International award for Rooibos cookbook

The cookbook, A Touch of Rooibos, was voted the best single subject cookbook in South Africa and the third best cookbook in the world at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, which took place in Paris during February 2010 for the world's best single subject cookbook.

The awards began in 1995 and over 136 countries enter over 8000 books to compete for the prestigious title of World Cookbook of the Year.

Fourteen of South Africa's top chefs, all of whom have a passion for local cuisine and local ingredients, contributed. Two of the chefs featured in A touch of Rooibos are 2008 Eat Out Chef of the Year, Luke Dale Roberts, head chef of current restaurant of the year La Colombe and the current 2009 Chef of the Year, Chantel Dartnall, head chef at Restaurant Mosaic in Pretoria.

Some of the chefs featured in the book already had their own Rooibos recipes, which they willingly shared, but most of the others took up the challenge of developing new recipes especially for the book. The beauty of this compilation is the wide variety of recipes and styles that makes this collection perfect for both food connoisseurs as well as aspiring cooks.

It is available locally both in English and Afrikaans for R275 and has been adapted for the overseas market where Rooibos is gaining new ground as one of the world's biggest wellness treasures.