If you
believe there's more to life than cheddar, especially the bouncy, rubbery kind
that our mom's put on our school sandwiches, I hope you all managed to get
yourselves down to the Cheese and Agri Expo at Sandringham Farm this weekend.
A couple weeks ago I
was asked to step about 786329kms out of my comfort zone, and act as a stand in
for the one and only Nataniël at his Cheese Station, on the Checkers Route at
the festival. I was so excited at the opportunity that I completely forgot to
remember how terrified I am of public speaking...
Luckily for
me I was surrounded by some of the most wonderful and talented people in our
industry, who helped me forget my fears and feel at home in front of a
crowd very quickly.
I got to work with, and spend a little time getting to know people like Jenny Morris (@JennyMorrisChef), Herman Lensing (@HermanLensing), Bernard Gutman (@BernardGWhiskey), Marsh Middleton (@LetsTalkWhiskey), David Donde (@DavidDonde) and of course Mr. Nataniël himself.
These
passionate people not only took me under their wings and helped me feel
comfortable doing my job, but also inspired me to carry on doing what I do.
Aside from
the people I met, I also learnt a whole lot.
This year
instead of doing a theatre, Checkers decided to focus a little more on
education, and so the Checkers Route was born. A beautiful maze of 6 different rooms was built,
to teach us about the most important food groups- Cheese, WINE,
Steaks, Whiskey, Venison and of course Coffee ;)
 |
| Nataniël |
Starting off with Mr. Kaalkop himself, teaching
us about the most famous cheeses from around the world in his unique, humorous way.
 |
| Bernard Gutman |
Sharing
his knowledge on Wines of The World, and how we should not be over analysing the wine we
drink. Smells like freshly cut grass to me...Is that because I'm outside??
 |
| Marsh Middleton |
Teaching us
to drink less and better, and a little Gaelic. Who knew there were this many different kinds of
whiskey??? Slange Var!!
 |
| Herman Lensing |
Though he claims
to only speak 3 words of English- yes, no and coke-He managed to teach me a thing or two. Did you know
that if you rub a little baking powder on your crackling it helps it crackle
beautifully??
Other than
learning a lot and conquering my fears, I was able to see how these big events
happen from behind the scenes. I must say it's quite an impressive thing to see
that many people all running around, all with just one purpose-to make things
flow smoothly on the outside.
We also had
our own make up artist (The beautiful @GlamByMissyE-Yes
that is why I looked so prettiful), and a VIP lounge... An endless flow of yummy cappuccino’s (with
hearts on top) and a wonderful chef, feeding us delicious steaks until they were coming out of our ears.
 |
| The Beautiful Melissa Esterhuyse, incharge of the prettiness on my face |
It wasn't all work and no play of course, between
shows there was lots of fun and laughter behind the scenes. I still have no
idea where Jenny got her hands on this outfit, but this may have been one of my
favourite moments...
 |
| Just too beautiful... |
Of course I couldn't just sit there and miss every photo opportunity....
 |
| With Herman Lensing |
Say CHEESE!!
 |
| With the lovely Jenny Morris |
Yes, judging by my outfit it would be safe for you
to assume that I had a massive wardrobe malfunction- I wore a dress on the one
day it poured with rain (ALL DAY).
All in all, the people I have met and the experience I gained is
absolutely priceless, but still the best part for me was being able to educate
people. Yes, there were those who were so disappointed that I wasn't Nataniël that all they wanted to do
was leave, but there were also those who (whether out of politeness or real
interest, I don't know) stood and listened. Those who smiled at me and asked
questions and made the whole thing a lot less daunting for me. Those people
were the highlight of my Cheese Festival experience.
Thank you to everyone involved. Thanks for all
the kind words and support. Watch out world, here I come!
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