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A tranquil Hemel en Aarde
evening
In
this week’s MENU:
Between Heaven and Earth Competition:
Win a pair of tickets for Franschhoek Summer Wines Festival RIP Francois Conradie This week’s recipe: watermelon, onion, feta
salad Riesling Rocks, Starlight Classics and more events
Follow
this link to see our Main Ingredient blogs, because to tell our whole
story here would take too much space. Click on Bold words in the text of this edition to open links to pictures, blogs,
pertinent websites or more information.
This week’s Product menu: Many of us enjoyed
some wonderful things to eat and drink in the past month or so and we are
hearing the word “diet” all round us. This immediately makes one think of
salads. And many of us think “boring”! They don’t have to be, especially when
one uses good, interesting oils and vinegars, like argan, hazelnut and walnut
oils and some of the wonderfully flavourful vinegars we have. These include the
delicious and ever-popular balsamic raspberry vinegar from Protea Hill Farm and
the Spanish sherry vinegars. Have a look at them here and order now.
Between Heaven and Earth It is wonderful to visit a
wine route and to see such impressive improvement in the wines in their style
and quality. The Hemel and Aarde has always produced good wines; they seem to
stick with what they grow best. Now we are finding some that are truly exceptional,
and there is a such marked rise in quality and enjoyment throughout at some farms.
Terroir plays a huge part, but so do very careful and knowledgeable viticulture
and wine making. They know and really understand their area, its climate and
its assets and drawbacks and are maximising every worthwhile aspect to aid the
production of these wines. Platter’s Red wine of the year, Windansea Pinot
Noir, comes from Newton Johnson and the accolade is so deserved. We spent a lot of time with
winemakers discussing what they are trying to do and learned a lot more about
an area we know and love to visit.
They tell us that sales are
up, despite the recession and the prolonged road building in the area. The dirt
road between Hermanus and Caledon is being turned into a good tarred road, some
parts will be dual carriageway, but it is taking a very long time. Now the
developer seems to have stalled at a crucial point and no one is sure what will
happen next. The current dirt road should not deter you however; we had a
couple of very easy trips up and down it, and apparently it has not deterred
other visitors over the holiday period.
After this last, wonderful
wet winter, we all assumed that the Cape would have a great harvest but, sadly,
with the recent rains and escalating heat and damp from wet earth, many farms, all
over the Western Cape, are having to deal with severe mildew and late ripening.
The start of the harvest will definitely be moving into February in many areas.
All the grapes we have seen in the last couple of weeks are still very small
and the reds had not yet started to colour.
We have not had a proper
break for quite a while and we needed some country air. We have a friend here
from Greece, who asked us to take him on a wine tour, so it seemed sensible to
put the two together. We have wonderful friends who own a lovely country
cottage in the Hemel and Aarde Valley who said we could borrow it again. Everything
started to fall into place. A quick collection of some interesting and some
traditional food, a little baking; we filled the car with food, things to
imbibe and books to read, hats, suntan lotion, anti-mosquito deterrent and
there we were for three mid-week days. The weather was perfect at a max of 34
degrees, there were nice cooling breezes, and lots of birds to watch.
On the way to the cottage,
we called in at Paul Cluver which is exactly one hour from our front door.
Royally welcomed to their tasting room, which is full of wonderful pieces of a
huge ancient yellowwood tree from the farm, turned into the counter and tables.
We tasted through their wonderful wines.
Then we made a quick
stop at the Houwhoek Farm stall and purchased three delicious homemade pepper
steak pies and some crisp, syrupy koeksisters for dessert that evening. This is
always a good authentic place to stop for refreshment.
Onward down the
sweeping pass to the Bot River valley and then a left turn approaching
Hermanus, brought us into the valley where Heaven and Earth meet. We had a
quick lunch on the cottage stoep, taking in the wonderful views of the
mountains, consumed the pies and some refreshments, and were off up the valley
to visit Ataraxia, owned by Kevin Grant and then went further up the valley to
Creation to taste through their wines. Click here to continue to our story of the first day.
We prepared an authentic
South African braai (barbecue) for our friend Terry, which we enjoyed on the
stoep, drank a few more good wines and then had an early night in preparation
for yet more sensational wines the next day.
Our first port of call was
Bouchard Finlayson where we were so kindly taken through the wines on their
list and a few more besides by Peter Finlayson, the winemaker. Onward to Newton
Johnson just in time for lunch at the relatively new Restaurant where chef Eric
Bulpitt, previously of the Roundhouse in Camps Bay, is earning a fine
reputation for his innovative food. We then had a full and generous tasting of
the Newton Johnson wines in the tasting room with Bevan Newton Johnson. Click here to read about this and the food.
We meant to go down to the
sea that afternoon, hoping to see some whales, but were in need of some quiet
contemplation and relaxation, so postponed it to the next day.
Next morning we called in
at Sumaridge and did a tasting of their wines. Were we beginning to flag? Then
it was off to the beachfront in Hermanus to scan the sea for sadly absent
whales and spot some good seabirds. It isn't really a good time of the year to
see whales. There should be more in March when they start returning from Antarctica.
Then we rather fancied some
fish and chips, so we went off to a restaurant in the harbour which we have
written about before: Harbour Rock. Wow, so not a purveyor of simple
fish and chips now. The restaurant still looks used and faded and, speaking
kindly, could perhaps be described as shabby chic, but they seem to want to
attract a more moneyed crowd and their prices now seem more than we might pay
in town. A plate of kingklip (on the orange Sassi list) was R170 and the menu
focussed on Asian food and sushi, with a few fish and seafood dishes written on
a blackboard. So sad, when they are right on the harbour and have access to
lots of fresh fish and seafood. We decided it was no longer for us and headed
off to another old favourite, Milkwood at Onrus where, for the small sum of
R380 for three with coffees and tip, we got exactly what we fancied: a large
portion of extra fresh hake – two in beer batter, one grilled, good chips and a
bottle of a good local wine that matched perfectly - Beaumont
Raoul’s Jackal's River White. Click here for the complete story
Competition: Win a pair tickets for
Franschhoek Summer Wines Festival We have two pairs of tickets for this
exciting wine festival being held at Leopards Leap Estate in Franschhoek on Saturday 8th February. Participating
wineries include, amongst others, La Bri, Morena, Môreson, Anthonij Rupert
Wines, Bellingham, Noble Hill, Leopard’s Leap, La Motte, Solms-Delta, Haute Cabrière,
Grande Provence, Cape Chamonix and Boekenhoutskloof.
All you have to do is send us an email with your name,
address and telephone contact details and answer this simple question. Your
entry will go into a draw and two lucky winners will be drawn. Closing date
will be next Thursday January 23rd and we will email the winners
direct. They will be announced in MENU next week.
Question: Name the owner of the estate which will
be the Festival venue.
During the previous weekend we were treated to dinner
at La Bohème, our favourite casual bistro in Sea Point. See the photographs of the meal here.
RIP Francois Conradie
We were distressed this week to learn about the death of Muratie’s
winemaker Francois Conradie, after a short battle with cancer. Rijk Melck,
Muratie’s owner, wrote a moving tribute to him, which you can see here. Our
condolences on the loss of a fine young man go to the Melck and Conradie
families.
This week’s recipe is a salad Lynne made as our contribution
to a New Year party. It is lovely and fresh and light and goes very well with
most foods. We had it with delicious fresh poached salmon.
Small red onion – 30 ml lime juice - 1.5 kg
ripe watermelon – 250g feta cheese - 100g black calamata olives - good handful
of fresh mint - good handful of fresh flat leaf parsley - 4 T extra virgin
olive oil - black pepper
Peel and thinly slice a small red onion. Marinade this
in lime juice for at least one hour. Cut watermelon into roughly 2.5 cm cubes
and remove all the pips. Cut the feta
cheese into similar sized cubes. Stone the olives and cut in half. Roughly chop
the mint and parsley. Combine everything
in a large salad bowl and pour over the lime juice with the onion and olive oil. Add a good grinding of black
pepper. Mix gently but well. Rest in fridge for a couple of hours for the
flavours to blend.
Riesling Rocks etc A highlight this month will
be the annual Riesling Rocks festival at Hartenberg on Saturday, January 25th.
We have not been able to enjoy it properly in the past because we worked in the
market on Saturdays, but this time we will be able to enjoy a relaxed day at Hartenberg
and we look forward to seeing you there. Another, on March 1st, will be the
annual Starlight Concert at Vergelegen. Find them and the others, including
several Valentine’s Day ideas in our Events Calendar.
Buying from us On Line We have a lot of fun putting MENU together each week and, of course, doing
the things we write about, but making it possible for you to enjoy rare and
wonderful gourmet foods is what drives our business. We stock a good range of ingredients and delicious ready-made
gourmet foods. You can contact us by email or phone, or through our on line shop. We can send your requirements
to you anywhere in South Africa. Please do not pay until we have confirmed availability and
invoiced you, then you pay and then we deliver or post. When you make an eft payment,
make sure that it says who you are. Use the form on the website to email us
your order. Click here to see our OnLine Shop.
There is a huge and rapidly growing
variety of interesting things to occupy your leisure time here in the Western
Cape. There
are so many interesting things to do in our world of food and wine that we have
made separate list for each month for which we have information. To see what’s happening in our world of
food and wine (and a few other cultural events), visit
our Events Calendar.
All the events are listed in date order and we already have a large number of
exciting events to entertain you right through the year. Events outside the Western Cape are listed here.
Learn about wine and cooking We receive a lot of enquiries from people who want to learn more
about wine.
Cathy Marston and The Cape Wine Academy both run wine
education courses, some very serious and others more geared to fun. You can see
details of Cathy’s WSET and other courses here
and here and the CWA courses here.
Chez Gourmet in Claremont has a programme of cooking classes. A calendar of their classes can be seen here. Pete Ayub, who made our very popular Prego
sauce, runs evening cooking classes at Sense of
Taste, his catering company in Maitland. We can recommend them very
highly, having enjoyed his seafood course. Check
his programme here. Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse has cooking
classes in Fish Hoek and conducts cooking tours to Normandy. You can see more details here. Emma Freddi runs the Enrica Rocca cooking courses at her
home in Constantia. Brett Nussey’s Stir
Crazy courses are now being run from Dish Food and
Social’s premises in Main Road Observatory (opposite Groote Schuur hospital).
Lynn Angel runs the Kitchen Angel
cooking school and does private dinners at her home. She holds hands-on cooking
classes for small groups on Monday and Wednesday evenings. She trained with
Raymond Blanc, and has been a professional chef for 25 years. More info here
17th January 2014
Remember - if you can’t find something, we’ll do our best
to get it for you, and, if you’re in Cape Town or elsewhere in the country, we
can send it to you! Check our online shop for details and prices.
PS If a word or name is in bold type and underlined,
click on it for more information
Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656
4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005
Our Adamastor
& Bacchus© tailor-made Wine, Food and Photo tours take small groups (up to 6) to specialist wine
producers who make the best of South Africa’s wines. Have fun while you learn
more about wine and how it is made! Tours can be conducted in English, German,
Norwegian and standard or Dutch flavoured Afrikaans.
Recommendations
of products and outside events are not solicited or
charged for, and are made at the authors’ pleasure. All photographs,
recipes and text used in these newsletters and our
blogs are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus.
Our restaurant reviews are usually unsolicited. We prefer to pay for our meals
and not be paid in any way by anyone. Whether we are invited or go
independently, we don’t feel bad if we say we didn’t like it. Honesty is indeed
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