Franschhoek Artisan Food Route: Lunch at Café BonBon

Monday’s lunch menu at Cafe BonBon

The serving area is covered in the most wonderful looking cakes and some very interesting produce and wines, with the coffee machine behind it

The charming rustic dining room with the long centre table laid for our party, covered produce to try, a very special selection of bread baked in the restaurant and goodie bags for each of us

It has a beautiful vaulted thatched roof and lots of art on all the walls

A view of the garden which will be nice to sit in when the weather improves

The restaurant also has another charming room at the back. This would make a very nice venue for a small country wedding or other celebration

We hear from the manageress about their food and produce

And meet their young chef Tijn (Constantijn) Handek

who told us about his passion for food and using local produce

The stunning selection of breads for us to try

One has a picture of the farm’s Rooster, Hendrik, on the bread

Farm butter, plum chutney and herb butter

makataan konfyt, citrus relish and a shimeji mushroom relish

Preserved green figs, and two other relishes

And three more

We drank some 2012 Rosatre Rosé with the Thai curry and Boekenhoutskloof Wolftrap Red with the pork belly

Roasted pork belly

Thai green curry with chicken

Some managed dessert but not us.  This is a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream

On the road back into Franschhoek, we passed this disaster – Oh dear, someone needs parking lessons!

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013

Franschhoek Artisan Food Route: Wine and olives at La Bourgogne

The Shiraz rosé from La Bourgogne

The stream in spate after all the heavy rains over the weekend

La Bourgogne’s tasting room entrance

The owner, Loesje Mayer, and her lovely helper in the tasting room

The view from the tasting room looks French, with their very active and cute sheepdog

We begin our tasting with the olive oils

And then their home grown and made spiced pear preserve and olives

The tasting room has a lovely rustic and warm feel and there are stacks of wine bottles everywhere in niches

An old plum orchard which is about to be replaced and, in the distance, newer trees

Lovely lawns for picnics alongside the river

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013

Franschhoek Artisan Food Route: African Chocolate Dreams

African Chocolate dreams shop is just off the Main Road in Franschhoek

A selection of chocolate boxes in the shop

You can build your own selection and select individual chocolates in your favourite flavours.

Joshua Juries, the proud Chocolatier and owner of the shop

The chocolate conching machine, which keeps the chocolate at the correct temperature and makes it smooth and silky. The hairdryer is for drying the moulds

The ingredients needed to make chocolate.  65% dark Belgian chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. The latter is mainly cocoa butter and vanilla, but contains no chocolate. In front of that, cocoa powder, cocoa nibs, cocoa beans and a block of cocoa butter

Joshua tells us how to make chocolate

The milk chocolate conching machine

Chocolate must be kept a very specific temperature or it will seize or split

Raw cocoa beans

Raw Belgian chocolates that go into the making

Some delightful chocolates for us to sample

They use very specialised and expensive Perspex chocolate moulds that make perfect chocolate shells.  This one is many years old and still makes perfect chocolates, but only if it is treated with the utmost respect

Joshua shows us how to pour a shell ...

...which strangely sets on its side and, no, the liquid chocolate does not flow out of the moulds. 

Sophisticated fluid mechanics at work. This means the chocolate does not pool in the bottom or on the side of the mould.

Perfect shells on the right, filled with walnut gianduja on the left

When the chocolate cools and hardens, it automatically releases itself from the mould with a sharp tap on the counter.  Here you can see the air has reached the base of the shells

And a perfectly formed shiny chocolate shell, just awaiting its filling and tne topping off with more chocolate

Filled with caramel

The mould gets ‘topped’ with more liquid chocolate and the mould is scraped clean with a large palette knife

We get to try them

Joshua making more chocolates. He is very fast and neat

And some caramel cups are filled  and decorated for us to try

The fine art of the Chocolatier

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2013