In
this week’s MENU:
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 of our story, 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
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A day by the Sea
with Fish and Chips The Cape has so many
wonderful places to visit we find we do unwittingly neglect some of them and
rather take them for granted. We have
not been to visit the seaside ports on the other side of the peninsula for at
least three years and thought it was time.
So on a lovely Saturday last week we took along some friends and had a
marvellous day out in Kalk Bay and Simonstown.
Read on
The Franschhoek
Cellar New Venue Launch The
Franschhoek Cellar is a familiar landmark as you enter Franschhoek but how many
of us have actually visited it? DGB
(Douglas Green Bellingham) produce, wholesale and distribute wines and spirits
including familiar names like Boschendal, Bellingham, & Douglas Green,
acquired this winery several years ago and MD Tim Hutchinson was keen for them
to redevelop this iconic building as a tasting, function and sales venue to
compliment the winery.
They have much improved the
outside facilities as well. On Monday
night we drove through to Franschhoek for the launch of The Venue. Read On
The 2015 AfrAsia
Bank Cape Wine Auction, which took place on Saturday 14th February, ascended
to new heights when an astounding R10.565 million was raised for education in
the Cape Winelands, achieving a significant 50% increase on the R7.045 million
raised at the inaugural 2014 Auction. The entire proceeds of the 2015 Auction,
without offset or deduction, will go to the Auction beneficiaries, charities
actively involved with education, from infancy to adulthood, across the Western
Cape. For more information, see www.thecapewineauction.com
This
week’s recipe: Beer Batter for Fish
This makes very crisp and
crunchy batter with a flavour when making deep-fried fish or battered seafood
or vegetables. Season with salt and
pepper but you can add other spices and herbs according to your taste, even
paprika – smoked or sweet, chilli, garlic powder, etc.
If you don’t want to use beer
you can use soda water instead. Make
sure they are ice cold.
Canola oil for
frying - 285 ml Bottle of cold beer - 225g cups self raising flour, plus more
for dusting - seasoning to taste
Season whatever you are going
to batter first, and then set aside. This helps to remove moisture.
Heat your oil to 190°C this is
one of the secrets of this dish. Whisk
the beer, flour, and seasoning together until it resembles thick double cream
and use immediately. Dust the food with
a little flour to stop the batter sliding off, then dip into the batter a piece
at a time and slide carefully into the hot oil. You need to fry just a few
things at a time. Fry for approximately
4 minutes until the batter is beautifully crisp and golden. Serve immediately.
Always improved by a good slice of lemon to squeeze over the dish and, if fish,
with some tartare sauce. This batter is
enough for four servings of fish.
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
Chez Gourmet in Claremont has a programme of cooking classes. A calendar of their classes can be seen here.
In addition to the
new 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.
26th February 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.
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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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