We don't usually celebrate Valentine's day; it's normally a total commercial scam. But this year was different. Because of Covid, Lynne had something up her sleeve. She wanted to support the hospitality industry in some way, as they will not be making lots of dosh this year. Our friend Andrea Foulkes has been suppying wonderful meals to be consumed at home from her business, Dish Food and Social, for several years and she has been working with another friend, Chef Craig Cormack who has Salt Restaurant on Paul Cluver and his caterering company, Goose Roasters with his business partner Beau du Toit. They came up with a stunning offer, called the Shirley Valentine Valentine's Dinner, which was delivered on Saturday 13th. There was so much food for two that we had some that night and the rest on Valentine's Day. And all for the magic price of R550, plus delivery to Sea Point for R25. So Lynne was chilled and relaxed and only had to do minor 'warming up' of the food. A great way to spoil John too! It was a complete surprise for him. And she had ordered some of John Loubser's crisp new MCC, Silverthorn River Dragon, made from Colombard, so we celebrated the good things in life, rather than just Valentine's day
All highly recommended. Have a look at their web and Facebook pages.
The parcel that arrived - all the packaging materials they use are recycled
In fact we re-purposed three packs to package sandwiches for our hungry callers
The very simple cooking instructions which came with the food
Starters of "Queen of Tarts" - heart shaped tarts filled with semi-dried tomatoes, ricotta and basil pesto, Spanakopita & minty tzatziki, mini scorched pitta, Skordalia. The pastry on the tarts was just right, almost a savoury shortbread and the filling worked so well. The Spanakopita were superb, the sort you want lots more of but dont need! The Skordalia lasted several days and even got added to a salad later in the week
Heritage baby beetroot salad with lemon & marjoram dressing was very fresh and enjoyable by Lynne, John is not a fan of beetroot. The Griddled courgette, broccoli, artichoke & bean salad was an interesting combination. We had the Chicken souvlaki on the first night and it was tender, full of flavour and a very generous portion with 2 each. There was s0 much Orzo with feta and herbs that it did both meals as the starch. The Slow-cooked Greek lamb Giouvetsi is the version cooked with tomato rather than the Kleftico version. It was so tender and delicious and goes perfectly with it partner the Orzo
Pistachio baklava diamonds with rosewater & mint syrup, not too sweet, just the way we like it , crisp flaky and packed full of nuts
Traditional Greek shortbread crescents called Kourabiedes, normally a Christmas treat, were melt in the mouth and one could just detect a hint of mastika
White Chocolate-dipped strawberries and some heart shaped shortbread biscuits
We found these wines in our cellar, bought on our trip to Greece in 2015, and decided to drink them with the Greek menu. Ágios Ávgoustos (St Augustine), a dry white wine from Santorini. 2010 vintage, bought at the Art Space Winery in Santorini in 2015. At the time we said, "Their Barrel Reserve tasted like a full semillon, many layered with chalky tannins, very sophisticated and elegant and very lively for a five year old wine". It had deep colour at 10 years old, but was still remarkably fresh and lively. You can see the winery at
and Palivou Estate Anemos Red, from Nemea in the Peloponnese, made entirely from the Greek St George varietal, which we described at the time we bought it as "dark as Claret, full of elegant cassis violets and on the palate cherries, raspberries and other berries. It’s soft with no faults and a long finish". Six years later, it held up well, and the characteristics were true to our original description. You can see our visit to that winery at
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