Blue hills of a late
afternoon in Mycenae. A sort of Trompe de l’oeil, certainly an optical illusion
In
this week’s MENU:
Winter
Fennel and Orange Salad 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
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version of MENU.
We continue our Greek Odyssey this week with our trip to ancient Corinth,
Mycenae.
We stay in a lovely hotel, eat lots of good Greek home-cooked food, made by
Mama, and see the more of wonders of the ancient Greek world in the Peloponnese
Read on.....
On the next day we ventured to Epidavros to see the grand
amphitheatre. Read On.....
Japanese Whisky We had
tasted Japanese whisky before, at a trade tasting but, as fans of the spirit, we
were very excited when we received an invitation to a tutored tasting of Nikka,
one of the early Japanese whiskies, first produced in 1934. It was held last
week in the presence of The Japanese Consulate Head of Mission, His Excellency
Mr Mitsuru Murase, at Kyoto Gardens restaurant at 11 Kloof Nek Road in Gardens.
Read on.....
Graciales at Peddlars When
last we were invited to the Italian restaurant, Volare, at Peddlars & Co on
the Spaanschemat River Road in Constantia, Chef Brad Ball told us that they had
plans to open other restaurants in the complex. Just a month ago, they opened
Graciales - the name is a blend of Gracias and Sociales and it's a tapas bar. We
were free on Friday, and could accept their invitation. Generously, they set a
cab to fetch us and we had a lovely evening with great food. Read on.....
This week's recipe is a Winter Fennel and Orange Salad Deep in the middle of winter with lots of
sustaining stews, soups and rib sticking food, we find that we start to long
for something fresh. Fennel is in season, so are oranges and this makes a
wonderful combination.
The zest of one orange - 1 T white wine
vinegar - 2 T olive oil - salt and freshly ground black pepper - 2 oranges - 2
Fennel bulbs - a packet of rocket or mixed salad leaves, well washed
Finely zest one of the oranges into a large bowl and
add the white wine vinegar and the olive oil. Season with salt and freshly
ground black pepper. Beat well till it emulsifies. Cut the peel and all the
pith off the oranges and, taking a sharp knife, cut out segments from the
oranges, leaving all the pith between the segments behind. Do this over the
dressing bowl, so that any orange juice drips into the dressing. Add the orange
segments from both oranges. Trim the ends off the fennel bulbs; take out the
root core, quarter and thinly slice them crosswise into the salad bowl. Stir
well. Put in the fridge to meld for at least an hour or two. Just before
serving, put the rocket on a serving plate and top with the salad.
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. R245 per person. Booking is essential. Contact Mariaan
Harris on 021 869 8595, or email info@vondelingwines.co.za
Thursday, 16th July: Italy’s
Langhe at
Caroline’s Fine Wine Cellar. Caroline will present ten wines: Sarotto Gavi
‘Bric Sassi’ 2014 (R165),
Antoniotti Bramaterra 2011 (R379),
Borgogno Dolcetto d’Alba 2014 (R195), Brezza Barbera d’Alba 2011 (R315),
Giovanni Rosso Barolo Serralunga d’Alba 2011 (R515), Punset
Barbaresco ‘Basarin’ 2010 (R580), Cascina Luisin Barbaresco ‘Rabaja’
2011 (R680), Fr. Alessandria Barolo San Lorenzo 2011 (R635), Borgogno Barolo
Cannubi Riserva 2009 (R595), Cerutti Moscato d’Asti ‘Suri Sandrinet’ 2014 (R235). R300 p/p to be held at Caroline’s
Fine Wine Cellar, 62 Strand Street, Cape Town and start at 18h15 for 18h30
prompt. To book,
please fill in the
booking form.
Friday, 24th July at 19h00 Italian Dinner at Ottimo Cibo. Nikki Booth spends many weeks a year at her home
in Orvieto, understands Italian cooking deeply and passionately, and put
Caroline Rillema and her together at one table and you have a veritable feast
of food and wine. A 4-course meal served with (all top end single-vineyard)
Gavi, Barbaresco, Barolo; then Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Moscato
d’Asti. R900 p/p all included. At 15 Winchester Avenue, Kirstenbosch, Cape
Town. To book, please
fill in the booking form.
Wednesday, 29th July, 17h00 to
21h00 Caroline's
Annual Red Wine Review at the Table Bay Hotel. R200 p/p which
includes a crystal tasting glass & programme. Bookings open at Computicket now (no bookings through
shop)
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
8th 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
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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,
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