SUSTAINABLE LIVING ON THE ZAMBEZI
Our assets expand with the nourishment of our awareness - when we collaborate, when we respect, when we share, when we heal
I am an award-winning chef and writer working between food, place and story.
I live with my husband, Chris, on a farm in Zambia's Zambezi Valley, upstream from Victoria Falls. Here, on the banks of one of Africa's most iconic rivers, life is shaped by the rhythms of the seasons, the abundance of the land, and the people who call this place home. My work is rooted in a simple belief: that food is inseparable from place, community and nature. Through my philosophy of Bush Gourmet, I celebrate ingredients gathered from the wild, sourced from local markets and village harvests, grown on our farm and nurtured in my regenerative organic garden. Every ingredient carries a story of the landscape, the growers, the foragers and the traditions that sustain it.
Our farm is more than a place of production. It is a living ecosystem where agriculture, conservation, education and community come together, where we are all part of a shared story of stewardship and belonging.
Through my writing and food, collaborating with visiting chefs and winemakers, as well as local artisans and storytellers, I hope to inspire a deeper connection to this extraordinary landscape in which we thrive.
— Annabel Hughes Aston
FROM MY TABLE TO YOURS
A journey into shared tables, inimitable ingredients and the flavours of southern Zambia.
A true farm-to-table journey, with ingredients grown, harvested and processed right here on the farm.
Nurtured in my garden, harvested with the seasons.
Seasonal treasures foraged from nature's pantry. Discover a field guide to the edible landscapes.
From market stalls to village gardens, a celebration of seasonal abundance and local knowledge.
Cultivating opportunity beyond the kitchen by supporting our farm school, local outgrowers and community initiatives.
Celebrating seasonal ingredients through exceptional wine pairings and creative exchanges with visiting chefs from around the world.
AS FEATURED IN
THE SHAPE OF BELONGING - A Memoir
Published by Jonathan Ball Publishers in South Africa on April 1, 2027.
The Shape of Belonging traces one extraordinary life across five decades, four continents, three careers and two human hearts. From mid-century colonial Africa to rural Ireland, from Zimbabwe’s wars to the corridors of power in London and Washington, DC, from a failed utopia in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, to the simplicity of foraging in desert and forest, and finally to a beloved farm on a remote corner of Zambia’s Zambezi Valley.
What shapes our belonging? The benediction of rain on dry earth, its arrival, its smell, its promise? Wars, politics, corruption and our resistance? An old friendship becoming a new love?
This is a memoir of displacement and homecoming, of family wounds across borders, of grief like a fault line through life, of friendship and collaboration, of the clash of ambition and justice, of food and comfort, intimacy and love and of the numinous blessings of human community.
Brave, lyrical and searingly honest, The Shape of Belonging is the story of a life lived between worlds and of the world found within a life. Belonging is not always inheritance. Nor a place on the map. It is also choice, creativity, commitment and discovery, rooted in the heart and given freely wherever it is found.
Watch this space for updates on book launches, tours and readings!
Follow me @savannabelbushgourmet
