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Food • Culture • Community • Inspiration

Hi, I’m Esmé. Welcome to my virtual kitchen and blog

Welcome to EsmeSalon. I’m Esmé, and I’m so glad you’ve found your way here. EsmeSalon is a South African-inspired food and lifestyle blog where I share homemade and tried-and-tested recipes, baking, desserts, food from around the world, and stories inspired by the people, places and cultures behind the food. But if I had to describe EsmeSalon in just one sentence, I would say that it is a place where food and people come together.

Over the years, this little corner of the internet has grown into so much more than a collection of recipes. It has become a place for memories, family, discovery, friendship and connection. It is a place where I can share the food I love, remember where I come from, discover something completely new and introduce you to some of the wonderful people I’ve met along the way. At the heart of everything I do are three simple words that have come to mean so much to me: Share • Care • Inspire.

It All Began in South Africa

My love of cooking and baking began long before I ever imagined creating a food blog. I grew up in Somerset West, near Cape Town, South Africa, watching my Mom lovingly prepare meal after meal for our family and friends. I watched her cook, I watched her bake, and I watched how food had a way of bringing people together. At the time, I was simply learning by watching, tasting and eventually finding my own way around the kitchen, but as I look back now, I realize that those everyday moments taught me much more than how to prepare food.

They taught me that food is one of the ways we care for the people we love. It is how we welcome someone into our home, how we celebrate special occasions, how we comfort someone when they need it and how we keep family traditions alive. Some of my happiest memories are connected to those simple moments: the smell of something baking, a favourite family recipe being prepared, the anticipation of sitting down to eat and the conversations that seemed to happen so naturally around the table. Those memories became part of who I am, and they continue to influence the way I think about food today.

For me, a recipe has never been only about the ingredients or the instructions. There is often a memory attached to it, a person behind it, or a story that makes it meaningful. Perhaps that is why I have always felt that food is something worth sharing.

From South Africa to Canada

In 1997, life took our family across the ocean from South Africa to British Columbia, Canada. Moving to another country brings change in so many ways. The surroundings are different, the seasons are different, the people and places are new, and you begin creating a new chapter of your life. But no matter how far we travel, we don’t leave our memories and traditions behind.

If anything, moving away from South Africa made me appreciate my roots even more. I began to understand how strongly food can connect us to a place and to the people who helped shape us. A familiar taste can suddenly take you back to childhood. The smell of a particular dish can remind you of someone you love. A recipe passed down through a family can make you feel connected to generations who came before you.

Food has a remarkable way of travelling with us. It crosses borders, connects cultures and allows us to carry a little piece of home wherever life takes us. That feeling of home is one of the reasons South African food remains such an important part of my story and such a meaningful part of EsmeSalon.

A Taste of South Africa

South Africa is often called the Rainbow Nation, and I think our food is one of the most beautiful expressions of that diversity. South African cuisine has been influenced by many cultures, communities and traditions, and over generations, recipes have travelled from one kitchen to another, changed along the way and become treasured parts of family life.

Some recipes are traditional, some are family favourites, some have evolved over generations, and some simply remind us of home. I love the stories that live inside those recipes because they tell us something about where we come from and the people who came before us. A recipe can carry a family tradition, preserve a memory or introduce someone who has never visited South Africa to a small part of our culture.

Through EsmeSalon, I love sharing those flavours and memories with readers around the world. At the same time, my kitchen has never been limited to the food I grew up with. I have always enjoyed discovering recipes from other countries, learning about different culinary traditions and finding out what food means to the people who prepare it. My roots may be firmly planted in South Africa, but my kitchen has always had room for the world.

Journey From The Recipe Hunter to EsmeSalon

EsmeSalon is part of a much longer blogging journey. Before EsmeSalon, I created The Recipe Hunter, Cook and Enjoy, where I began sharing recipes and connecting with home cooks. What started as a way of sharing food gradually became something much bigger than I had anticipated.

The recipes brought people to the blog, but it was the people who made me want to keep going. Through blogging, I met people who were passionate about food, cooking, baking and sharing their own experiences. I discovered recipes and traditions I might never otherwise have encountered, and I learned that there was something incredibly rewarding about helping someone else share what they loved.

A kind word could encourage another foodie or blogger. Sharing someone’s recipe could help their work reach someone new. Discovering another person’s story could remind them that their efforts were appreciated. Little by little, I realized that blogging wasn’t simply about publishing content. It was about creating connections and making people feel that they had a place at the table too.

Over time, that vision grew and evolved into EsmeSalon. The name changed and the content grew, but the heart of what I wanted to do remained the same. I wanted to create a welcoming place where food, stories, creativity and people could come together.

More Than the Recipes

When I look at EsmeSalon today, I see far more than a collection of recipes. I see years of cooking and baking, the influence of my South African upbringing, recipes from kitchens around the world, stories from home cooks and bloggers, and the many friendships and connections that have developed along the way.

One of the greatest gifts blogging has given me is the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people. Some have shared recipes with me, some have shared their personal stories, some have introduced me to foods and traditions I had never experienced before, and others have simply offered encouragement and friendship. Every one of those connections has added something special to my journey.

I believe there is room for everyone at the table. There is room to share what we know, to learn from one another, to encourage someone who is just starting out and to celebrate the creativity and success of others. That belief has become an important part of EsmeSalon and is one of the reasons I continue to support and showcase fellow bloggers and home cooks.

Through projects such as Senior Salon Pit Stop, I’ve had the pleasure of discovering and celebrating the work of other bloggers and creating opportunities for people within our blogging community to connect. For me, blogging has never been about numbers and page views alone. It has always been about people and the connections we make along the way.

Food You’ll Find at EsmeSalon

Food will always be at the heart of EsmeSalon. You’ll find recipes inspired by my South African roots, including traditional flavours, treasured favourites and dishes that bring a little taste of home into your kitchen. Recipes such as Whole Wheat Weetabix Rusks, Malva Pudding Muffins, Amarula Malva Pudding, Super Fluffy Baked 6 Ingredient Milk Tart, or even Amarula Caramel Condensed Milk Mini Tart are part of that connection to South African food and the memories that surround it.

You’ll also find the kind of homemade food (different categories) that belongs in everyday kitchens: comforting meals, family favourites and recipes that are enjoyable to prepare and worth making again. I believe that food doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious, and some of the most satisfying meals are often the ones made at home with simple ingredients and a little care.

Baking has always held a particularly special place in my heart, so naturally you’ll find plenty of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, tarts and desserts throughout EsmeSalon. There is something wonderfully comforting about baking, whether it is the smell that fills the kitchen, the anticipation of watching something rise in the oven, or the pleasure of sharing the finished creation with someone else. You can explore the Cakes, Cupcakes, Cookies and Tarts collection or spend some time browsing the Desserts collection.

Alongside those familiar favourites, you’ll also discover recipes from around the world. I love learning about different food traditions and discovering the stories behind unfamiliar ingredients and dishes. Every new recipe gives us an opportunity to explore somewhere we may never have visited and to experience a little piece of another culture from our own kitchen.

That is what I hope you’ll find when you explore EsmeSalon: not just recipes, but the stories, memories and inspiration that make food meaningful.

Why I Still Blog

After all these years, I still get excited when I discover a recipe I’ve never tried before. I still enjoy experimenting in the kitchen. I still love baking, and I still get that wonderful feeling when I come across something that reminds me of South Africa or brings back a memory from my childhood.

But the food itself isn’t the only reason I continue to blog. What keeps me going is what happens when something I share finds its way into someone else’s kitchen.

I love hearing from someone who has made one of our recipes for their family. I love knowing that a dish reminded someone of their childhood or gave them an idea for something special to prepare. I love hearing that someone discovered a new ingredient, tried something they had never made before or simply enjoyed sitting down to a meal they found through EsmeSalon.

Those moments remind me why I started sharing in the first place. A recipe may begin in one person’s kitchen, but once it is shared, it can travel into countless other homes. A family tradition can cross a border. A memory can be passed from one generation to another. Something as simple as a recipe can bring people together.

And that is why I continue to believe that food brings people together. And perhaps, most importantly, a place where there is always room for another person at the table.

Share • Care • Inspire

Over the years, Share • Care • Inspire has become more than a motto for me. It has become the philosophy behind EsmeSalon and the way I want to approach blogging and community.

Sharing is at the heart of everything I do here. I share recipes, stories, food traditions, discoveries and the work of other people because I believe that wonderful things happen when we don’t keep what we love to ourselves. Caring is about the people behind the food, the home cooks who prepare it, the bloggers who spend hours creating and sharing their work, and the communities that grow when people support one another. And inspiration is what happens when one person encourages another to try something new, cook something different, explore another culture or simply make something delicious for someone they love.

Sometimes inspiration comes from a recipe. Sometimes it comes from a story. Sometimes it comes from another person. And sometimes all it takes is one small idea to inspire something much bigger.

If EsmeSalon can be that little spark for someone, then I feel that I am doing something worthwhile.

A Little More About Me

Although my journey has taken me from Somerset West to British Columbia and from The Recipe Hunter to EsmeSalon, many of the things that matter most to me have remained the same. I still love cooking and baking; I still enjoy discovering new recipes, and I am still fascinated by the way food connects us to different cultures and to our own memories.

I love the comfort of familiar recipes, but I also enjoy the excitement of trying something completely new. I love the simplicity of home cooking and the creativity that can happen when you experiment in the kitchen. Most of all, I love sharing what I discover with other people.

My kitchen philosophy is simple: food doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious. It just needs to be prepared with care and, ideally, enjoyed with someone else.

That is what I hope you’ll find here, recipes you’ll want to make, stories you’ll enjoy reading and inspiration that gives you a reason to return.

A Note About the Recipes

As EsmeSalon has grown over the years, it has become a collection of recipes and food inspiration from many kitchens around the world. Some recipes are my own, some are recipes I have personally prepared and enjoyed, and others have been shared with me by home chefs, bloggers and members of the food community.

Where appropriate, I identify the source or contributor in the recipe notes. I also want to be transparent that I have not personally tested every recipe published on EsmeSalon, so I encourage you to read each recipe carefully and use your own judgement when preparing it.

Some recipes have been shared by members of SA Tasty Recipes – Saffas Daily Recipes and the retired The Recipe Hunter: Tried and Tested Recipes From Home Chefs. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has trusted me with their recipes and helped make EsmeSalon a place where different voices, experiences and food traditions can be shared.

After all, some of the best recipes are the ones that are passed from one person to another.

Thank You for Being Here

Whether you’ve been visiting EsmeSalon for years or you’ve only just discovered it, I’m genuinely grateful that you’ve stopped by. Perhaps you’ve arrived looking for a particular recipe, perhaps you followed a link from somewhere else, or perhaps you’ve simply wandered into my little corner of the internet while searching for something delicious. However you found me, I hope you’ll stay for a while.

Over the years, your visits, your comments, your messages and the stories you share about making these recipes have become part of the EsmeSalon story too. There is something incredibly special about knowing that something prepared in my kitchen can find its way into yours, and that a recipe I shared might become part of a family meal, a celebration or a memory of your own.

I hope that somewhere along the way, you’ll find a recipe that becomes a favourite in your home. I hope you’ll discover something that reminds you of where you came from, and I hope you’ll find something completely new that encourages you to step into the kitchen and give it a try. More than anything, I hope that when you visit EsmeSalon, you feel welcome.

I want this to be the kind of place where you can come looking for a recipe and perhaps leave having discovered a story, a new food tradition, another blogger or simply something that makes you smile. I want it to feel like a welcoming kitchen where there is always something cooking, someone ready to share a story and a place waiting for you at the table.

Because that is what I want EsmeSalon to be. Not simply a food blog and not simply a recipe collection, but a place where food, culture, memories, friendship and community can come together. A place where we can share what we love, care about the people around us and inspire one another along the way.

A place where there is always room for another person at the table.

Continue the Journey

If you’ve enjoyed getting to know the story behind EsmeSalon, I hope you’ll take a little time to explore the recipes and stories that have grown from that journey. You can begin with the EsmeSalon Recipe Collection and see where your appetite takes you, or perhaps explore my South African Recipes and discover some of the flavours and food memories that connect me to home.

If you’re interested in the people who have become such an important part of my blogging journey, you can visit the EsmeSalon Blogging Community and discover some of the wonderful bloggers and home cooks whose work I enjoy sharing.

And if you’d like to stay connected and have new recipes and inspiration find their way to you, you can subscribe to EsmeSalon.

Wherever you begin, I hope you enjoy the journey.

Share • Care • Inspire

Welcome to my virtual kitchen.

Esmé

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