Smoke from the dying
fires above Buitenverwachting wine estate
and Groot Constantia
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.
This week, there have been so many events, tours,
tastings and festivals that we have had no time to do more than take notes and
photographs. Editing and publication need to wait for next week.
The biggest, most devastating event of the week has
been the horrific fires in the South Peninsula. We went to a tasting in
Constantia last night and took these photographs. By the time we were there, it
appeared that the fires were finally under control after heroic activity by the
firefighters since Sunday morning. Our hearts go out to everyone who lost property,
memories, livelihoods and even life.
Cape Talk Radio started a fund yesterday and has already collected
more than R3 million which will go to training firefighters and buying better
equipment. You can contribute by going to their website and pledging. Look for " How
to donate to the Fire Relief Fund" http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/1967/fire-relief-fund
Thousands of visitors are here for the annual Cycle
Tour. We welcome them all and wish them well. Sadly, because of damage caused
by the fire, Chapman’s Peak Drive has had to be closed and the race shortened
from 109Km to 47 Km.
Next week, we will be back to normal and we will send
you a bumper edition.
Have a wonderful weekend
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.
Emma Freddi runs
the Enrica Rocca cooking courses at her
home in Constantia.
6th March 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 our best policy. While every effort
is made to avoid mistakes, we are human and they do creep in occasionally, for
which we apologise. Our Avast! ® Anti-Virus software is updated at
least daily and our system is scanned continually for viruses.
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