Smooth, delicious and utterly dreamy … when Simone Suchet’s very moreish ice cream melts in your mouth, you can almost taste how happy the cows were. It’s made from fresh, organic farm cream produced by her Jersey herd grazing in the veld near Giant’s Cup Café, Restaurant and Farmstall, beside the road at the foot of Sani Pass in KwaZulu-Natal’s Drakensberg.
The same farm cream peps up a pancake filled with spiced apple purée, cooked from fruit picked off the trees out back. It seems most of the things at this friendly roadside stop come out of its garden or a neighbour’s farm, whether it’s the free-range eggs, crisp salad ingredients or smoked Drakensberg trout.
‘Our Jersey cows graze in the veld and aren’t fed hormones or antibiotics,’ says Simone, who makes the yoghurt, butter, cream cheese and ice cream which are also for sale. The peaches, gooseberries, raspberries and blackberries, bottled in recycled jars, are also from her garden. Grown in an environmentallyfriendly way, they retain the tangy, wholesome flavour of fruit ripened in the sun.
When the mist obscures the mountain view from the Giant’s Cup tea garden, retreat inside to sit beside the cosy Queen Anne stove in the coffee shop. The building is part of the history of Sani Pass and in the 1960s it was used as a base for the Land Rovers that were the sturdy workhorses of the early transport system into Lesotho.
It’s a good place to nourish yourself before (and after) tackling your own adventure up Sani Pass. Sani Lodge Backpackers is on the same property and makes a good starting point for exploring the area, or you can join one of its adventure tours into Lesotho.
Giant’s Cup Café, Restaurant and Farmstall contact
Tel 033-702-0330, cell 083-987-3071 or 083-566-1997, www.sanilodge.co.za.
GPS: S29° 39’ 46”, E29° 27’ 24”
