Claire Allen, The Foodie in Love, has been invited to perform alongside international celebrity chefs at this year’s Good Food & Wine Show, taking place in Cape Town from 27 – 29 May.
Claire, born in KwaZulu-Natal, lives a life filled with flavour. Her culinary style is homely and balanced and she believes “that food does not only nourish our body, it also feeds our soul”. Steadily making her mark in the food world, this multi-talented food entertainer, entrepreneur, blogger is also the Skinny Chef in the live theatre show Short Chef Skinny Chef.
In 2014, inspired by numerous cooking shows, Claire entered the third season of MasterChef South Africa, making it into the top 10 finals. In 2015 she became a celebrity chef contributor to one of South Africa’s most popular daily morning entertainment programs, Expresso, and her delectable recipes have featured on numerous publications and broadcast media. Last year Claire bought tickets to the Good Food & Wine Show but this year she has been invited to perform alongside international headliners George Calombaris, Adriano Zumo, Jenny Morris, J’Something, Siba Mtongana and Sarah Graham.
She confesses to gaining great knowledge and enjoyment from watching other cooking shows.
Watching other chefs create dishes with ingredients I’ve either never heard of or thought of using together is inspiration for my shows. Regardless of the dish or audience, I want to take those watching me on a journey so that they can fall in love with food.
At the Chefs Open Theatre Claire has been given the opportunity too cook whatever she would like to. “I really want to showcase my journey since MasterChef South Africa and highlight how much I have grown and learnt. I’ve also thought long and hard about what message I want those watching me to walk away with. I love seafood but due to current unsustainable fishing practices, we are left in danger of depleting our fish stock, which is very scary! This led me to create my Pan Fried Angel Fish with Herbed Gnocchi, Seafood Bisque, Avocado Mousse and Dill Oil – not only to demo a green listed fish dish but hopefully to also educate.”
Claire, who has been sponsored by SASSI, Global Knives and Scanpan, will be performing at the Good Food & Wine Show on Friday 27 May at 19h30 and on Saturday 28 May at 10h30. For more information on the Good Food & Wine Show visit http://capetown.goodfoodandwineshow.co.za/.
