There is something great about South African pastries, because famous bakers can't help but fall in love with them. First it was the Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro and now it's baker, Paul Hollywood. He was in Cape Town and fell in love with South African bread.
The silver-haired baker is best known for his role on the Great British Bake-Off but he travelled to Cape Town for his show City Bakes which premiers on the Food Network (DSTV channel 175) on 26 May.
The episode where Hollywood travels to Cape Town airs on 28 July at 8pm and sees him visit Charly’s Bakery in District Six, The Kitchen in Woodstock, Bread Milk & Honey and Jason Bakery in the City Centre, BREADrev in Fish Hoek and Thembile’s Bakery in Gugulethu.
Paul Hollywood makes a Braai Pie in Cape Town. Pic: Supllied
At the One & Only, chef Reuben Riffel hosts Hollywood for a lekker South African braai.
“Here it is my bru!” Hollywood exclaims as he hands Riffel a braai pie that he made.
In a short preview of the episode Hollywood is shown travelling around the Mother City, chaperoned by chef Siba Mtongana.
Hollywood is shown on screen describing our local cuisine as: “A bit of Britishness, a bit of Dutch, but it’s all South African.”
But it was at the empowerment project BREADrev, that builds ovens and teaches people to bake that Hollywood had the most fun.
He meets Thembile Gcukumeni who set up a bakery in Gugulethu in 2014 and Hollywood gushes about his baking skills and perfect chelsea buns.
Hollywood says: “(Thembile) he is a natural baker, with drive and ambition and that ladies and gentlemen is what baking is all about.”
The Cape Town episode is the last in the City Bakes series which consists of 10 episodes.