The Aphrodisiac Shack Smokehouse is situated on the bank of the Theewaterskloof Dam 3km outside Villiersdorp in the Western Cape. I have been in the catering industry for the last 20 years and this is the starting point of a lifelong ambition to own my own restaurant. At present we are smoking white cheddar that is produced by the Caledon Dairy. In addition to this we also smoke a Stanford which is produced by Klein River Cheese Company, who is well known for their award winning Gruyere.

At present my main focus is on the art of cold smoking a range of cheeses. This is something I learnt during the ten years spent in England located just outside the village of Cheddar in Somerset. The cold smoking technique I currently practise has been adapted to the warm climate we experience in the Western Cape, South Africa. In addition to this I have included the hot smoking technique using apple wood to impart a truly unique flavour into everything we hot smoke. We are surrounded by Apple Farms in the fruit growing capital of South Africa.

At the Aphrodisiac Shack all the products we smoke are done in the age old traditional way. In the time of the caveman and before the invention of the refrigerator, the meat from a successful hunt was often too much to be consumed before it started to spoil. It also needed to be hung far enough of the ground to prevent any predatory animals from getting to it. Fire was as it still is today a vital means of keeping warm as well cooking the food needed for survival. They quickly realised that the meat that was hung close to the fire and exposed to the smoke from the fire, not only lasted longer, but also had a unique and pleasant taste. And so I believe the art of smoking was discovered.

The true art and taste of this unique concept has been lost. At the Aphrodisiac Shack the smoking is done the old fashioned way, controlling the draft and temperature by hand. We use apple wood from the local farms and oak shavings from used wine barrels; this gives all our products a unique flavour of their own. This combined with the love and passion put into everything we prepare is likely to lift any libido.