Our office is buzzing with excitement – and bulging with boxes and baskets filled with some of South Africa’s best produce. Duck from KwaZulu-Natal, toffee from Somerset West, marmalade from Clarens, boerewors from Kleinmond… The occasion? The judging of the 2012 Eat In DStv Food Network Produce Awards, taking place today and tomorrow.

Along with my esteemed fellow judges – Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly, Hartford House chef Jackie Cameron, food writer extraordinaire Anna Trapido, Melissa’s senior buyer Deon van Wyk and MasterChef SA judge Pete Goffe-Wood – I’ll be tasting my way through everything from flavoured salt and sauces to cute cookies and free-range chicken.

The winners of the judging will be announced at our second annual awards market, which will be held at the Stellenbosch Fresh Goods Market on Saturday 24 March from 9am. Everyone is welcome and entrance is free. Apart from the regular vendors, there will be an Eat In section with producers from across the country – those not normally on sale at the Fresh Goods Market or even in the Western Cape. So make a note in your diary!

And on that note, I’m off. There’s a serious amount of tasting to be done.

Happy shopping and cooking!
Anelde

Photograph: Steve and Jemma Copley