Friday, July 08, 2016

This Week’s MENU. Vietnamese village, Hanoi, Leaving Vietnam, Anatoli, Cecilia Forest walk, Den Anker, De Wetshof Limestone Hill at Charango

MENU
The weekly Cape Food, Wine and Lifestyle E-Journal
A kelp gull in a Sea Point winter storm
Another exceptionally cold week, but with cloudy days and not enough rain to make a significant difference to our water supply. This weekend, we’ll be in Montagu and Robertson with our wine club friends. It will be very cold but we are looking forward to the warmth of companionship and Robertson hospitality  
@MyVoiceMap Elfin Trail in the Cecilia Forest with TravelMassive     A walk with the fairies and elves and one was dwarfed. We are members of Travel Massive an international travel networking organisation and were asked if we would like to go on a walk through Cecilia Forest one Saturday afternoon. We don't often do walks these day, we have both done a fair amount in the past and love them but time and work has taken its toll.
You take your phone on the walks and download the software from VoiceMap. There is a charge, which can see on their website. Then on the walk GPS triggers a commentary that tells you about your surroundings and gives directions. You need an iPhone or an Android phone. We have Windows phones, so an Android phone was provided to us for the walk. It was very interesting. And for Lynne, a bit challenging. VoiceMap walks can be done all over South Africa and internationally too. Some are in the country or seaside, others are city walks. Check out their website on https://voicemap.me/
Turkish meze and atmosphere at Anatoli, Cape Town      We have been meaning to go back to Anatoli for literally years. This Turkish restaurant in Napier Street in Green Point has been open since 1984 which goes to show if you have a good formula and do excellent food, you can survive that long, which not many Cape Town restaurants can say. We had been yearning for some Turkish food and had a great time with our friends.
Lunch with the Winter Specials menu at Den Anker, V&A Waterfront      We had to postpone Father's Day this year because daughter Claire had flu and this meant we were able to take her with us to Den Anker the following Sunday where they had invited us to come and sample their winter menu. This is another great and worthy restaurant having been in the V & Waterfront for 21 years. They have one of the best locations there too and a great international menu as well as local specialities.
De Wetshof Limestone Hill Chardonnay with lunch at Charango Peruvian Bar and Grill, Cape Town      This was the release of the 2016 vintage of Limestone Hill, De Wetshof's unwooded easy drinking Chardonnay from the De Wetshof stable of 6 different Chardonnays. Charango is in4 Bree Street so we took the bus and enjoyed the welcome Pisco sour. Then over lunch we discovered that Limestone Hill is the perfect wine to go with all sorts of different foods, heat levels and tastes. And great to quaff.
MENU goes East - Leaving Ha Long Bay, a visit to a Vietnamese village     On our way back to Hanoi, we were taken to a village to see the traditional Water Puppets. We also opted to take another tour to see how people of the village live and farm.  It's a small village, quite middle class and very clean, especially when compared with the streets of Hanoi. We finished the day with a meal which we helped to make. A lovely experience
MENU goes East – In a Vietnamese village; a visit to a home and supper with a family      Our Vietnamese Odyssey came to its close with a family meal in the country. We finished the day in the village, visiting an historic house and then enjoyed a delicious meal, which we helped to make. A lovely experience
MENU goes East - and comes South West. Last day in Hanoi and home to Cape Town     Then, our last day in hot and steamy Hanoi, where the Monsoon was heralding its arrival. We had our last taste of the street life and street food, the night market and a one in 90 million chance encounter. Then we began the arduous 37 hour trip back home
Recipe of the week - Jalapeno and Peppadew Dip      A new dip was needed for entertaining; we found we were becoming a bit staid. Lynne had a pot of Mascarpone cheese and a cupboard filled with pickles, relishes, chutneys and flavours. This is what she made. Use as many peppers as you like, according to your own and your guests’ taste preference or heat tolerance. The brand we used for both was Peppadew's bottled peppers, but there are others on the market
250g pot of Mascarpone cheese - 3 mild or spicy Jalapeno peppers - 1 or 2 mild or spicy Peppadew peppers - 1 t pickle juice from the Jalapeno jar - salt
Roughly chop the two kinds of pepper. Put all the ingredients into a liquidiser or a deep container and, if using your stick blender, blitz them all together. Do not do this for too long or the cheese will turn to butter. Use the juice from the Jalapenos and/or Peppadews to make it a little more liquid, but do not add too much. Taste and add more peppers if you think it needs it. Add salt as necessary too. It doesn't matter if you have bits of the peppers in the dip. Serve with Banting crackers, corn chips or hot Panini rolls. It goes nicely alongside some guacamole
Wine of the week. De Wetshof Limestone Hill Chardonnay This clean crisp unwooded Chardonnay, full of limes, apples, lemons and good minerality is a superb food wine. It goes with delicate dishes and those that are more robust, rich and spicy. The 2016, just released, sells for R97 from the farm





7th July 2016
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Thursday, July 07, 2016

MENU's Wine of the week. De Wetshof Limestone Hill Chardonnay 2016

This clean crisp unwooded Chardonnay, full of limes, apples, lemons and good minerality is a superb food wine. It goes with delicate dishes and those that are more robust, rich and spicy. The 2016, just released, sells for R97 from the farm
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

MENU's Recipe of the week - Jalapeno and Peppadew Dip

A new dip was needed for entertaining; we found we were becoming a bit staid. Lynne had a pot of Mascarpone cheese and a cupboard filled with pickles, relishes, chutneys and flavours. This is what she made. Use as many peppers as you like, according to your own and your guests’ taste preference or heat tolerance. The brand we used for both was Peppadew's bottled peppers, but there are others on the market
250g pot of Mascarpone cheese - 3 mild or spicy Jalapeno peppers - 1 or 2 mild or spicy Peppadew peppers - 1 t pickle juice from the Jalapeno jar - salt
Roughly chop the two kinds of pepper. Put all the ingredients into a liquidiser or a deep container and, if  using your stick blender, blitz them all together. Do not do this for too long or the cheese will turn to butter. Use the juice from the Jalapenos and/or Peppadews to make it a little more liquid, but do not add too much. Taste and add more peppers if you think it needs it. Add salt as necessary too. It doesn't matter if you have bits of the peppers in the dip. Serve with Banting crackers, corn chips or hot Panini rolls. It goes nicely alongside some guacamole
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Wednesday, July 06, 2016

De Wetshof Limestone Hill Chardonnay with lunch at Charango Bar and Grill, Cape Town

This was the release of the 2016 vintage of Limestone Hill, De Wetshof's unwooded easy drinking Chardonnay from the De Wetshof stable of 6 different Chardonnays. Charango is in4 Bree Street so we took the bus and enjoyed the welcome Pisco sour. Then over lunch we discovered that Limestone Hill is the perfect wine to go with all sorts of different foods, heat levels and tastes. And great to quaff.
Charango Peruvian Bar and Grill has menu dedicated to Peruvian-Japanese fusion, or Nikkei cuisine supervised by Head Chef Kieran Whyte. They have a fairly small but very interesting menu
Both De Wet brothers Johann (viticulture and marketing) and Peter (winemaker) were there with PRO Emil Joubert to welcome us
The Pisco sour welcome drink. Pisco is a high alcohol grape brandy made in Peru. It is made with egg white, lime juice, simple syrup, and bitters and served on ice. It is wonderfully sour and packs a punch
The barman adding the necessary touch of bitters to the cocktail
Old friends Michael Olivier and Mike Bampfield Duggan and, behind them, Peter de Wet
Opening speeches by Emil Joubert and Johan de Wet
Johann tells us all about the Limestone Hill which takes its name from the terroir heavy clay with limestone on which it is grown in Robertson. It is full of lively limes, apple and lemons with good minerality and long after flavours. It aids and supports the food it is served with, making them more delicious. American wine critic Robert Parker has said about it: "Understated and less tropical than some of the better un-oaked Chardonnays, this wine possesses far better balance and sheer drinkability – not to mention more finesse – than 99% of the world’s Chardonnay I have experienced.” We loved it enough to make it our wine of the week
The wine
Head Chef Kieran Whyte tells us about the menu which will be served tapas size and style
Sending information on to Facebook and Twitter! Next to Lynne is Bennie Stipp Marketing Director for De Wetshof
The menu
The gentle seared Tuna Tataki came first bedecked with sesame seed , caviar and mayonnaise in a ponzu (soy with a citrus added) and miso sauce with preserved ginger. We love winter in the Cape when we get beautiful fresh tuna like this. It did need more dipping sauce as the ponzu was only a drizzle. Luckily , it came with the next course. The ginger sang with the wine. So great for sushi too
Prawn toasts. You often get these in Chinese restaurants. They are topped with minced prawn, sprinkled with sesame and then deep fried till crisp. They came with a good soy dipping sauce
Next: Dirt rubbed Tuna tacos. More of the fresh tuna, covered with a spicy earthy rub then cooked briefly before being enclosed by the soft tacos with crisp slaw, avocado and wasabi. Really good. The slaw came with lots of mayo and could have disguised the tuna but the wine cut through it to the fish
Allan Mullins of Woolworths chats to Jeanri-Tine van Zyl. Next to Allan is Michelle Coburn, Features Editor of Woolworths TASTE magazine
Then shredded pork tacos with apple, pickles and chipotle chillies. Completely different from the tuna, equally as good. These bite sized dishes were bursting with flavour and texture. The pork was a bit fatty, the wine swept the grease away
'Chicha' Pork Belly with sweet corn, and chorizo sausage. This seems to be a traditional Andean dish. The sweet corn sauce was lovely and the pork quite tender. The crackling however was a bit of a disappointment. It was melt in the mouth with little flavour. We prefer the other style with the crunch and the taste of pork fat.
Dessert: there were two. First a crisp wafer taco filled with a rich dark Peruvian chocolate mousse, popping candy and mini whispers - fun, messy and very moreish. The wine stood up the chocolate!
And then Picarones, the traditional warm sweet potato donuts served with dulché de leché (caramelised condensed milk). A great end to a good introduction to a lovely wine and some interesting food. We must go back and try some more, with a bottle of the Limestone Hill
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Fathers' Day Lunch with the Winter Specials menu at Den Anker, V&A Waterfront

We had to postpone Father's Day this year because daughter Clare had flu and this meant we were able to take her with us to Den Anker the following Sunday. They had invited us to come and sample their winter menu. This is another great and worthy restaurant having been in the V&A Waterfront for 21 years. They have one of the best locations there too and a great international menu as well as local specialities
They have a great range of winter specials, with amazing value
They brought us an amuse from the chef of the seared tuna with sesame on courgette. Delicious, worth returning for as a main course for lunch
It's a long restaurant with lovely views of the docks and the mountain
And was filled that Sunday with good customers and friends. Dr Johan Nel was here with his family
Jean Vincent Ridon, winemaker and owner of Signal Hill winery, the only winery in central Cape Town, was also there with his family
The bar where they serve a great selection of Belgian and other beers as well as wine and other alcohols
We settled for two De Konincks, a fruity beer to go with food
Clare's first Bisque de Homard rich (lobster soup) which she loved
A pot of ...
... Den Anker's famous West Coast mussels marinere was Johns starter
Lynne opted for the crisp Tempura prawns with sweet chilli sauce
Having removed the shells John had a feast of tender plump mussels in a great herby sauce
An Anker beer to go with John's main course ...
...which was a very delicious tender beer braised beef with crisp French frites
Lynne had the duck breast which also had a slightly bitter beer sauce
Clare had the classic hamburger and Frites with two mayonnaise dips, one with mustard one with plain
And we were delighted to meet the owner of Den Anker, Elizabeth de Visscher, who was visiting from Belgium. She comes here every two weeks in the summer months
We could not pass up on dessert. Lynne had the classic Belgian waffle with thick syrup, cream and ice cream. Light as a feather and very sweet
John had the chocolate tart, dark and sumptuous
And Clare had the orange pancakes flambé
Not sure the flambé worked, but they were very good indeed
Thank you den Anker for allowing us to try your winter menu. Father enjoyed being spoiled very much

© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016