Hello there!

My name is Ishay Govender-Ypma, and I’m a South African food writer and blogger and I have been cooking and tweeting about our meals for a long while. This blog has its roots in those casual tweets and was started in September 2010.

But my love for cooking, fusing flavours together, sampling native cuisines when we travel and bringing the things I’ve learned and love back into our own kitchen, has been happening for far longer.

I’ll be the first to point out that I am no expert. But, as my palate develops and my skills improve, this journey has become one I can not abandon.

I’m an Independent Blogger

Perhaps you’d like to know, I am an independent blogger. I pay for my own meals, ingredients, outings, destination travel etc.

Recipes that I develop that may be featured on the blog, as part of the agreement between myself and a select handful of clients are clearly indicated, and are only done so using products or ingredients that I would normally use or purchase for my kitchen. I am exceptionally clear about that because your rights as a reader and consumer are important to me. It’s exceptionally annoying and frustrating when you’re not sure if a writer is promoting something because a product is awesome or because money or a barter changed hands.

Do look out for the Food and the Fabulous Endorsed label – this disclosure will indicate a client I believe in and who’s product I support, featured on the blog.

I do not approach companies for sponsorship or freebies.

When writing a review, article or recipe post for another publication, I try to stick to the same ethos maintained when writing for this blog- this I find, works best for me. In other words, dear reader,  if I am not willing to to buy it, eat at or travel to it for my own pleasure, then it certainly won’t be getting the FAB stamp of approval from me.

 

If I am invited to a launch of a restaurant, bar, winery etc, I will most likely visit the establishment again at my own expense before I review it, if I do.

At this point, I can’t see how advertising on this blog will benefit me or fit in with my outlook.

(The lawyer in me feels the need to set out the formalities below. Meet you at the end, okay?)

The fine print

I do not intend to offend any brand, restaurant/eatery, publication or individual (even Victoria Beckham- read “The agony and the envy“) with my comments and findings. If I find a particular product does not work for me or us- I’m merely giving my opinion and will endeavour to do so in the kindest manner possible.

Restaurant and other reviews are merely an opinion expressed of my experience at a given time.
All the photos posted have been taken by myself or someone in our family and thus are the property of www.foodandthefabulous.com.

I can’t imagine that any image I post is so Mario Testino-esque that someone would want to use it, but should that be the case, kindly request permission and if granted do credit this blog as the source.

Any other pictures that are not my own, I do credit to their sources.

Predominantly about food, this blog may feature elements of football or soccer as the Yanks call it (I try to keep things interesting with food and football in my Midnight Snacks section) and fashion which are some of my interests as well as my opinions about current affairs.

My focus outside the blog is on giving back – at this moment in time all the work I do for the children’s literacy charity help2read and WeFeedback, the affiliate of the World Food Programme is done so on a pro bono basis and it’s my absolute pleasure to feature them strongly on the blog.

I was appointed South African Connector by the W.F.P for Bloggers Against Hunger, a role I intend to expand on in the coming year.

Do you like my work?

News just in! Food and the Fabulous, just over a year old, has won the  best South African Food and Wine Blog 2011 at the South African Blog Awards.

I strive to provide quality content, and this is often a little different to the norm.

I particularly enjoy food experiences and sharing them on the blog- traveling to eat, and you will note that this inspires many of my recipe posts, cooking with learned and interesting chefs, learning new skills and exploring different cultures, through food.

Food-wise, I try to keep as open a mind as possible, within reason (tripe, trotters, sheep’s head, fish eyes, blood sausage, chicken feet- I’ve eaten and enjoyed it all) and aim to balance the butter with cardio, the privilege with giving back.

My wanderings into the wine fields (bad pun,I know) have galloped forward and while slow at first I’ve developed a much improved palate and nose than the me of  a year ago – I even get whiffs of cat pee and sweaty saddle from time to time.

I’ve invested a bit in photography equipment (most recently a Nikon D 7000 and shiny new lenses) and am building on the basics and teaching myself as I go along- I hope the pictures get prettier and more interesting as Food and the Fabulous moves forward.

Many times during outings, for example where we are involved at cooking classes or at restaurants at night, I use a Sony point and shoot camera as I prefer to remain present and social…there’s only so much you can put a long suffering husband through.

If you’d like to procure my services as:

  • a writer,
  • recipe developer and or
  •  food travel or opinion writer, please contact me via the contact form on the right hand side of the blog.

The Food and the Fabulous Journey

Please join me as I cook and stumble my way around my kitchen…or someone else’s! I look forward to hearing about your experiences, and if you’re a food or lifestyle (or football!) blogger, following your journey as well.

Hearing back from you is extremely gratifying- please leave a comment when you can! Thanks for reading and visiting my blog.