• Chef

    Chef

    Food and lifestyle.

    I was taught quite astutely how to ‘move food’.

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  • Travel

    Travel

    Have suitcase, will travel.

    When the pomegranate in the courtyard in front of my study, helped along by the first autumn winds, sheds her leaves, I haul my suitcase from the attic.

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  • Author

    Author

    Food as a lifestyle.

    And after that the smell of printer’s ink became a small, albeit rather serious, addiction.

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Tours and classes

Tours and classes

For the past eight years streams of food enthusiasts have been visiting Bagatelle, the cottage in the center of the medieval village of Charroux. Here the huge old 35L Rosieres chef’s cauldron steams away in front of the window facing the cobbled street.
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Marlene's Books

Marlene’s books

Marlene van der Westhuizen is the author of five books of which three have been translated into Afrikaans. She is currently finishing a sixth. The books encapsulate easy brasserie luxe recipes as well as an easy, laid back lifestyle in both Cape Town, where she resides with her husband and son, and their second home in the medieval village of Charroux, Auvergne.
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Crockery collection

Crockery collection

Developing a range of versatile kitchen crockery was a wonderful addition to the Charroux-Cape Town lifestyle. A range that represents the brasserie luxe style of the food that I love to cook. Meryn Gers Ceramics produces and distributes the range.
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Welcome

… to the sumptuous tables of Bagatelle in the medieval village of Charroux, Auvergne where for the past 7 years we have been cooking up a little ‘orage’ from baskets overflowing with the magnificent produce of the countryside surrounding the village. Tiny grass asparagus, young purple artichokes, gloriously plumb ducks, the creamiest of cheeses, all find their way to our large table.

We are in the process of restoring a 15th century barn just down the cobbled road from Bagatelle. Soon we will have a rustic and much larger demonstration kitchen to accommodate more of the intrepid food travelers who have asked to spend kitchen hours with us in France.

It is with great pleasure and delight that I invite you to join me at our French table in the Auvergne.


Marlene vd Westhuizen
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