Thursday, September 13, 2018

On the MENU this week.Carrot and Ginger Soup

Photograph per kind favour of Genius Kitchen

This week’s recipe is suitable for Vegans and Vegetarians, as well as the omnivores.  It has lovely flavours and is then made more exciting by the addition of the sushi ginger hidden in each bowl

1 tablespoon olive oil - 1 large onion, finely chopped - 1 dessertspoon (10ml) fresh ginger, grated - 1 liter good vegetable stock - 4 large peeled carrots, roughly chopped - Salt and black pepper - half a lemon - 50gm preserved sushi ginger from a jar
Fry the onion and ginger in the oil until they are soft. Add the stock and the carrots and simmer until the carrots are tender. Blend the ingredients until they are smooth and add salt and pepper. Stir in the lemon juice, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary
When serving, place 3-4 leaves of sushi ginger in the bottom of each soup bowl before pouring in the soup
You can also add peeled naartjie (clementine) segments if you don’t have sushi ginger
Serves four

MENU’S Wine of the Week. Kumusha 2017 Red blend, the wine of renowned Sommelier Tinashe Nyamudoku


We tasted this wine for the first time today at Cape Wine, the wine exposition which is held by WOSA at the CTICC every three years . We learned from Tinashe that the two wines in the blend were made by Attie Louw on the farm Opstal in the Breedekoof Valley and then blended by Tinashe. He wanted a blend that would go with food and we think that he has achieved this very well
It is available on the wine list at the Test Kitchen where Tinashe is the Sommelier, as well as on the menu at the Pot Luck Club and The Shortmarket Club, all restaurants owned by Chef Luke Dale Roberts. Don’t despair, it is also for sale at Wine Concepts and other specialist wine merchants in Cape Town
Tinashe is Zimbabwean and this wine, he says, “is produced in SA by a Zimbabwean who is advocating (for an) African wine language”. The name means “My Home” in chiShona, his home language, and the label is an apt illustration
The wine is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Cinsault. Very elegant on the nose, it is perfumed with violets and incense wood, with a little rose geranium. Soft, sweet, smooth but with intense berry fruit on the palate, with nice soft chalky tannins, it ends with gentle blonde oak notes. This is a great wine for red meat and game and would also be able to support some spicy seafood dishes