Halaal Fish

Another festive season is upon us, and as we are wont to do at the end of every year, we look back at all the articles that went up in 2018 and we snuffle out our five favourite foodie knowledge nuggets.

Hermanus may be famous as a picturesque old-world harbour village synonymous with all things fish – from fantastic angling spots and delicious Halaal fish restaurants to whales in the bay – but something else it’s also becoming famous for is its Food & Wine Festival.

As leading Johannesburg and Cape Town meat wholesalers, N1 are accustomed to providing the best quality wholesale meat to the widest selection of clients, but did you know that in the 16th century not everyone was afforded the same custom? In Tudor times what, how and where you ate depended largely on who you were.

The phrase ‘comfort food’ first appeared around 1966 when an American publication referred to it in a story as a coping mechanism for soothing negative emotions. And while that might be true in some cases, it’s not always about assuaging unhappiness; comfort food can trigger great memories (like the apple pie your mom used to make when you were a kid) or it can be that rush of dopamine you experience when you eat your favourite food.

When you think of the Mediterranean I’ll bet images of clear blue skies and azure warm water pops into your head – that along with Ouza and siestas of course, and probably in that order too. But the other thing that the Mediterranean is famous for is the food its inhabitants prefer to eat. Healthy and wholesome, the Mediterranean diet is said to be one of the healthiest eating plans one can follow, so let’s delve into what it is and how best to follow it.

While we know that N1 offers the best Halaal meat South Africa has to offer, have you ever wondered how food has changed over the centuries – when did we first begin cooking for instance, or when did we first discover figs? Some things are easy to imagine – a world before McDonalds, or a time when roast boar and suckling pig were par for the course, but if we were to draw a timeline, what would the evolution of our food look like?

It’s nearly time for one of South Africa’s favourite food events – the Knysna Oyster Festival which this year will run from 29 June to 8 July. Now in its 33rd year, this 10-day festival is billed as the best 10 days of your winter, and it’s easy to see why – there are more than 100 activities planned catering for sports lovers, families and adventurers; and it’s a chance to enjoy one of the most beautiful parts of South Africa’s coast line.

As we all know, our appetites are stimulated with the sight and smell of food long before we actually taste anything, which is why the art of food presentation is essential to maximise the enjoyment of any meal.

N1 offer the best quality meat in Cape Town and Johannesburg, but in addition to their wholesale meat range, they also offer a wide variety of Halaal fish and frozen food products. With Easter around the corner and everyone starting to think about picked fish and other fish dishes to serve on the long weekend, we thought we’d have a little fish fun and turn to our favourite source for trivia, FactRetriever.

Priding themselves on providing interesting facts for the curious mind, here are our favourite:

Red, orange and green may be colours we associate with traffic lights, but when it comes to Halaal fish it takes on a whole different meaning. Begun in 2004 under the auspices of the WWF, the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) was established to create awareness and to help industry players and customers make wiser and more sustainable seafood choices. According to SASSI, 312 million kilograms of seafood is consumed in South Africa every year, 50% of that is locally caught and 70% of that consists of sardine and hake.