Living conditions on wine farms have been receiving a huge amount of negative publicity in the last few days, with newspapers, radio and other media locally and abroad giving air and paper space to a report by an organisation called Human Rights Watch. This report has told the world that living and working conditions on South African wine farms are universally intolerable and a disgrace. Undoubtedly, they have made a good point and bringing light to an unacceptable situation has to be a good thing. However, and this is a big however, one of the easiest things in the world is to cherry pick a few bad apples and label the whole orchard as rotten. It may be true that one bad apple can spoil the barrel, but then we should remove that apple and enjoy all the good ones.
The truth, we believe, is that the wine farmers whom we know make an enormous effort to ensure that their workers are well housed and paid and that their working conditions are good. Humanitarian considerations aside, wine is a product which is extremely sensitive to bad handling. Grapes have to be grown, nurtured, picked, sorted and handled with great care if we are to enjoy a delicious glass of wine – and our industry produces millions of delicious bottles of wine each year. This can only be done by well-trained and willing people. We can cherry pick a few examples: Buitenverwachting in Constantia built a model workers’ village when they started to make wine in the modern era. Franschhoek’s Solms Delta did the same and has a programme to train and motivate their workers who are now involved not only in menial work but have been given opportunities to develop exciting opportunities and to become part of the management. Diemersfontein in Wellington gave their workers the opportunity to become shareholders in the company with their Thokozani programme and to develop, manage and enjoy the fruits of areas of enterprise - a wine range, guesthouse, coffee shop and an art gallery - on the farm. The Cape Winemakers’ Guild has an extensive Protegé programme to develop and train farm workers, several of whom have been trained to university level in winemaking and a programme to educate and develop workers’ children. The list is long and we don’t have space for more here. We spend a lot of time in the winelands, visiting wine farms, and we know a lot of the most important producers. We see positive examples like these everywhere. Human Rights Watch has, apparently, been unwilling to identify the bad apples they have pointed out and has simply used them to tar and feather the whole industry. In doing so, they have turned a potentially good exercise into one which is unfair, unjust and, ultimately, scurrilous. In doing so they have, potentially, damaged the good apples. The wine industry is struggling to keep solvent. Wine farms are going out of business because they have become unsustainable. Closing farms loses jobs and all the benefits that come with them. If this negative publicity damages our wine exports, the ultimate damage will be to the workers whom Human Rights Watch say are their concern. They should name and shame the bad apples, so that their peers can take action and they ought to be honest and point out that these conditions are exceptions which are not typical of the whole industry. It is easy to find fault when you want to be sensational, perhaps less easy to be accurate, objective and honest.
Dunes We were invited to Dunes restaurant last Friday evening for a media dinner to try out their Bistro menu. Quinton Spickernell, who cooked our dinner, says Dunes is, apparently, known only for its calamari and chips and its very child friendly garden and attitude. He wants to change this perception. Their reasonable Sunday buffet breakfast has been doing this, now he wants to draw attention to the restaurant rather than the pub. We have been fans for years and take all our overseas visitors there for: Yes! a plate of calamari or nachos, a good draught beer and a fantastic view. We have to confess we have never eaten downstairs in the restaurant. The restaurant has always served very good meals and to draw people in: both locals and us from other suburbs, he has come up with the well priced Bistro menu. Adding up the most expensive starter and main course we worked out this might cost you a maximum of R120 per person for two courses. Drinks, service and dessert will add to the bill but we still think it is a very good deal. We started with a good fish soup which had a thin, well-flavoured broth and contained mussels, fish and a scallop. The other starter, which we were not expecting to wow us but did, was a crisp phyllo-wrapped vegetarian spinach and feta parcel with a tomato and basil sauce.
Our main courses were, for John, a Chargrilled Beef fillet with a green peppercorn cream sauce and good chips and vegetables and for Lynne, perfectly cooked, soft and flaky Kingklip with a slightly singed hazelnut, thyme and lemon coating and a butter sauce – even John who is not a fan of Kingklip, liked this dish. There is a vegetarian butternut and lentil bobotie on the menu and we might return for the scallop starter (R40) and the Bouillabaisse main (R59). The wine list is good, with lots of wines served by the glass at very reasonable prices. Desserts are on the main menu and Quinton spoilt us with the White chocolate cheesecake, which everyone went crazy for. Good coffee finished a good meal. One negative for us is the restaurant does smell very strongly of cigarette smoke even though it is not allowed and we suspect this is seeping in from the pub area above the restaurant. Sealing the floor up there might help. The views are marvellous at sunset and of course, during the day. Now that the whales are back, it is well worth a stop for a good meal and a bit of whale watching.
Not always to one’s taste Have you ever made a meal for friends and then absolutely hated your own cooking, despite everyone else around the table saying they liked and enjoyed the food? This is what happened to Lynne last week and we think it comes down to what we often preach: when you eat out and you don’t like something, it doesn’t always mean there is anything wrong with the food, it is just your personal preference.
Lynne discovered some amazing huge pasta shells at Checkers and decided to use them for friends who were coming to supper. Using a classic recipe of stuffing the shells with ricotta and spinach, she added some tinned Canadian salmon for added protein and made a separate tomato and red pepper sauce as a base. What went wrong? Lynne has decided she just doesn’t like the taste of ricotta cheese, which she found bitter, unlike all the others who enjoyed the dish. Here is the recipe, if you want to try it. Next time (and there will be a next time - as we cooked the whole packet of pasta, which was far too much and now have half of it frozen,waiting to be stuffed with a different filling. Perhaps a thick cream sauce with prawns, or a mushroom and spinach filling?
STUFFED PASTA SHELLS WITH SALMON, RICOTTA & SPINACH
For the tomato and pepper sauce
1 T olive oil - 1 large onion, finely chopped – 2 cloves of garlic, chopped – 1 tin of chopped tomatoes - 1 large red pepper, sliced - 3 stalks of thyme – salt – freshly ground black pepper – sugar
Gently sweat the onion in the oil till soft, then add the garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the pepper and the tomatoes and thyme and cook covered till they have broken down and made a nice thick sauce. Do stir occasionally and season. It the mixture is too acid, add a teaspoon or two of sugar. This is often necessary with local tinned tomatoes. If the mixture looks too thick, do add a little water.
Pasta recipe
Conchiglioni – very large pasta shells – 350g fresh ricotta cheese – 2 fresh egg, lightly beaten – 180g fresh spinach – 1 tin of salmon – salt and pepper – nutmeg – half a cup of grated parmesan cheese – 200g mozzarella or taleggio Cook the pasta according to instructions till it is ‘al dente’ (still with a bite, not floppy and soft). You will need about 5 shells per person and the cooked pasta left over will freeze. Cook the spinach briefly then strain well and dry it off as much as you can. (You can use Swiss chard but real spinach is far better). Finely chop then add to the ricotta with the eggs, seasoning and several gratings of nutmeg. Drain the can of salmon and flake it and stir into the cheese and spinach mix. Use this to stuff the pasta shells. In a large ceramic serving dish that will go into the oven put a 2 cm layer of the tomato sauce then arrange your pasta shells. Top with the parmesan and slices of the soft cheese. Cover with foil and put into the oven at 180°C for half an hour before serving. You can serve with extra tomato and pepper sauce.
The annual DGB Wine trade show was an enjoyable experience last Monday evening. The Douglas Green Bellingham empire has a wide range of mass market brands, which are not really our province, but it has some excellent premium labels (Bellingham, Boschendal) and also represents some other very good producers. The Boschendal range is being reprofiled, with a real emphasis on quality. We started the evening with their Grande Cuvée Brut, deliciously bready with a soft but lively mousse and then were given a taste of the new The Bernard Chardonnay from Bellingham, (named for Bellingham founder Bernard Podlashuk) which we loved. It follows the modern trend of well-balanced wines which are not dominated by too much wood and it is elegant and delicious. Delheim Gewürztraminer was the next wine to make a big impression. The sweetness is countered by the acidity and it has a rich aroma of roses and litchis. An event like this always has too many wines for us to describe in detail, but other wines which impressed us were Vergelegen’s Sauvignon blanc and White Blend and their premium red blend, ‘V’. Their previously off-dry Vin de Florence is a wine which we have tended to ignore, but, tasted at cellarmaster André van Rensburg’s insistence, it showed itself to be very well suited to spicy food. Graham Beck’s sparkling wines are always among our favourites, and were excellent palate refreshers after a series of tannic young red wines. We reacquainted ourselves with their Rhône style reds, The Ridge Syrah and The Joshua and loved the rich smoothness. We were also very impressed with the latest releases of Pheasant Run Sauvignon blanc and the Game Reserve Chenin blanc. Kanonkop is one of the country’s iconic producers and their Pinotage and Paul Sauer Bordeaux blend are excellent. Laibach is one of a few producers who have made a name for themselves with truly organic wines and we are great fans of their Ladybird red and white wines. Travel We will be paying a short visit to the land of John’s birth, Durban (his father was transferred and they left before John was a year old!), at the beginning of September. We won’t have a lot of capacity, but if any of our Durban readers want us to bring something special, and light, like truffle salt for them, please let us know and we’ll make the necessary arrangements.
Our products. The Italian anchovy paste continues to fly out and we keep upping our replenishment orders and the same applies to Carnaroli rice and the perennially popular Prego sauce. We have increased the stock level of Protea Hill Farm’s fabulous balsamic raspberry vinegar because we struggle to keep up with demand. It makes a wonderful salad dressing when used with hazelnut oil. We also have more of their delicious basil, thyme, dill and raspberry merlot vinegars. The French patés are also deservedly popular and we received more this morning, including the delicious duck rillette. Chou farci, haricot beans in goose fat, Cassoulet and Confit of Duck appeal to the more adventurous gourmets who come to see us. We have added dried lime powder and Baharat to our interesting range of unusual spice mixtures such as Ras al Hanout, Za’atar, Chinese Five Spice, Shichimi Togarashi, Yemeni Zhoug, Garam masala and Sumac as well as more common spices like Mace, Nutmeg, Cardamom and seriously pungent, unwashed Black pepper. We also have lovely moist vanilla pods, sealed in glass tubes to keep them in good condition, leaf gelatine, Belgian 70% couverture chocolate and the excellent, real Nielsen Massey extracts. Our Italian truffles, truffle oils and truffle salt continue to gain fans.
We have a lot of fun putting MENU together each week and, of course, doing the things we write about, but making it possible for you to enjoy rare and wonderful gourmet foods is what drives our business. We stock a good range of ingredients and delicious ready-made gourmet foods. So, please have a look at our Product List and see what you need. You can contact us by email or phone, or through our website. We can send your requirements to you anywhere in South Africa. If you are following Masterchef Australia we have Carnaroli risotto rice and truffles, amongst lots of other strange and difficult things to find that they use. Our market activities We had expected to be at the Long Beach Mall market tomorrow, splitting ourselves between there and Cavendish, but we have had no information from the organisers, so we hope that you will not be too disappointed at our absence. You will find us at The Place at Cavendish (Woolworths underground entrance to Cavendish Square), today, 19th August, from 10h00 to 17h00, and we will have our great selection of delicious treats and ingredients there for you. We will be at the Old Biscuit Mill’s brilliant, exciting and atmospheric Neighbourgoods Market, as always, on Saturday between 9am and 2pm. Next Wednesday, we will be back at the Dean St Arcade in Newlands from 09h30 to 14h30. Good food and wine continues to grow as a focal point for many people in the Western Cape and, to an extent, in other parts of the country. As a result, our list of Interesting Food and Wine Events has grown so much that it was making MENU too long for some of our readers. So we’ve taken it online. Click here to access it. You will need to be connected to the internet. Our list of Winter restaurant special offers continues to grow. Click here to access it. These 2011 Winter Specials have been sent to us by the restaurants or their PR agencies. We have not personally tried all of them and their listing here should not always be taken as a recommendation from ourselves. When we have tried it, we’ve put in our observations. We have cut out the flowery adjectives etc. we’ve been sent, to give you the essentials. Click on the name to access the relevant website. All communication should be with the individual restaurants.
25th August 2011
Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169
Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005
