.: 06/05/13

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Franschhoek Artisan Food Route: bread and cake tasting at Sacred Ground

The shop front just off Franschhoek’s Main Road

On the wall, a menu with some good specials

The spread of products they make, bake and sell - laid out for the media visit

There were some very exciting things, like the caprese salad on a stick and their wonderful breads and cakes

And so we begin. Joanne Gibson, Chris von Ulmenstein await the talk about the restaurant

Owner Sannette Koopman and her baker give us the story of her bakery

Red velvet cakes topped with baby macaroons

Sensational buttery croissant slices with a herb oil and some humus

Very good soft fresh bagels and olive topped focaccia

Cheesy baguette

Local cheese dusted with paprika

A rather sweet ‘health’ bar. Definitely one for when you have a sugar craving

The counter with the cheese fridge, covered in preserves, with a view of the bakery at the back

A selection of the local products they sell

The cake fridge with the large selection

More cakes and muffins to go

We bought one of their excellent olive ciabatta loaves to take home and it has lasted well and not gone hard after the first day

Very buttery chocolate croissants

A selection of their breads and rolls. We think the prices are very reasonable for the quality they are producing

Franschhoek Artisan Food Route: Coffee with Dutch East

Dutch East Restaurant and Beans about Coffee Bar and Roastery on the Main Road in Franschhoek on a very wet winter day. Lots of seats and tables outside for better weather

Inside is warm with the double sided wood burning stove and fragrant with coffee smells

Many different varieties of freshly roasted beans to purchase by the kilo

Our teacher for the morning, coffee guru Pasch du Plooy, explained everything we needed to know about growing and roasting and making good coffee

And while we learn his assistants behind the counter produced cups of great coffee for us to sample

Raw coffee beans from all over the world awaiting roasting by Pasch

The magnificent coffee roasting machine, which completes the whole process in approximately 15 minutes for 5 kilos of beans.

When the beans have been roasted to perfection, they are poured into this stirring section, which quickly cools them to prevent the roasting process going any further.

They are right across the road from the Town Hall

These beans have been roasted for just a short while and you can see the change in colour as the caramelisation starts to happen

The roast is complete and the beans come pouring out of the roaster

And are quickly stirred to cool. The fragrance is wonderful and fills the room.

Coffee beans at different stages: the green beans are the raw beans, then slightly roasted (still unfinished), medium roasted (still unfinished) and finally the final roast.

A good cup of Guatemalan black coffee full of earthy figgy caramel nut flavours with a superb crema, accompanied by a restaurant baked apricot tart with wonderful pastry