Farm Shop
With a firm grounding in the farm’s rich heritage, yet with an eye to innovation, the Babylonstoren Farm Shop is a reflection of our contemporary, unhurried farm lifestyle. Visitors to Babylonstoren can enjoy the products in our restaurants and also buy them in our Farm Shop or online.
FINE LIVING
Scented Room
The captivating Scented Room is a quiet oasis where guests can experience the lingering scent of waterblommetjies, clivias and fynbos, to name a few. These and other botanicals are used by our in-house compounder Gavin Hendriks and his team to create our range of fragrant bath and body products. The olive oil soap, for example, is made from 70% pure olive oil, cold-extracted from our very own harvest. We also distil our own essential oils from farm-harvested botanicals daily. Visit this space to see the essential oil extraction process in action, or come and make your own scrub and mask.
Homeware
Directed by the ever-changing tapestry and seasonal abundance of our garden, our fine living home decor and essentials are a reflection of simplicity and functionality. Each item in our range is a labour of love nurtured by skilled hands and brought to life by the thoughtful selection of materials and ingredients. Our classic homeware items are inspired by the farm, such as enchanting table linens printed with images from the garden throughout the seasons.
FARM FRESH
Milk Room
Our cheesemaker honed her skills in Italy and is constantly developing her range using the best farm ingredients. We specialise in fresh cheese made from full cream milk. The rich, white milk used in all our water buffalo products comes from our own herd of water buffalo cows. We use this, as well as the finest full cream Jersey milk, to make fresh, soft cheeses and other dairy products by hand every day. Our water buffalo gelato is a favourite, as is our unique ‘hang op’ yoghurt cheese. Other cheeses from our larder include aged cheeses from our dairy-farming neighbours as well as a few imported delights.
Meat Room
When the Dutch settlers arrived in South Africa in the 17th century, they brought with them recipes to cure and preserve meat. What began as a necessity turned into a much-loved delicacy. For our biltong, droëwors and boerewors we strictly use traditional South African recipes, while Italian principles are followed for curing and charcuterie. We also make smoked bacon and offer premium cuts of aged Chianina beef, an age-old Italian breed of cattle. Our maturation room is lined with Himalayan salt tiles and operates at exactly 6°C. The salt helps to evaporate excess water and, since fresh meat has a high water content, this serves to concentrate and enhance the flavour.
Bakery
Every day our bakers arrive before the crack of dawn to create loaves of bread to serve at Babel, to sell in the Farm Shop and for sandwiches served at the Greenhouse. Only the best stoneground flour is used, with no added chemicals or preservatives. For select loaves, we use our own sourdough starter to leaven the bread. This not only enhances the taste but also adds nutritional value. Fresh croissants along with a host of sweet and savoury delicacies are baked fresh daily by our skilled baker Peachy Jacobs and her team.
Lekker Room
In the same 18th-century building that originally housed the blacksmith, stables and waenhuis (wagon house), we have the Lekker Room – a tantalising space of flavours where we roast almonds, macadamias and pecan nuts. Other irresistible reasons to drop by include steaming coffee and vegan fudge, four different types of chocolate, sweet and savoury granola, citrus and almond rusks and everything in between. The Afrikaans adjective "lekker" means tasty or describes anything fun or pleasurable. And the noun "lekker" refers to sweets (candy).
