A Clifton
evening. Looking toward Oudekraal and Llandudno
In
this week’s MENU:
Canapés with a tasting of Creation wines Cape Sun Hotel Veritas 25th Anniversary Celebrations Taste of Cape Town competition Biltong and Pinotage Festival Crustless Melktert Learn about wine and cooking
We write about
our experiences in MENU, not only to entertain you, but to encourage you to
visit the places and events that we do. We know you will enjoy them and we try
to make each write up as graphic as we can, so you get a good picture of what
is on offer at each place, restaurant, wine farm, festival we visit.
To get the whole story with photographs,
please click on “Read on.....” at the end of each paragraph, which will
lead you to the related blog, with pictures and more words. At the end of each
blog, click on RETURN
TO MENU to come back to the blog version of MENU.
We wish a very happy and peaceful Easter
and Passover to all our readers
Miles for Style Do you travel a lot? Do you accumulate Air
Miles? Are you a South African Airways Voyager member? Do you never redeem your
miles earned on travel? Miles for Style is another innovative way to use them.
They offer luxury goods, travel, experiences and so much more in exchange for
your miles. Investigate and register here: https://milesforstyle.com/ We were
at the official launch at Le Franschhoek last week Read On
Canapés with a
tasting of Creation wines – a recommendation John had a great two day photographic job
last week, taking photographs for Benguela Cove
Lagoon Wine Estate’s brochure and web site. That was why MENU was so early last week, as
we decided to take our Dutch friends with us and stay in the Hemel and Aarde
Valley, so that he didn’t have to drive back and forth from Cape Town after
long working days.
We ventured out to Creation (without
John) as our friends love these wines and order them in Holland. While we were
there, we had their canapé tasting for lunch. When next you visit, try this
great tasting menu of excellent morsels, cold and hot, paired with their wines;
we absolutely loved it. See it here. The good news is that the
road there, which has been under construction for longer than Carolyn Martin
wants to think about, is nearly fully tarred; it was all ready to go last week,
so it may well be done in time for Easter.
Imibala
Restaurant We ate some lovely food this
week at a new restaurant/deli in Somerset West called Imibala. The Imibala
Trust, a Gaynor Rupert philanthropic initiative started 15 years ago, is a
charity that provides scholarships, uniforms and supplementary educational training
to children in financial need. They ask donors to give a child R1000 and every
penny of this is spent on the child and is accounted for. The Imibala
Restaurant and Arts (Pty) Ltd is a company that runs a restaurant, shop and
gallery and this company's activities are separate from the activities
conducted by the Imibala Trust. It is the income from these businesses that
supports the charity by donating funds from time to time and by hosting events
for the charity.
We were invited by Ian Downie,
who is a member of the trust and who runs the restaurant, to join him for a
delightful lunch this week with other members of the media. Read On
Neil Ellis
Sundowner This Friday sundowner must be
one of the best value events in the winelands. We were invited there last
Friday evening and the next one will be on the 17th April. From 4 till 8, you
watch the sun set over Ida’s Valley in Stellenbosch and drink a glass or two of
wine, with a huge charcuterie & cheese platter for two for only R99.
Booking is essential. http://www.neilellis.com Read On.
Yonder Hill Winemaker Abé Beukes moved to Yonder Hill
two years ago from Darling Cellars and he is enjoying his tenure at this farm,
established by the Naude family in 1997. The draw card was a tasting of some of
their Inanda (place of Beauty in Zulu), a Bordeaux blend, and then to have some
fun, blending some of the new wines to see if our media blends compared with
the professionals! Our table didn’t make the winning blend but we came a close joint
second with two other tables. Read On
Cape Tourism and
Hospitality Exhibition This was
held at the Cape Sun this week and we had a chance to listen to a presentation
by Enver Duminy, Head of Cape Town Tourism with his innovative strategy for
tourism in our great city. We also met several new tourism people on their
stands and did a lot of networking. We hope to visit some of these areas and
places soon and write about them. Read on
Cape Sun Hotel,
Strand Street Great news also from the GM
of the hotel is that Tsogo Sun are about to spend 200 million Rand refurbishing
this central city landmark. It so needs it. And they will be able to provide
in-house parking at last.
Veritas 25th
Anniversary Celebrations The Veritas
Awards are celebrating 25 years with a series of dinners this year. The next
one will be at the Cullinan Hotel's Peach Tree Restaurant on 14th April at 18h30.
The draw card for us is that top chef Bertus Basson is doing the food for this
one and we are very sorry indeed that we cannot be there because of a previous
commitment. Act now! Dinner will be expertly paired with a selection of recent
Veritas gold and double gold winning wines. The dinner will be hosted by
Veritas vice-chairperson and well-known Cape Wine Master, Bennie Howard.
Tickets cost R350 per person and bookings can be made by contacting Liesl Els
on 021 415 4000 or liesl.els@tsogosun.com
Taste of Cape
Town competition The Taste of Cape Town festival
will happen again on 10th to 12th April at the Green Point Cricket Club and we are
lucky enough to be able to offer you the chance to win one of five pairs of
standard tickets. Each ticket includes entry for two people, but no meal or
drinks vouchers. All you need to do is answer this simple question by Tuesday 7th
and email your answer to us. We will then draw the five lucky winners from a
hat and you will be notified by us and receive your tickets electronically direct
from the organisers, so that you can book your session.
Question: Name one other city in South Africa
where this festival has been held
Biltong and
Pinotage Festival Get your tickets for this
fun festival to be held at L’Avenir wine farm on April 18th. Tickets at R150 pp
are available from www.plankton.mobi
or selected J&M Stores
Lynne thought you might like
to make THIS WEEK’S RECIPE for Easter, when we
traditionally have family to entertain.
Crustless
Melktert
This traditional South African
tart is, apparently, originally from Holland - with the spice added here by our
Cape Malay cooks. This recipe is more like a clafouti than a tart. The addition
of flour to the batter and then the whipped egg white, makes it light and
fluffy on top, while it sets like a clafouti on the bottom, making it easy to
cut and serve.
1 cup white sugar -
3 eggs, separated - 3 tablespoons melted butter & 1 T extra to butter dish
- 1 cup cake flour - 1 teaspoon baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon salt - 1 teaspoon real
vanilla extract - 4 cups milk - 1 tablespoon cinnamon – a good grating of
nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Butter
a 23 cm wide, deep pie dish.
In a large bowl, beat together
the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the butter and beat until
smooth. Sift in the cake flour, baking powder and salt, and stir until well
blended. Fold in the vanilla and milk. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites
to stiff peaks using an electric mixer. Fold gently into the batter. It will be
very liquid - this is normal. Pour into the prepared pie dish, and sprinkle the
cinnamon and nutmeg over the top. Set aside to rest for 20 minutes in the
fridge. This allows more of the flour to sink to the bottom.
Bake for 25 minutes in the
preheated oven, then reduce the temperature to 165°C, then continue to bake for
25 to 30 minutes, or until the centre is just set, it should have a little
wobble. Serve hot or cold.
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. Karen Glanfield has taken
over the UnWined
wine appreciation courses from Cathy. See the details here
The Hurst Campus, an accredited school for people who want to become
professional chefs, has a variety of courses. See the details here
In addition to his
Sense
of Taste Culinary Arts School, Chef Peter Ayub runs a
four module course for keen home cooks at his Maitland complex. Details
here
Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse has French cooking classes in Noordhoek
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
Nicolette van
Niekerk runs baking courses at La Petite Patisserie in Montague
Gardens
George Jardine
will be running a series of winter cooking courses and other activities at Jordan.
Details here
2nd April 2015
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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