By Siphesihle Dlamini
It is about to be savoury delight and culinary excellence as the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival has unveiled its Luju Culinary Programme.
Back for its 6th edition, the festival is a unique and sophisticated African-vintage styled celebration of the local, the wholesome, the creative, and the delicious, truly sensory experience.
The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival is a lavish two-day feast of music, fashion, entertainment, culinary exploits, and connoisseur-led premium showcases, taking place in Eswatini on August 2-3, 2024.
The festival not only presents festivalgoers with one-of-a-kind taste experiences and masterclasses but actively supports the culinary industry in Eswatini with panel discussions and workshops before the festival.
Don’t miss the demonstrations and masterclasses by Celebrity Chef Lorna Maseko, Sommelier Saskia Lesch, Beermistress Lucy Corne and, of course, the nail-biting finish to the Pick n Pay Luju Master Chef Cook-Off competition!
Culinary Theme
The festival’s culinary theme this year is “Roots” (atibuye emasisweni). It’s about journeying back to the source and exploring the gifts of the land, unearthing the power of plants and free-to-roam meats as a sustaining source of health and heritage.
We uncover the staple foods and age-old cooking techniques that keep us rooted in who we are. Through this theme, we decolonize our palates to consciously reclaim and advance indigenous knowledge, skills and techniques.
Food Indaba
In 2024, Luju introduces the all-new Standard Bank Luju Food & Fashion Indaba, reinforcing its commitment towards creative Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) development in Eswatini with a dynamic programme of capacity development workshops,
insightful panel discussions, masterclasses and knowledge sharing on industry best practices with experts from Eswatini and across the Southern African region.
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The Food Indaba will be held before the festival opens to the public on Friday, August 2, 2024, from 8 am – 2 pm in the House on Fire Amphitheatre and is open to attendees from culinary and related fields, as well as food enthusiasts.
Applications are via the Luju Festival website. The program includes interactive panel discussions on pertinent issues around local food sovereignty and healthy supply chain from farm to table,
as well as kitchen and dining skills demonstrations for improved local industry and service excellence.
The Food Indaba is sponsored by Standard Bank, Mastercard, Stella Artois, Rhodes Food Group, Unifoods, World Veg, Pick n Pay Eswatini, KWV, and Mongi Botanical.
Masterclass Demonstrations
On the Mastercard Stage, top chefs and culinary experts from the region will host a range of interactive demonstrations, tastings and masterclasses:
The Masterclasses kick off at 5 pm on Friday, August 2, 2024, with a Wine Masterclass and Blind Tasting led by Sommelier Saskia Lesch and supported by KWV wines.
Festivalgoers will have a chance to be part of the blind wine tasting. Saskia Lesch has 19 years of experience in the wine industry,
working as a wine owner, merchant and manager for a variety of South African and International wines.
The wine masterclass will offer festivalgoers a taste of KWV’s premium Roodeberg range, sampling and discerning vintage notes as well as having the chance to participate in blind tastings to win incredible prizes.
On Saturday, August 2, 2024, festivalgoers can look forward to the annual Pick n Pay Luju Cook-Off competition, at 11 am,
when the top two finalists will battle it out for the coveted title of Pick n Pay Luju Cook-Off Master Chef! Supported since its inception in 2019 by Pick n Pay Eswatini,
the competition is aimed at developing local culinary entrepreneurs through prizes which facilitate personal and business growth.
The Cook-Off is followed by a Beer Brewing Masterclass with Lucy Corne, at noon, which gives insight into a range of contemporary beers and traditional brews.
Lucy Corne is an award-winning brew mistress, as well as a beer and travel writer based in Cape Town.
She is Africa’s first Advanced Cicerone – akin to a ‘beer sommelier’ – and runs regular beer tastings and training sessions around South Africa.
She is also the founder of South African National Beer Day and the African Beer Cup – the biggest beer competition in Africa.
The 2024 Luju Celebrity Chef, Lorna Maseko, will present a 1 pm cooking demonstration masterclass, with a specially curated menu using products from Unifoods, local specialists in maize and wheat flour milling.
Maseko is a renowned South African chef and media personality who discovered her passion for cooking on the Celebrity edition of MasterChef South Africa.
She now hosts her TV show “Homegrown” on DSTV, among many other culinary projects. The Celebrity Chef Demo is supported by Unifoods.
In keeping with the Luju theme (“Luju” means honey” in siSwati), the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival presents an array of themed spaces, called Hives, for guests to explore, each hosting an array of complementary activations, tastings and lifestyle experiences.
Standard Bank Luju Premium Lounge
A bespoke, executive lounge offering a la carte-style menu and wait service.
With exciting activations from Malandela’s Restaurant and Malandeli delicatessen, this space is supported by Standard Bank and not only brings an exclusive,
wide range of wine and charcuterie pairings but also gives prime views of the stage and a panoramic experience of the festival offerings.
Stella Artois Beer Garden
A specially curated hive highlighting premium brews and supported by a beer-infused pop-up restaurant menu,
this space is supported by Stella Artois and offers a selection of tastings, food pairings and beer demos.
Rhodes Heritage Food Garden
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Take a sensory voyage through Africa and further exotic lands in this hive of traditional tastes and experiences.
Supported by Rhodes Food Group, the Heritage Food Garden celebrates the theme ‘Roots’ with distinct cultural offerings that allow festivalgoers the opportunity to not only taste nostalgic dishes but to enjoy unique age-old cooking techniques and food artefacts.
The Grapevine Wine Saloon
A celebration of all things wine, the Grapevine Wine Saloon experience explores some of the top wines from a selection of KWV wines, with expert sommelier-led tastings and food pairings. Supported by KWV.
The Explorers’ Buzz
The House on Fire Amphitheatre will be Buzzing with contemporary DJ sounds in this new experiential Hive, brought to you by Explorers Craft Spirits.
Their ever-popular smash burgers will serve to fuel this high-energy environment!
The Beehive
The Rhodes Luju Junior Master Chef Cook-Off competition returns, this time in the children’s Beehive, on Saturday, 3 August 2024, with exciting prizes to be won!
The competition is open to aspiring junior chefs aged 6 to 12 years of age. Find out more, and sign up for the competition, on any of the Luju social media platforms.
The Junior Cook-Off is sponsored by Rhodes Food Group.
