A bee collecting nectar from a lavender flower.
Hillcrest Estate, Durbanville
That was the Year... It has been very busy, very exciting (not
always in the way we’d like) and now it is time to take a break. Actually, we
took one last week and spent the time next to a West Coast beach, reading
books, enjoying good food and wine and letting the stress ooze out of our
pores. So, this is the last issue of MENU for 2016. We’ll be back in about
mid-January, having rested, celebrated and done essential things round the
house which we didn’t have time for during the year
Have a wonderful Christmas holiday and let us all wish for a
less disruptive year in 2017·
- · Marigold Restaurant
- Jordan Summer Festival
- · Elgin Tweet Up Christmas Lunch at the Pool Room on Oak Valley
- · Asara
- · Flagstone Wines goes Theatrical
- · Honouring the old and embracing the new at Nederburg
- · Onion Tart from Alsace
- · Wine of the week: Lanzerac Brut Blanc de Blanc MCC
Jordan
Summer Festival Each year, in late November, Gary and Kathy Jordan hold
an open day on their wine estate in Stellenbosch Kloof. There is a small
entrance fee which is used to help finance animal rescue facilities in
Stellenbosch and guests are encouraged to bring dog food, cat food, old
blankets for those facilities
Flagstone
Wines goes Theatrical, launching new Inner City Tasting Experience If you want to taste Flagstone wines in
Cape Town, you no longer have to go out to the winelands. They have now opened
The Flagstone Tasting Room at The Rockwell Hotel in Green Point. We were
summoned to be at the venue at 4.30 precisely, handed a glass of wine and then
ushered into the theatre there (who knew there was a theatre at the Rockwell?).
What followed was a very amusing piece of theatre as they launched their new
wines to music, poetry and tasting in the dark! It was hilarious and great fun
Elgin
Tweet Up Christmas Lunch at the Pool Room on Oak Valley We join a merry band of media and
bloggers regularly through the year to taste and tweet about different Elgin
wines. We are always impressed, it is such a great area for South African wine.
Recently the Elgin Valley invited us all to a thank you lunch in Elgin and a
tasting of some of the best wines we have tweeted about this year. To follow us
on Twitter and learn more about Elgin wines in the new year: @MAININGMENU &
@MenuLynne
Asara Some invitations are worth waiting for.
We were invited to stay at Asara a few months ago but, as we were both
travelling and working, our dates and GM Pete Gottgens’ didn't collide and he
so wanted to be there when we came, as we are old acquaintances. We had a great
overnight stay there with dinner in their top restaurant, Mise en Place, at the
beginning of December. We have to admit that we hadn't visited Asara for many
years and we are so impressed at the many changes that have been made since
then. When we last visited, they were a boutique hotel with just a few rooms;
now they have a 41 roomed five star hotel, with three places to dine, a gin bar
and, of course, their wine. The views are pretty special too
Honouring
the old and embracing the new at Nederburg We were invited, along with other
media, to get our hands into old soil and plant new vines at Nederburg "a
special vine planting event to honour the 225-year legacy of the winery’s
founder, Phillipus Wolvaart, who acquired the Paarl farm in 1791." So
there we were in our sensible shoes, hats and covered in sun block prepared for
the journey to the top of a hill on a very warm and sunny morning
Happy Holidays We had
some friends to our house for a summer lunch recently and Lynne made a classic
French Onion Tart. It is very, very simple and quick to make, great if you have
vegetarians to feed and very delicious. Do try and use Gruyere cheese for the
authentic taste. If you want to make your own pastry do so, just add some grated
cheese and some fresh herbs
1
Kg onions, sliced - 1 T olive oil - 1 T butter - a good pinch of salt - 2 eggs,
beaten - 55 g gruyere cheese - 1 t fresh thyme leaves - salt and freshly ground
black pepper - a roll of frozen cheese and herb pastry, defrosted - butter paper
to grease the pie dish
Fry
the onions gently in the oil and butter with a little salt on a slow burner for
approximately 30 minutes, until they are soft and beginning to take on some
colour. Set aside to cool. While the onions are cooking, butter a pie dish,
roll out the pastry to fit and line the pie dish, leaving some overhanging pastry
on the tin edges. Then refrigerate for 15 minutes. Turn your oven on to 180⁰C. When the pastry is cold, line the
pie dish with a cartouche of baking paper and some baking beans. Bake for 10
minutes then remove from the oven and take off the baking paper and beans and
allow to cool. Beat the eggs, add the cheese and the thyme and some seasoning
and stir into the cooled onion mix. Add to the pastry and return to the oven
for 20 to 30 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden and the top of the
tart is golden too, with a little soft wobble in the centre. Trim off any
ragged pastry with a very sharp knife and serve either warm or cold with a salad.
Lovely paired with a rich Chardonnay, such as DeWetshof Bateleur
We
were sent this newly released wine recently to sample and we drank it with
friends while we were on holiday by the sea. A perfect start to lunch outdoors
with the sound of the waves. It is crisp and rich from the Chardonnay, notes of
apple and nuts on the nose with some nice citrus, apple and ripe peach flavours
with a good mousse. Available from Lanzerac's Tasting Room at R220 per bottle
In MENU next week: This is the last issue
of MENU for 2016
Have a wonderful Christmas holiday and a brilliant, enjoyable
and productive 2017
16th December
2016
Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172
/ 083 656 4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point
8005
If you like the photographs you see in our
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Photo website for our rate card and samples
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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, 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
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Honesty is indeed our best policy. While every effort is made to avoid
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