Renata Marié Coetzee, née Marais, was born on 31 January 1930 in Reitzburg,
Orange Free State. She studied at at the universities of Stellenbosch (MSc
Nutrition), Potchefstroom (BSc Diet), Cornell USA (Dipl. Volume Catering) and
Michigan USA (Dipl. Volume Kitchen Design).
Renata has a long career researching and lecturing on the traditional food
cultures of South Africa. She was affiliated with the Universities of
Wisconsin (USA), Stellenbosch,
Pretoria and Potchefstroom, and wrote educational programmes on food preparation
and nutrition for TV.
Volume catering: Renata held the position of Director for nutrition and ethnic
catering for Anglo American Gold and Uranium Mines, producing also 250 000
meals daily. She was a consultant for industrial catering and published the
leading volume, Cost - Conscious Creative Catering For All Cultural Tastes, Recipes for 50 -
1000 portions.
She was invited as guest lecturer and presenter of traditional South African cuisine for the African Studies Group of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, and to South African embassies in China, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, USA, Malawi and Tanzania catering to international dignitaries.
Apart from her field of study Renata was interested in arts, theatre and South Africa's cultural history. She was married to Johan Marais and lived in Stellenbosch.
Renata Coetzee died on 27 Junie 2018 at the age of 88.
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