MediterrASIAN sushi at Ocean basket

We love eating fish and seafood at Ocean Basket but in the past their Sushi has been less than perfect, often clumsily made hours or a day in advance, mushy rice and minimal fillings. We are very happy to report that this has now changed. Last month at the press launch we were invited to meet international sushi chef Pepi Anevski of Umami restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark who is a sushi master, was named Chef of the Year at Japan's first World Sushi Cup. He was employed by Ocean Basket to come and train all their staff in how to make good sushi. This has taken more than a month as he travelled around South Africa doing the training. We were embargoed from telling you about this until today but can now pass on the information and you can see some of the excellent sushi we were served by him and the staff at Ocean Basket in Camps Bay in February.

The view from Ocean Basket in Camps Bay on a warm afternoon.

Meeting Pepi for the first time with Winnie Bowman CWM and her sister Lynne

His credentials

Handsome, intelligent, multi-lingual and he loves food

Ocean Basket Marketing Lead Jean Sloane introduces him and their concept to the media. “As seafood procuring experts, we are in a position to offer a superior product at an affordable price and now we can also claim a fresh new menu with a unique blend of flavours that remain true to our Mediterranean cuisine.”

He explains the new concept to us. Sushi can be made with anything as long as you have the basics of seaweed, rice, wasabi and soy sauce and ginger. “I thought of how many fusion restaurants I had been working for that had learned to combine sushi with local flavours. We decided to stop imitating other Japanese restaurants; to respect the sushi basics and then insert Mediterranean flavours… perfect!”

Then it was time to taste some of the new sushi. The new menu includes the following items: Wasabi prawn gunkan; Tarama gunkan with calamari heads; Sesame salmon gunkan with zucchini and tempura; Calamari gunkan with spring onions; Crunchy Athena with pickled red onion; Salmon Tomato roll with fresh basil and grilled green pepper; Kypro prawn roll with Romaine lettuce and origanum sauce; parsley prawn roll; volcano roll and Lemon salmon roll.

All were being prepared by the sushi staff of the restaurant

And served to us in abundance

Why not shaved carrot and courgette instead of wasabi to wrap the rolls? and crisp baby squid tentacles on tramasalata. Breaded calamari on courgette. These were some of the early ideas we sampled

Salmon sesame and tomato and basil rolls, prawn with pesto

Then some rolls with crisp topping and some salmon and mayo with Mediterranean flavours

 Oh those crisp baby squid tentacles with lemon juice

It was a nonstop feast of sushi

You have to try these topped with crunchy Athina

Supervising in the Camps Bay restaurant's very small sushi kitchen

We had been asked to bring along some interesting ingredients so Pepi could make us unusual sushi and he got some really different options

He tried lots of different combinations

We all agreed Strawberry sushi works wonderfully, especially with a touch of wasabi

How about Parma ham topped with sundried tomatoes and baby mozzarella balls served on a leaf of chicory

Who wants to taste?

And voted the best - chopped Biltong topped avocado and lettuce rolls, with basil

A wonderful place to watch the sun go down ...

... with a platter of sushi and some good crisp white wine. Now head off to Ocean Basket to sample the new flavours

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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Lunch at Myoga, The Vineyard Hotel - A fusion of flavours

We were invited to lunch at Myoga, (Japanese: Ginger flower) Chef Mike Bassett's gourmet restaurant, by English friends who were staying at the Vineyard Hotel. It has been quite a while since we last visited; we looked forward to his always adventurous food and were not disappointed. He fuses Asian with modern fresh cuisine in exciting and different combinations. We all had the set four course lunch which had choices for all. You can see pictures and descriptions of the food here. We are now invited to sample their new 7 course dinner menu in April and will also be writing about it in Menu.

We had the best table in the house in the open French windows, with a view of the gardens and the mountains beyond. It was a day of all four seasons in one, so we protected from the wind and showers but enjoyed the sunshine. We started lunch with a bottle of Steenberg 1682 MCC

Our amuse bouche of a creamy oat and mushroom 'risotto'

The 5 course lunch tasting menu

The current à la carte lunch menu, which does change with the seasons

A beautiful pot ...

... revealed a dish of many mushrooms with shaved truffle, truffle asparagus glaze, and oblongs of crispy chilli tofu

This dish of spicy ancho chilli garlic chorizo prawns, mild buffalo wings, blue cheese spuma, avocado butter, crushed tortilla prawns was much enjoyed

salmon, pickled daikon, apple atchar, edamame gel and the three beautiful raw salmon Shiozuke with green edamame gel, crisp and sour daikon pickle and apple achar. The plating is always immaculate and proves the point that you eat with your eyes first. This also had "elements of thai snowball" which was a snowball of creamy fragrant thai spiced coconut and lemongrass "ice cream" atop the salmon

Chilled miso tuna, flavoured with wild African garlic, coconut jalapeno ponzu, on a japanese sesame salad, here being spritzed with lemon oil

Our palate refresher was a sorbet of lime and lemongrass with a kick of alcohol

On to the main courses. We shared a bottle of Stellenzicht Golden Triangle Syrah, which went very well with all the varied choices

Lynne’s choice of the lemongrass ginger boneless lamb loin, crisp coriander sesame arancini, meltingly tender steamed Korean mini eggplant with labneh was a great combination. The plate was dusted with ash & asparagus dust

Pancetta wrapped goucho fillets of springbok, with salted caramel, carrots, broccoli rabé puree, port jus, a crisp pomme Anna, accompanied by a savoury Tin Roof magnum ice cream on ice was the main enjoyed by the other three at the table.

Time for dessert. One to rush back for was the coconut sphere, coconut moelleux, coconut panna cotta, butternut churros, burnt orange sauce, coconut marshmallow. Any different textures and sensations but all combined to give one the kiss of a well remembered toasted coconut marshmallow with warm caramel

The “death of strawberry shortcake” strawberry bombe, strawberry coulis, white chocolate sponge, vanilla ice cream strawberry gel, strawberry pastille, soft strawberry fizzer assorted summer berries arrived under a cloud of spun sugar

And when the warm sauce was poured over it, the cloud dispersed revealing the dessert below. Rather sweet but wonderful.

We can't wait to try the 7 course dinner menu

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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This Week's MENU: Dassiesfontein, Food Barn Lunch , Biltong & Pinotage, Muratie Harvest Festival, RMB Starlight Concert, Stellenbosch Wine & Pizza, De Morgenzon tasting, Jordan lunch, Tabbouleh

The Stellenbosch Kloof from the deck at Jordan

 In this week’s MENU:

 A stop for lunch at Dassiesfontein

 Lunch at The Food Barn

 Biltong and Pinotage pairing

 Muratie Harvest Festival

 RMB Starlight Concert

 Stellenbosch Wines and Pizza

 De Morgenzon tasting and to Jordan for lunch

 Food fact: Crushing garlic is easy

 Wine of the Week: De Morgenzon DMZ Sauvignon Blanc

 This week’s recipe: End of Summer Tabbouleh

 Coming events

To get the whole story with photographs, please click on the paragraph title, which will lead you there. At the end of each story, click on RETURN TO MENU to come back to MENU.

We have had another wonderful week showing the Cape and all its attractions to our visiting friends

And there are some important Holy Days ahead. We wish you all a blessed Easter and a happy Passover and hope that your days will be filled with joy.

A stop for lunch at Dassiesfontein     On our way back from our stay in the Hemel and Aarde valley we stopped off at this crazy fun place on the N2. There are rooms and rooms bursting full of different things to buy, old and new, interesting and strange. It is a bit like watching one of those compulsive hoarder programmes but you can help! You can also visit their rustic restaurant for some traditional South African food. Read on.....

Lunch at The Food Barn     We are always surprised how few Capetonians know about this superb restaurant in Noordhoek. Franck Dangereux is a classically trained French chef, who helped to put La Colombe on the map in the years before he opened his own restaurant. Franck married a local girl and settled here. He has trained many of our top chefs, all of whom speak of him with great respect. Go and try his food for yourself, you will not regret it. Read on.....

Biltong and Pinotage pairing     The Biltong and Pinotage Festival will take place at L'Avenir near Stellenbosch on the 16th and 17th of April this year and will be the best opportunity in the year to taste some of the most impressive SA Pinotages, all paired with Joubert and Monty's biltong. Get your tickets soon. The festival starts at 11h00 on both days. A ticket at R150 pp includes a branded wine glass and a pairing card for the Pinotage and Biltong tastings. Bookings at www.plankton.mobi and selected Joubert and Monty outlets. We had the opportunity this week to assist with pairing the Pinotages with the biltong. Read on.....

Muratie Harvest Festival     This is one we never like to miss. Held in the gardens at Muratie, you can drink their wines accompanied by lovely, simple but satisfying food and enjoy the live music with lots of your friends.. Read on.....

RMB Starlight Concert     This annual concert, held at Vergelegen, just gets better and better each year. This year the headliners included South African opera diva Pretty Yende. She has starred at nearly all of the major opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala (where she is resident), Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Paris Opera. Bra Hugh Masekela also topped the bill with his brand of SA jazz and delighted us with his humour and his trumpet. And, yes, he did play Grazing in the Grass, his #1 smash hit in 1968. Read on.....

Stellenbosch Wines and Pizza     On Sunday, after a night in an AirBnB in Somerset West, we met friends at this new festival held at Stellenbosch Vineyards (you might know it as Welmoed winery) on Baden Powell Drive. We found some shade and shelter from the wind, some chairs and a small table, and enjoyed a lovely day drinking their wines and eating some pizza and other snacks. Read on.....

De Morgenzon tasting and to Jordan for lunch    One of our visiting friends was celebrating his 75th birthday here and he invited us to lunch at Jordan. Such a treat to spend a birthday on the terrace eating marvellous food and enjoying the views. But first, we took them to De Morgenzon next door to taste some wine. Read on.....

Food fact: Crushing garlic is easy. Put it on a hard surface and whack it once or twice with the bottom of a small pan. It will be pulverised, all the skin will come away easily and then you can chop it quickly. Thank you James Martin.

Wine of the Week: De Morgenzon DMZ Sauvignon Blanc: this has a lovely apple blossom nose, so unusual for Sauvignon Blanc followed by some tropical and herbal notes. On the palate a full mouthful of good fruit, figs and green pepper pyrazines, in layers of completeness, thirst quenching too. R90 on the farm

This week's recipe is a nice easy summer salad, great for using up your home grown basil which probably is going to seed, ours is. You can add good Extra virgin olive oil to this too. This is lovely with roasted stuffed vegetables. We had this with lamb and rosemary stuffed roasted red banana peppers, those sweet long peppers that are easy to stuff. Woolworths has them this week.

End of Summer Tabbouleh

100g bulgur cracked wheat – 2 tomatoes - 3 spring onions - 4 peppadews - 1 small avocado - 1 tsp finely chopped garlic - a large handful of basil, or mint, or parsley or a mix of all three - optional pomegranate molasses or lemon juice

Cover the bulgur wheat in boiling water and leave to soak for half an hour. Drain. Meanwhile, finely chop the vegetables into approx 1 cm cubes, add the garlic and season with salt and pepper. If you have any, add the squeeze of pomegranate molasses, if not add a squeeze of lemon and mix gently. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your taste. Chop the basil or other herbs and add to the salad just before serving.

Here is a list of coming events up to the end March. There may be more, but we will add them as we receive them.

Thursday, 17th March     Summer Sounds at Haute Cabrière, featuring Nuka, a singer-song writer from Stellenbosch. She is a creative song writer and a free spirit. Her sound can be described as a fusion of folk, old blues and Jazz. This is the perfect way to enjoy a delicious light meal paired with great wines. The breathtaking views and sunsets provide a splendid setting for the entertainment on the Terrace area at Haute Cabrière with seating on the Terrace and the lawns which overlook the magnificent Franschhoek Valley. Booking is essential as each event has a maximum capacity of 60 people. Please note only the Terrace menu is available at these events and no cover charge applies. For reservations and enquiries e-mail restaurant@cabriere.co.za or call 021 876 3688

Thursday, 24th March     Summer Sounds at Haute Cabrière, featuring Morne Meyer, from Wellington, who has recently worked in Dubai as an entertainer for Regal Plaza Hotel with guitar, vocal and live music. He is talented in multiple genres including Jazz, Blues, Funk and Pop. This is the perfect way to enjoy a delicious light meal paired with great wines. The breathtaking views and sunsets provide a splendid setting for the entertainment on the Terrace area at Haute Cabrière with seating on the Terrace and the lawns which overlook the magnificent Franschhoek Valley. Booking is essential as each event has a maximum capacity of 60 people. Please note only the Terrace menu is available at these events and no cover charge applies. For reservations and enquiries e-mail restaurant@cabriere.co.za or call 021 876 3688

Thursday, 31st March      Summer Sounds at Haute Cabrière, featuring Nuka, a singer-song writer from Stellenbosch. She is a creative song writer and a free spirit. Her sound can be described as a fusion of folk, old blues and Jazz. This is the perfect way to enjoy a delicious light meal paired with great wines. The breathtaking views and sunsets provide a splendid setting for the entertainment on the Terrace area at Haute Cabrière with seating on the Terrace and the lawns which overlook the magnificent Franschhoek Valley. Booking is essential as each event has a maximum capacity of 60 people. Please note only the Terrace menu is available at these events and no cover charge applies. For reservations and enquiries e-mail restaurant@cabriere.co.za or call 021 876 3688

18th March 2016

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.

If you like the photographs you see in our publications, please look at our Adamastor Photo website for our rate card and samples from our portfolio

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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This week's MENU Recipe: Trinchado

South Africa has a small but influential Portuguese population and several very good Portuguese restaurants. It is thought that this dish was introduced by Portuguese from neighbouring Mozambique and Angola. It is a rich spicy dish of steak cubes in a red wine, beef stock, chilli sauce with lots of garlic. Serve with crispy chips and rolls to soak up the juices. Accompany with a salad.

15 ml butter - 15 ml olive oil - 1kg beef rump or fillet, cut into 3 cm cubes - Freshly ground black pepper - 2 large onions, finely chopped - 3 sliced hot red chillies - 8 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped - 2 tspns corn flour, mixed to a paste with a little cold water - 1 t paprika - 2 sprigs of rosemary - 1 fresh bay leaf - 250 ml rich beef stock - 375 ml red wine - 1/4 cup of brandy - 125 ml cream - salt and freshly ground pepper to taste - optional: 25 to 30 black olives - grated zest of one lemon

Heat the butter with the oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Fry off the steak cubes to your satisfaction, medium rare is good. Set aside to rest. Add the onions and chilli to the pot and fry them gently till soft and beginning to caramelise. Add the garlic and fry gently for one minute. Add the corn flour and fry for a minute or two. Add the paprika, the herbs and then pour on the stock, the wine and the brandy. Stir till you have a good thick sauce. Add the cream, the optional black olives and then the beef. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, topped with a grating of lemon zest. Serves 4. A good wine to go with it would be Axe Hill’s Distinta, made from Souzao and Tinta Barocca or De Krans Touriga Naçional. Portuguese grapes for a Portuguese dish

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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This week's recipe: End of Summer Tabbouleh

This week's recipe is a nice easy summer salad, great for using up your home grown basil which probably is going to seed, ours is. You can add good Extra virgin olive oil to this too. This is lovely with roasted stuffed vegetables. We had this with lamb and rosemary stuffed roasted red banana peppers, those sweet long peppers that are easy to stuff. Woolworths has them this week.

End of Summer Tabbouleh

100g bulgur cracked wheat – 2 tomatoes - 3 spring onions - 4 peppadews - 1 small avocado - 1 tsp finely chopped garlic - a large handful of basil, or mint, or parsley or a mix of all three - optional pomegranate molasses or lemon juice

Cover the bulgur wheat in boiling water and leave to soak for half an hour. Drain. Meanwhile, finely chop the vegetables into approx 1 cm cubes, add the garlic and season with salt and pepper. If you have any, add the squeeze of pomegranate molasses, if not add a squeeze of lemon and mix gently. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your taste. Chop the basil or other herbs and add to the salad just before serving.

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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