About Nelleke Elston

Welcome to my creative space of delicious recipes, food memoirs and beautiful images.

I was born in a small town on the Namibian coastline where we lived simply but beautifully, on fresh seafood and salty air. My two older brothers and my father have a passion for the ocean and their catches are still frequently transformed into delectable dishes in my mother’s or my kitchen.

I inherited my love of cooking from my mother and my passion for gardening and beautiful fresh ingredients from my father. Twenty years ago my parents bought a beautiful historic home with large grounds on the southern coast of South Africa where I could live out my passion for seeing simple food made from beautiful fresh harvests as the seasons rolled by.

After moving to South Africa we lived a care-free childhood where food and gardening was very much part of our daily lives. In winter my brothers and I would frequently be asked to each juice a liter of orange juice from our bountiful trees and in summer we’d often sit around the kitchen fire top-and-tailing beans.

From a young age I knew that I would build my career around food and at eighteen I moved to Cape Town (where I still live today) to enroll in a culinary school. After my studies I specialized in pastries and desserts, working in many award-winning bakeries and fine dining restaurants. Many years have passed and my passion for food has led me to start a blog about my travel adventures that includes some of my favorite recipes collected over the years.

Today, I am a freelance food stylist, aspiring writer and mother of a beautiful little girl. I own a small catering company and am studying Nutrition part-time with the plan of combining my passion for healthy living and my love of styling and writing.

Enjoy my stories, try my recipes,  feed on my passion.