Food24 caught up with South African electro duo Gazelle at Oppikoppi 2011, where they took a step back from the music to talk about their love affair with food.
Gazelle, made up of Xander
Ferreira and Nick Matthews, have become an international sensation. All this
touring has brought them into contact with a host of different cultures and
foods. And these home-grown talents love it!
International eating
Nick and Xander say that most
of the towns they have visited have been so hospitable they have been given home
cooked meals, the most memorable of which was a Danish traditional dish of a
baked pork dish, with mashed potato and asparagus.
The second favourite food
story was when they were invited to a fondue at a cheese maker’s home in
Switzerland. However, the memories weren’t from the food as much as the large
amount of Schnapps they drank. They then had to go home on sleighs downhill, at
night, in a less than sober condition. As Nick describes it: “It was the only
time I’ve ever heard Xander scream like a bitch.”
Biting into the Big Apple
Gazelle is now based in New
York, which is a culinary adventure for them. “New York has incredible food. There
are people from all over the world, and the competition is so high. You
can eat anything in the world there,” says Xander. He went on to describe the Big Apple as having so many different restaurants that you can eat at a
different one every night and never taste them all.
No place like home
However, these two still love
their South African traditional food. Nick would do just about anything for a
curry, if Xander is to be believed. And according to Nick, Xander, who grew up
on a farm, has become infamous for smuggling biltong and droewors. Xander says
he often longs for a braai and has a few tricks of his own to make sure those
lamb chops come out of the flames perfect.
Back home, Gazelle has become
involved in the food industry in a more unusual way. They have an arrangement
with Butlers Pizza as part of the social media campaign “pronkster”. The idea
is that patrons can order a pizza with a slice missing, and the missing slice
will be donated to the less fortunate. “Food is a big thing to share. Sharing
gives us compassion,” says Xander.