Niel Stemmet

Niel Stemmet is known amongst foodies and restaurateurs as a maverick designer of décor, menus and restaurant concepts. In the last years however, he became most well-known for his nostalgic food columns within the HOME and TUIS magazines.

From these columns came the bestseller cookbooks sout+peper / salt+pepper and agter+blad/ back+page.

Within the pages one would find a mixture of fiction, stories, inspiring descriptions of food and what Niel calls cultural inheritance recipes.

Niel’s positioning of food and recipes resulted in a “tsunami wave” of media attention, invitations to talk and discuss food, and for Niel to stage food demonstrations. More often than not, he can be found in front of an audience in towns, cities and within the pages of glossy magazines.

Niel has been featured nine time in Elle Decoration and now curators design and food projects for both local and international clients.

Paging through agter+blad or the English version back+page, it is easy to find words, sentences, descriptions and memories that brings a tear to the eye, brightens up a day or just simply – makes you want to read more.

His description of a Sunday in a small town with church bells, a lone barking dog, the smell of a roast dinner through the house and an afternoon nap encapsulates an eon of memories.

With a philosophy of only cooking with what is fresh, available and describing the backdrop and method in his own “kitchen talk language” Niel Stemmet’s recipes are irresistible.

For examples of his restaurant work, visit the Toowerbosch Aardskombuis restaurant on the Knorrhoek estate near Stellenbosch. This was awarded by Eat Out as the Country restaurant of the year in 2013.

Or try his tomato bredie or green bean bredie for a splash of pure nostalgia. Niel’s recipe books are published by Lapa.