Cooked in Africa Films - Cooked in Africa Season 5 (2013)

Justin Bonello embarks on an 8000 km journey to find out where the food he eats actually comes from. Despite being one of South Africas best-loved foodies, he discovers that what he thought he knew about food doesn��™t come close to the reality of South African food production. Watch Justin follow the process from the farm to the dinner plate in this eye-opening 13 part series.

Part 1: Grabouw
Justin starts his journey to find out where the food he eats really comes from. His first stop is Jeanne Groenewald's free range chicken farm in the small town of Grabouw, outside Cape Town. Justin follows the life of the noble bird, from cute little chick to chicken, slaughtered and ready for the supermarket within 40 days. He shares the difference between free range chicken and commercial birds and leaves the viewer some food for thought.


Part 2: Great Karoo
Justin and crew travel from Grabouw to Kareestomp, a sheep farm in the Great Karoo near Aberdeen. He spends a couple of days with J.P Smith, a third generation farmer, and enjoys true Karoo hospitality. Justin plays shepherd for the day and learns how to inoculate lambs cut off their tails (and eat them!) and wean them off of their mothers. He discovers the story of hardship in the unforgiving Karoo and meets Hantie the butcher who shows him the process of slaughtering a lamb


Part 3: Montabeng Village
It's a long road from the Karoo to Lesotho, but eventually Justin and his crew make it to Montabeng Village in the beautiful, but chilly Mountain Kingdom. His first day is spent checking out aquaculture to find out how this fish is farmed and eventually ends up on his plate. The slow decline of fish comes into question and Justin confesses that aquaculture has the latitude to develop into something special. Being an avid fisherman, Justin spends some time fly-fishing for Wild Rainbow Trout and in typical Bonello style, tries to outsmart the fish.


Part 4: Transkei
It's a long journey through Lesotho all the way to Transkei. Justin's mission is to see if he can survive off the beach. The Cooked team arrive at the Bush Pig at Kei River Mouth for the final supper of Bush Pig on spit. The next day the adventure kicks off as Justin and friends (also known as the hungry ones) hike down the unspoiled beach of the Transkei to see if they're really as wild as they think they are and if they can harvest and scavenge for their own food. Along with this adventure comes scraped knuckles and sand. Lots of sand. It's a humbling experience to have to find your own grub and everyone learns the true value of food. Watch as Justin and friends evolve from scavengers to modern Strandlopers.


Part 5: St Lucia Wetlands
Justin leaves the Transkei and takes a two day drive to Thonga Beach Lodge in the Greater St Lucia Wetlands to check out the pristine marine environment and indigenous fishing methods. This North Eastern Corner of South Africa is part of one percent of the only protected marine reserves in the world. On his first day, Justin and his crew enjoy the company of dolphins in one of the best diving sites South Africa has to offer. From there they travel to the Kosi Forest Lodge where Justin learns about the traditional fishing methods of the Thonga people.


Part 6: Musina
Justin leaves behind Kosi Forest Lodge and travels to the far north of South Africa to check out biological farming in Musina. Flip Nel realised something had gone wrong with modern farming methods and reverted back to more holistic and organic farming in an effort to reverse the damage done by cold science and technology. This is farming for the future.


Part 7: Windhoek
Justin and crew travel 1800km from Musina to Namibia to check out free range beef on Mike and Sonja Kibble's Progress Farm just outside of Windhoek. This mission turns out to be unexpectedly emotional as Justin follows the process from feedlot to slaughter. An episode not for the faint at heart, but a must-see if you want to know the truth about where your beloved steak comes from.


Part 8: Biesiesfontein
Justin travels back in time and arrives at the Pool family farm in Biesiesfontein on the West Coast. The Pool family still make their own butter, bread and even soap – knowledge which has been passed on from generation to generation. Justin embraces the very traditional old-school way of life of Chrisjan Pool and


Part 9: Clanwilliam
For once, Justin doesn’t have to travel too far to get to his next destination: The small town of Clanwilliam (approximately 150km south of Biesiesfontein.) He arrives on John and Sue Bergh’s Patrysvlei farm (established in 1820) to find out more about the humble potato and the biological and bio-diverse farming methods of the Bergh family.


Part 10: Ceres Valley
The farmer has always been a ‘Jack of all trades,’ but nowadays has to be a businessman and marketer too. In the Ceres Valley, Justin meets many faces of the fruit farming business, from Robert Graaff, who believes consumers drive ethical and environmental standards in farming to Trevor Abrahams who discovered the skills of precision farming from scratch.


Part 11: Cape Columbine
Justin meets up with his fishing buddy Gareth Beaumont and they head to The Beach Camp in the Cape Columbine Nature Reserve. He spends time with Pietie, a local fisherman, to see how he manages to live off the sea. Later Justin goes on a mission to buy out-of-season crayfish from locals, which changes his perception about this illegal trade.


Part 12: Franschhoek Valley
Justin visits the Franschhoek Valley to check out wine production on La Motte wine farm and meets Peter Le Roux who recently started a more holistic approach to farming. Later, Justin visits Edmund Terblanche (Cellar Master) to see if he can taste the difference between organic and normal wine


Part 13: Pringle Bay
It’s the last stretch of the journey and Justin goes to Pringle Bay for some one-on-one fishing. Day one kicks off as Justin goes out to sea to catch Yellow Fin Tuna and later battles it out with the Snoek – a Western Cape speciality with giant teeth. Justin brings to light the problem of fishing trawlers and how humans have turned into lethal hunting machines.