Trees on the
shore of the Gulf of Corinth
In
this week’s MENU:
Pears
in Red Wine with a Chocolate sauce 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.
How are you coping with winter and the power cuts? The
temptation is to hunker down in front of a fire or just stay in bed and eat
comfort food. But out we must go and enjoy what the Cape has to offer. We seem
to get most of our power cuts between 4 to 6.30 or 6 to 8.30 and Lynne now has
a strategy worked out. A long hot bath with a gin and a good book wearing a
head torch, then into the kitchen to cook a complicated but healthy meal on our
gas hob and oven. John has enough battery power on his computer to last through
almost the whole 2 and a half hours but he also enjoys reading. We will not let
this get us down, but it is affecting friends and colleagues in business badly
and we do wonder how long the country can tolerate this disruption.
To Simonsig to try on Tiaras
We had an early start to our trip to Simonsig,
as we had the offer of a very greatly appreciated lift. Some events are hard to
resist and the opportunity to taste through 7 vintages of this iconic
Bordeaux-style blend, Simonsig's flagship wine, was indeed irresistible.
Simonsig made their first serious red wine in 1984 from Cabernet Sauvignon and
Shiraz. In 1990, they made the first Tiara (released in 1992) and planted
Merlot and more Cabernet. Cabernet Franc was added in 1992 and in 1997 Petit
Verdot, after tasting Walter Finlayson's Grand Classique blend. Finally, in
2009, they added Malbec. Not all these grapes are used in each year's Tiara;
the blend does vary according to their quality and what they add to the blend,
and there have been some years when they didn't produce any. When Johan Malan
took over as cellarmaster in 1998, he started to make classic red wines, having
seen what Jan Boland Coetzee, Etienne Le Riche and other Stellenbosch wine
producers had produced. He likes the style that Pauillac makes, and wines with
the potential to last a long time.
Winemaker
Debbie Thompson is also passionate about quality wines. Her first vintage was
in 2000. They leave the grapes hanging longer on the vine these days, it
doesn't give you more sugar, just more depth. When to pick and press is
critically important. She says the most exciting part of her job is making the
blends. You play with the tannins which give the wine its longevity, search out
quality, know the characteristics of all the blocks and the put the best to
barrel. And they do vary the wood used: Mainly French oak, with small amounts
of American. She says it's like starting with Cabernet and then adding the salt
and the pepper.
Following the tasting we had an excellent lunch in
their restaurant Cuvée paired with more Simonsig wine. Read On....
Simonsig are having a Vintage day on the 15th of
August and you can buy tickets to taste and buy these vintage wines. Go to the
web site for more details. http://www.simonsig.co.za
Ed Saunders’ Fork restaurant has been
refurbished So, on Saturday night, a small crowd of
his loyal guests, suppliers and also friends joined him at a cocktail party to
celebrate the new space, introduce his new chef "Aristotle" and his
new manager Emma Farquharson. Fork, which is a tapas bar, has been open now for
10 years and he felt it needed a fresh approach. It was a very social evening
with lots of people we know, the Krone bubbly flowed like water and there was
also wine from Beaumont, Elgin Ridge, Rustenberg and Warwick, with just a few
canapés circulating overhead. Read on....
The Greek Odyssey continues
...
...with our last day in Athens and
then our arrival in Diakofto on the
Peloponnese and our visits to a local winery and restaurants
This week's recipe is Pears in Red Wine with a Chocolate sauce
Apples and pears are in season so it's one of the
instant things to reach for when thinking of a dessert. This is simple to
prepare and you can make it the day before to save time. If you can, use pears
that have their stalks on. And use a nice easy drinking wine, nothing too
sharp. You can use a corked wine as the taint disappears when it is cooked. Great
if you have a really good wine that you can’t drink because its corked. This is
for 4, double up if you need to.
4 firm pears - 1 bottle of red wine - 50g
of sugar - 2 cloves - 3cm piece of cinnamon - 1 cardamom pod, crushed - a
vanilla pod - 20g of chopped walnuts or pecans – 1 or 2 T sweetened chestnut
purée or Nutella
Peel the pears carefully, leaving the stalks on. Remove
the cores from the bottom, but do not break through to the surface of the
pears. Take a small deep pan and arrange the pears in it, standing up if
possible. Add the wine, which hopefully will cover the pears, sugar and the
spices. Stir and add more sugar if you need to, it will depend on the ripeness
of the peas and the wine. Simmer until the pears are soft but not falling
apart. If possible, leave them to cool overnight in the wine. This will give
them a lovely dark red colour. Mix the nuts with the chestnut puree and stuff
the pears.
Strain the wine and reduce it until you have a syrupy
sauce. Put a spoonful or two of the syrup into a pretty glass dish and top with
a pear. You may serve these warm or cold accompanied by a jug of the red wine
syrup, and the chocolate sauce, or with fresh cream if you prefer. If you want
to decorate, you could add a mint leaf next to the stalk of the pear.
Easy chocolate ganache sauce
1 bar of 70% dark chocolate - 250 ml of
fresh whipping cream
Break up the chocolate into a heat proof mixing bowl.
Heat the cream in a pan until it reaches boiling point and, before it boils
over, pour it directly onto the chocolate. Mix very well with a spoon and then,
with an electric whisk, beat it until it begins to thicken slightly. Serve warm
or cold.
COMING EVENTS:
Saturday,
11th July at 11:30 am "Old
oak vs new oak" Tasting & Barrel Lunch at Beaumont, Bot River. An informal tasting
and discussion with Sebastian on the influence of old & new oak on wine. Taste
some of Beaumont's finest wines from barrel. Zest will be firing up the Oak
Barrel Smoker for their delicious hot smoked salmon starter. A selection of
special wines from the cellar will pair with this delicious seasonal menu. Menu
& Wines @ R415 per head. Book online at http://www.beaumont.co.za/shop/beaumont-barrel-lunch-11th-july-2015/ or email nici@zestcatering.co.za
Saturday, 11th
& Sunday, 12th July Franschhoek
Bastille Festival
Food
& Wine Hall, situated at the Town Hall. Entry is R120 per
person, which includes a complimentary tasting glass, a booklet
of tasting coupons as well as a R20 wine voucher to be used on the day.
Additional coupons can be purchased on the day. Live entertainment will add
extra flare and fun Children under 18 enter for free. Visit the website at www.franschhoekbastille.co.za for more
info. Terms and Conditions apply
Saturday, 11th
& Sunday, 12th July Franschhoek
Bastille Festival, Food & Wine Marquee, situated at the
Huguenot Monument. Entrance tickets to the Franschhoek Bastille Festival Food
& Wine Marquee cost R200 per person, which includes a complimentary tasting
glass, a booklet of tasting coupons as well as a R20 wine voucher to be used on
the day. Additional coupons can be purchased on the day. Live entertainment
will add extra flare and fun. Visit the website at www.franschhoekbastille.co.za for more
info. Terms and Conditions apply
Sunday,
12th July Long Sunday
Lunch with Bertus Basson at Vondeling, Voor-Paardeberg. Cost: R245.00 per person. Booking is
essential. Contact Mariaan Harris on 021 869 8595, or email info@vondelingwines.co.za
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
1st July 2015
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.
If you like the photographs you see in our publications,
please look at our Adamastor
Photo website for our
rate card and samples from our portfolio
We apologise if MENU caused
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at that time, (s)he’s intruding on your valuable personal time.
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 our best policy. While every effort is
made to avoid mistakes, we are human and they do creep in occasionally, for
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