the Biltong—South Africa’s ubiquitous jerky, made primarily from dried beef or other meat, coriander, black pepper, salt and vinegar—and described mouth watering meals like chicken and mushrooms and steak and kidney pie. “You’re going to smell the curries, the chutneys,” said Groenewald.
Groenewald is excited for BGMC to see her South African homeland, and for the cultural exchange between the chorus and the South African communities we’ll visit and sing for. “It’s going to be beautiful,” she said “It brings people together—the more we bring different cultures and art together.”
Learning about a country’s cuisine, said longtime BGMC member Peter Kokoszka, is a delightful way to gain insight into its people and their culture.
“Whenever I would travel anywhere, my mom would always ask me as soon as I would come back, ‘Tell me about the food,’” said Kokoszka. “And you know, we learn a lot about the culture of a country through the food. And hearing some of [Groenewald’s] stories, like people have chutney in their refrigerator like we have ketchup in our refrigerators here really just gives you this interesting insight into people you wouldn’t get through reading a tour book.”