A five course lunch at Morgenhof

The Tradition of Morgenhof

It is a while since we visited this beautiful farm in Stellenbosch and it was delightful to be asked to come for lunch and taste their new vintages on Thursday. Owner Madame Anne Huchon was there to welcome us and despite it being another chilly grey day, the fires were lit and we had a good tasting followed by an excellent lunch. She was at pains to tell us that she is NOT trying to produce French style wines here in South Africa but, working with viticulturist Pieter Haasbroek (who has been there since 1998) and winemaker Andries de Klerk (since 2012), they are trying to express the best their dry land terroir can give them. It certainly shows in the wines Morgenhof has always produced excellent Chenin blanc from really old bush vines and the vintage we tasted, 2011, was full of lovely tropical fruits with the richness nicely balanced by good acidity. Their reds do need time as they have both structure and elegance and we enjoyed drinking them with food very much, particularly the Cabernet Franc, which is drinking beautifully and is a lovely food pairing wine. Which leads us on to a great lunch prepared by chef Thys Esterhuizen.

The start of the tasting

The line up: Morgenhof Brut 2008, Chenin 2011, Merlot 2010, Estate 2005, Pinotage, Cabernet Franc

Owner Mme. Anne Cointreau welcomes us and tells us of her philosophy of wine making in South Africa

Rapt attention

DUPLICATE TAKE OUT

DUPLICATE TAKE OUT

Anetha Connan, Morgenhof’s marketing manager, is about to go and live in California

Herschel ? has joined from Nitida Swop with below

Winemaker Andries de Klerk

The wines on show

Lots of canapés with the Morgenhof bubbly

We have an aperitif while waiting for lunch

Herschel, Winemaker Andries de Klerk and viticulturist Pieter Haasbroek

The restaurant with another welcome fire

Pearl Oliver sommelier at the Mount Nelson's Planet restaurant, Siobhan Thompson, new head of WOSA, Andrew Baker of WineWorx, who represent Morgenhof, and Kimi Blackadder, sommelier at Rust en Vrede

Two menus: the one on the left is a special for John with no mushrooms. The food was really good. And Chef has taken on board many of the Banting rules so we were able to enjoy most of the dishes without much guilt (with the exception of the ravioli and the arancini! Which were irresistible and thankfully small)

So clever, so smooth and savoury: Curried chicken & goats cheese crème brulée. Another one to copy at home

Prawn and salmon ravioli in beurre blanc (butter with reduced shallots and vinegar) sauce with paprika oil. A very pretty dish

Mozzarella stuffed arancini (risotto rice ball) in a beautiful mushroom velouté (rich creamy soup)

John’s version was in a Basil velouté

Beef fillet wrapped in leeks and mushrooms in mushroom broth topped with sweet potato crisps

John’s version had the mushrooms and the broth removed and was surrounded by a rich Morgenhof Estate jus

Under a pepper tree just outside the restaurant, a small hen had made her nest and laid so many eggs that some were escaping.

The esteemed David Hughes enjoying his lunch

The final course was Almond crusted lamb cutlets on beetroot and butternut purees with a five spice polenta disc, glazed carrots and the rich Morgenhof Estate jus

Anne Cointreau introduced us to the Chef Thys Esterhuizen

Dave Hughes said Grace at the beginning and thanked the farm at the end for a great tasting and lunch

At which point we discovered there was another course. Scrumptious chocolates and biscotti to go with coffee. A happy end to a good day

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

KWV Classic wines with Japanese food at Kyoto Garden

KWV Classic Wines go with Japanese

at Tokyo Gardens restaurant off  Kloof Nek road last Thursday where they presented the range to the media and we ate our second multicourse meal of the day. Luckily, the beautiful food at Kyoto Gardens is light and has barely any carbohydrates so we managed.  Yes, we did crumble at 4 pieces of Wild Alaskan King Crab sushi. The wines are aimed at the middle market and sell very well as they are competitively priced at  R40/42 for the whites and R57 for reds - KWV Cellar Door prices.

The restaurant front

We get welcomed with a glass of KWV bubbly

The wines on display

The menu on each table setting

Neil Pendock in conversation with Lynne

PRO Clare Mack introduces the KWV Marketing staff

Clare looking happy

Restaurant owner Scott pours a tasting for KWV winemaker Izele van Blerk. In the background is KWV Brand Manager Charlene Engel

A readable menu

The citrus and lime marinated yellowtail first dish

The (very rarely found in South Africa) king crab sushi went extremely well with the Chenin Blanc

Oh so crisp and light vegetable tempura was served with the 2013 Rosé which is full of strawberries and herbs

Beautifully tender Wagyu beef slices with mushrooms, paired with the 2012 Shiraz, which is very concentrated

Naked tuna! Just seared and in a good sharp & umami sauce topped with spicy togarashi spice and fresh asparagus spears. Although the tuna was quite meaty, the Cabernet fought with it a bit. Spicy shiraz might have worked better.

Back to the Cuvée Brut bubbly for the rich black sesame seed ice cream. Very nut butter rich and lovely. An excellent meal.

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

140529 Main Ingredient's MENU - Trade Food shows, Christian Eedes Cabernet Awards, Muscadel Awards, Fine Brandy Fusion, Jardine lunch, Waterfront Dining around, Old Mutual Trophy Awards, Wolftrap Steakhouse Champs

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Milnerton sunset with tanker

In this week’s MENU:

 TWTWTW (aka TW3)

 Trade Food shows

 Christian Eedes Cabernet Sauvignon Awards

 Muscadel Awards

 Fine Brandy Fusion

 Jardine on Jordan lunch

 Dining around at Greek Fisherman, City Grill and Meloncino

 Old Mutual Trophy Awards lunch at the Mount Nelson

 The Wolftrap Steakhouse Championships 2014

 Avgolemono Chicken

This week’s Product menu – One of this week’s naughty delights was the hand cut chips at George Jardine’s restaurant on Jordan wine estate. The secret of success with these and with roast potatoes is to use duck or goose fat when cooking them. See them here. 

If you can find it in the supermarket, we don't usually stock it, just the products you would struggle to find.... Check our online shop to see more details and prices.

TWTWTW (aka TW3)*     Busy? Us? Never! We love filling in our week with exciting events. And we even managed to have two days off and do things around the house and some serious gardening. And sleeping.

* Those who are unfamiliar with 1960s British television might like to know that TW3 refers to a show that made people like John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett famous, called That Was The Week That Was, popularly referred to at the time as..... TW3. OK, we’re ancient!

Trade Food shows      We started with a visit on Thursday morning last week to Hostex at CTICC which, sadly for us, was very much a non-event this year – too many bed and garden furniture displays. Things were much more interesting on Tuesday at another trade show, the Food Hospitality World Africa 2014, featuring more food oriented companies with some of our best producers like Fynbos Fine foods, Pesto Princess and Indezi cheeses, some of whom will follow through to the Good Food and Wine Show this weekend. And we could meet and congratulate Emma Dean, the winner of Masterchef Australia, with her husband, who was walking through the show. Charming couple. MORE

Christian Eedes Cabernet Sauvignon Awards presentation took place at Burrata restaurant in the Biscuit Mill precinct in Woodstock, our old stamping ground. Christian, James Pietersen, Head Sommelier at Belthazar/Balducci’s, and Roland Peens of the Wine Cellar hand-picked 60 of the best producers, whom they invite to enter their Cabernets and these are then tasted and they choose their top ten. It is definitely not a Talent spotting, come-all competition; they are looking for wines that display 1st, 2nd and 3rd Growth status. Sponsored by Sanlam Private Investments, this competition is in its third year and there were two 5 star wines, six 4½ star wines and two 4 star wines.. MORE

Muscadel Awards      Then it was off that evening to Paarl to the awards dinner for the top Muscadels. It was held at Noop restaurant which we must admit to having passed by for a few years and this was our first visit. We were suitably impressed with the food and the company was a lovely selection of people in the industry who make good Muscadels. There were five awards and we got to taste all of these wines, including a very exciting KWV 1968 Muscadel. This wine and another featured again at the Old Mutual Trophy awards this week. MORE

Fine Brandy Fusion      Friday night saw us at this very successful show at CTICC (we are thinking of applying for monthly parking rates). Wow, was this enthusiastically attended by lots of Cape Town’s brandy-loving folk. We admit to having had a ball, even though we sipped to taste rather than drank many of the great brandies on offer. They were giving very generous portions and we do hope everyone was drinking safely and making alternative arrangements to get home afterwards. South Africa is making great brandies. We tasted only 10 year olds and older, and one French, Bisquit XO. MORE

Jardine on Jordan lunch      Saturday saw us driving to Stellenbosch Kloof to visit one of our favourite restaurants for daughter Clare’s birthday celebration. While we started out with the best intentions, unfortunately and regrettably Banting went out of the window. We had a superb lunch, even though we castigated ourselves severely and suffered afterwards for falling for the carbs, but who can pass up fat crisp hand-cut chips, a chocolate marquise or a honey and poppy seed soufflé ? Oh, and did we mention the two warm, freshly baked breads, and hot mini vetkoek? Well, one day off can’t do too much harm can it? MORE

Tuesday Dining around at Greek Fisherman, City Grill and Meloncino      Have you ever fantasised about having a starter in one restaurant, mains in another and dessert in a third?  Well, it is not usually available but, on Tuesday, Annette Ashley who handles the marketing for these three restaurants in the V&A Waterfront,  owned by Peter Protoulis, wanted to show us their scope and what better way than to do exactly this. We began at the Greek Fisherman and, even though the day was becoming dank and chill, sat in the open air section with a lovely view of the waterfront and the mountain, an enormous plate of Meze to share and a good glass of  Simonsig Chenin  MORE

Old Mutual Trophy Awards lunch at the Mount Nelson     This was a huge success and we congratulate to all the winners and the organisers. We love being there and seeing who has been invited, because that inevitably means that they have won something good, a gold medal or a trophy. There were some very new faces there this year and there were some very familiar faces. KWV deservedly took the prestigious Fairbairn Capital trophy for the most successful producer overall, Adam Mason and Mulderbosch took the trophy for the best White wine overall and the Miele Trophy for the best Chardonnay plus the International Judges Trophy. The Trophy for the best red wine overall and the Trophy for the best Shiraz went to a wine not many were familiar with, but now will be, Mount Sutherland Super Single Vineyard Syrah 2010. Daniël de Waal grows this on the slopes of the Sneeuwberg. Another trophy went to a winery which, honestly, not many people at the awards had heard of: The trophy for the Discovery of the show went to Baleia Bay Chardonnay 2013 near St Sebastian Bay and made by Jan-Hendrik Joubert – we can’t wait to taste these wines. Click here for the full list of Gold Medal and Trophy winners

The venue was the Planet restaurant at the Mount Nelson, eminently suitable for such a large host and they ably and professionally took care of us all. We had a lovely lunch and got to enjoy some of the wines entered in the completion with our meal. MORE

If you want to taste some of them you can attend the Old Mutual Public tastings in Cape Town at CTICC on 6^th June and in Sandton Johannesburg on Thurs 12 June. Book at Computicket

The Wolftrap Steakhouse Championships 2014 announces the top 20 finalists      Round One of Public Voting has already taken place and the 2014 Top 20 Steakhouse Finalists have emerged from about 140 steakhouse nominations. ‘Round Two’ of Public Voting is now in action on www.steakhunter.co.za to narrow down the Top 20 list to the Favourite 5 Steakhouses in South Africa by the end of May, and they want to encourage you to vote for your favourite nominee. .

In early June the Favourite 5 will be visited by a select group of South Africa’s food experts and chefs to select this year’s winner, and the 2014 Steakhouse Champion will be announced on 24th June at the inaugural 2013 Champion Steakhouse: The Local Grill in Parktown North, Johannesburg

This week’s recipe is for those who are following the Banting/Noakes regime but want something luxurious. Yes, the wine has a few carbs, so you can leave it out and substitute chicken stock. But you do boil off the alcohol and there are only 3 carbohydrate units in 300ml dry wine.

Avgolemono Chicken

3 Tablespoons of olive oil – 8 chicken portions (4 legs - you can separate them into thighs and drumsticks - 4 breasts) – the zest and juice of 1½ lemons - 1 teaspoon fresh or dried oregano – a small sprig rosemary – two sprigs of thyme – 3 sprigs of marjoram - 300 ml dry white wine - sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – 3 eggs

In a large open cast-iron casserole (that will go into the oven) heat the oil on the top of the stove and brown the chicken pieces until golden. Add the herbs, lemon juice, lemon zest and the wine. Season with salt and pepper. Bring up to the boil, then turn down and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the breast pieces and set aside. Put the dish into the oven and bake for 35/40 minutes at 180ºC or until the chicken legs are cooked. Slice the breast pieces into smaller portions, add them to the rest of the chicken and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through but still succulent. Drain off the juices from the pan and strain them into a Pyrex measuring jug – you need 300 ml. Add a little more white wine, verjuice  or stock to make up the quantity. Return the chicken to the oven which is turned right down to keep it warm, but not to cook further.

Beat the three eggs in a medium Pyrex mixing bowl, add the chicken juices and put the bowl over a pan of boiling water. Keep whisking until the sauce turns into a thick lemony custard. Adjust the seasoning, then pour over the chicken and serve. Wonderful with lots of fresh green vegetables like spinach, broccoli or kale.

Buying from us On Line    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 and drives the wheels that enable us to produce MENU possible. We stock a good range of ingredients and delicious ready-made gourmet foods. You can contact us by email or phone, or through our on line shop. We can send your requirements to you anywhere in South Africa. Please do not pay until we have confirmed availability and invoiced you, then you pay and then we deliver or post. When you make an eft payment, make sure that it says who you are. Use the form on the website to email us your order. Click here to see our OnLine Shop.

Food and wine (and a few other) events for you to enjoy

There is a huge and rapidly growing variety of interesting things to occupy your leisure time here in the Western Cape. There are so many interesting things to do in our world of food and wine that we have made separate list for each month for which we have information. To see what’s happening in our world of food and wine (and a few other cultural events), visit our Events Calendar. All the events are listed in date order and we already have a large number of exciting events to entertain you right through the year. Events outside the Western Cape are listed here.

Learn about wine and cooking We receive a lot of enquiries from people who want to learn more about wine. Cathy Marston and The Cape Wine Academy both run wine education courses, some very serious and others more geared to fun. You can see details of Cathy’s WSET and other courses here and here and the CWA courses here. Karen Glanfield has taken over the UnWined wine appreciation courses from Cathy. See the details here

Chez Gourmet in Claremont has a programme of cooking classes. A calendar of their classes can be seen here. Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse has cooking classes in Fish Hoek and conducts cooking tours to Normandy. You can see more details here. Emma Freddi runs the Enrica Rocca cooking courses at her home in Constantia. Brett Nussey’s Stir Crazy courses are now being run from Dish Food and Social’s premises in Main Road Observatory (opposite Groote Schuur hospital). Lynn Angel runs the Kitchen Angel cooking school and does private dinners at her home. She holds hands-on cooking classes for small groups on Monday and Thursday evenings and she has decided to introduce LCHF (Banting classes). The Kitchen Confidence classes, which focus on essential cooking skills and methods, have been expanded and are now taught over 2 evenings. She continues to host private dining and culinary team building events at her home. She trained with Raymond Blanc, and has been a professional chef for 25 years. More info here

29th May 2014

Remember - if you can’t find something, we’ll do our best to get it for you, and, if you’re in Cape Town or elsewhere in the country, we can send it to you! Check our online shop for details and prices.

PS If a word or name is in bold type and underlined, click on it for more information

Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169

Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005

Our Adamastor & Bacchus© tailor-made Wine, Food and Photo tours take small groups (up to 6) to specialist wine producers who make the best of South Africa’s wines. Have fun while you learn more about wine and how it is made! Tours can be conducted in English, German, Norwegian and standard or Dutch-flavoured Afrikaans.

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 are invited or go independently, we don’t feel bad if we say we didn’t like it. Honesty is indeed our best policy. While every effort is made to avoid mistakes, we are human and they do creep in occasionally, for which we apologise. Our Avast! ^® Anti-Virus software is updated at least daily and our system is scanned continually for viruses.

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