South Africa’s first bread sommelier perfects centuries-old tradition

November 3, 2026 Village Reporter

The kitchen on the La Motte Wine Estate in South Africa’s Western Cape wine growing region is in full swing.

It’s perfectly located to make Mosbolletjie – a bread that traces its roots to the French Huguenots who settled in the Cape in the 1600’s.

It is a traditional South African loaf made from flour, fermented grape juice and aniseed or fennel, which gives it a sweet flavour profile.

It’s a busy time in the kitchen, but outside it’s just before sunrise and the dawn chorus is at its loudest.

Brioche buns, ciabatta, seed loaves and sourdough bread are made here, but it is the estate’s Mosbolletjie bread that everyone comes for.

The particular Mosbolletjies made here are the creation of 42 year Ricardo Slawers, who is now Africa’s first official bread sommelier, a title so prestigious, that it is akin to being awarded a Michelin star as a chef.

Slawers was awarded the title by the National Bakers Academy in Weinheim Germany after a submitting a thesis for a new recipe for traditional Mosbolletjies. He also had to produce a loaf for the examiners.

This award winning internationally recognized program has been shaping the world’s top bread experts, introducing many years of bread culture and knowledge and guiding students to refine their sensory and tasting skills, as well as to master global bread styles.

It was hard work and Slawers had to juggle studying with managing a busy kitchen.

“Becoming the first bread sommelier in Africa kind of makes me feel happy because I put a lot of effort into becoming a bread sommelier. It was a year of hard work. I’ve been studying from when i was 18 years old and I’m 42 now, so it’s been a while, I had to open up my mind to new knowledge and for me it was kind of overwhelming, especially with a lot going on in the bakery, short staffed, a lot of work coming through and I had to manage time,” says Slawers.

Mosbolletjies were first introduced by the French Huguenots in 1688 when they settled in the Cape Winelands Franschhoek Valle. It is where the La Motte wine estate is located and where Slawers works as a master baker.

His Mosbolletjies are unique. People come from everywhere to taste his take on the bread which is a seasonal treat, only available while the vines are harvested.

The use of fermented grape must every by product is used and nothing goes to waste.

Slawers says: “I just like seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they eat the Mosbolletjie. There are a lot of positive comments coming through on the Mosbolletjie for years now and to showcase the new recipe for the next harvest to people, I just want to see the faces again by lighting up eating a Mosbolletjie.”

Producing the Mosbolletjies is a time consuming endeavour as the fermentation process takes longer than when producing other forms of bread.

The bread has to be baked at just the correct heat, if the oven is too hot, it becomes hard, if the oven is too cold, the bread becomes soggy. It is something many people struggle with in their households when they make this traditional bread.

The estate’s restaurant manager Jaap-Henk Koelewijn says: “That little bread has such a deep history and it just shows, it’s that is made from almost a waste product, it becomes a new product and at the end of the day, it almost has no waste because even if it dries, it becomes a rusk towards the end, so yes it is fantastic and people stand and queue for that bread and there is only a few available everyday.”

The limited batches of the bread can be eaten with anything, but most prefer it with a simple spread of butter.