Potjiekos competition

On Saturday 12^th November the well-known Aberdeen restaurant Moer Toe will be hosting a fun-filled day, the highlight of which will be a potjiekos competition. Each pair of cooks will be expected to cook enough food for six people, with a main course and two side dishes, which must also be cooked in potjies. Stalls for those competing will be available from 12 noon, with judging for the raw ingredients starting at 1pm. Entries close at 5pm on Friday, and the cost is R50 per pair. Some of the competitors will be selling off some of their creations, and Moer Toe itself will also be preparing a huge delicious lamb pot. The proceedings will start for the public at 2pm, with a fashion show, arm wrestling, boeresports, stalls and a children’s programme to keep everyone entertained and busy.

The new owner of Moer Toe is Mariette Eyssen, who is known to many residents from her time at the Aberdeen branch of Standard Bank. Mariette has also taken over the Lemon and Lime coffee shop as from the beginning of July, and has big plans for the two businesses.

Lemon and Lime has mostly remained unchanged – as Mariette says, why change a winning formula! Customers can be assured that they will still receive the same level of personal service from the staff, The menu will be updated regularly, with a bigger variety of light lunches, but the favourite items will still of course feature on the menu. Mariette has enlarged the kitchen area, to give the staff a more spacious area to work in what after all is the heart of any catering business. She is thinking of introducing a light cooked “lunch of the day”, if there is sufficient demand, which could include meals such as chicken-a-la-king and sweet-and-sour pork, particularly to cater for folk on their own who would appreciate an inexpensive cooked meal. These would also be available as take-aways, and could be delivered if required.

Platters for special occasions are also available on order, either to take away or as part of a celebration on the premises. Mariette will also try to accommodate special requests for birthday teas and other celebrations or meetings in the garden. Exciting new items such as freshly baked breads and a selection of muffins will be added to the menu soon. A restaurant licence has been applied for, so that customers can enjoy a glass of wine or beer with their meals.

As from next week, Lemon and Lime will no longer be open in the evenings, but Moer Toe will be expanding its menu and will open from Monday till Saturday from 5pm until late. Mariette is also planning to make Moer Toe into more of a family venue, with swings for children in the garden, and she has already set aside a room where they can watch DVDs and play safely.  Sports events will be continued to be screened in the bar area.

Moer Toe will also be open during the day on Saturdays, from 11am until late, and on Sundays from 11am until 3pm. Another new venture will be Sunday lunches, with the choice of two main courses at a reasonable price. Mariette plans to publicise the menu for the month, on her website and at the shop, so that people can book in advance for their favourites. Patrons can currently keep abreast of happenings by friending Mariette on facebook, where she posts the latest news.

Flexibility is a key ingredient for a successful business in a small town, and Mariette is very willing to accommodate any unusual requests. Recently Mariette opened Moertoe on a Saturday morning to serve a group of 15 bikers from Graaff-Reinet on a breakfast run, which was most successful.

Residents of Aberdeen are looking forward with interest to all these changes – as one Lemon and Lime regular was heard to say, “As long as the lemon meringue pie is still available there I’m happy”!

Mariette Eyssen in the Red Room at MoerToe