Keeping it healthy and seeing as how I think we are all tending to eat a bit more than usual during the lockdown, so I am trying to make more healthy decisions when I head into the kitchen for sure.

STIR! it UP is the brainchild of Stellenbosch-based Nini Jerman who two years ago embarked on a journey to develop a healthy alternative to those ready-made sauces that were loaded with ingredients which, she says, “read more like a science lab experiment than something I wanted to put into my children’s tummies.”

After much experimenting and testing of results on long-suffering, but patient, friends and family, Jerman finally found success with STIR! it UP, a range of dried sauces which, when reconstituted with water, stock, milk or cream, result in sauces that are not only full of healthy natural ingredients and preservative and chemical-free but which also add an extra zing and complexity to any dish.

Nini grew up on a farm on top of the Piekenierskloof mountains, with a stunning view of the Cederberg. “I was a real ‘plaasmeisie’ with a deep love of nature, wide-open spaces and fresh air. My five (yes, five!) siblings and I went to hostel from grade 1 and, at the age of six, I quickly learned coping skills and independence. I think that, and the very South African attitude of ‘’n boer maak ‘n plan”, shaped my approach to challenges and life in general. I did a post-grad in Development Studies at Stellenbosch University, worked in marketing in the tourism sector and dipped my toes in the world of my own business when I ended up in weird and mostly not so wonderful places with my geologist husband. I ran a successful glass-making business from a small mining town in the Northern Cape, where our hand-made bowls made it all the way to the Conran Shop in London! Back in the Cape, I started Winston & Julia Chocolate and now STIR! it UP – all-natural sauces.” says Nini

Nini shares more about the STIR! it UP ranges of all-natural cook-in sauces. “We make a sauce like you would do in your kitchen – with fresh vegetables, herbs and spices. We slowly simmer the sauce until all the flavours have married and it has the right consistency. To keep the shelf life of the sauce, we don’t add any preservatives, but rather we dry the sauce to remove all the moisture. When you want to make your dish, you simply add the liquid again – be it water, stock, wine or milk and stir it up!”

There are 11 sauces in the range – Nini developed the five sauces in the Global range first – the Thai Ginger, Asian, Smoky Curry, Mediterranean Mushroom and Italian Tomato.

“These are the sauces that I use all the time in my cooking. However, I became more and more interested in cooking from the African continent – the whole idea of ‘Africa as the undiscovered gourmet continent’. When dried, the sauces travel very well which makes them a fantastic gift for international visitors. The result was six African sauces – Moroccan Tagine, North African Chermoula, South African Braai, West African Maffé, Tunisian Harissa and West African Yassa.”

STIR! it UP sauces are available to order during the lockdown and will be delivered by The Courier Guy.

For more information and access to loads of STIR! it UP recipes, visit here website – HERE…