The Madiba Appreciation Club: A Chef’s Story by Brett Ladds is out now from Jonathan Ball Publishers.

Chef Brett Ladds was once given a cigar by Fidel Castro, he talked weightlifting with Swazi king Mswati III and his cooking made Quincy Jones sing.

For many years he also served Nelson Mandela many cups of rooibos tea and made him his favourite meals.

Ladds was the executive chef of the South African government and manager of the presidential guesthouse at Bryntirion Estate in Pretoria from 1994–2000 where he served both Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.

But it was a naive and star-struck 21-year-old Ladds who started working at the guesthouse in the months before the first democratic election …

The Madiba Appreciation Club: A Chef’s Story is a heart-warming book that tells of a young man’s coming of age at a turning point in our history. His stories about meeting kings and queens, presidents, rock stars and even the pope are laced with his unique, self-deprecating sense of humour.

Of Queen Elizabeth he says it felt like speaking to his gran. ‘I asked myself, how does all that power fit into this lovely, caring lady?’

Of Robert Mugabe: ‘He never moaned about a thing.’

Click on the link above for more about the book!

Categories Non-fiction South Africa

Tags Brett Ladds Nelson Mandela The Madiba Appreciation Club: A Chef's Story