Friday, September 22, 2017

The 100th Darling Wild Flower Show

In our spring, the Cape is a showcase of wild flowers. To see the best, you have to go up the West Coast and this year we were invited to one of the oldest flower festivals, Darling which was celebrating its 100th year. It was held at the Darling Golf Club
We had been invited for the media day on Thursday and could not make it as we were at the Amorim MCC Challenge Awards, but we did drive up on Friday. Sadly, it was a rather grey day and when the sun hides itself, so do the daisies which grow everywhere
This is a very refreshing country festival, people are friendly and helpful, they have not modernised too radically, there is no blaring music and the stalls actually have things you want to buy. We loved it.
Food is interspersed with things for sale and there was a variety of food trucks
There is quite a lot of art for sale
We went to visit the Ormonde stand first in the wine tent, where we found Berinda Basson, Ormonde owner Theo’s wife, organising things
 She gave us a taste of Ormonde's Ondine Grenache and one of those lovely chocolate and strawberry cupcakes which are made with the Grenache
and then she took us to the flower show in the Hall. Hanging decorations of wild freesias
The flowers are all picked the day before and put into small water phials which are buried in the ground to look natural . Even the reeds have last year's weaver bird nests on them
A beautifully maintained veteran Triumph motorbike in a field of Arum lilies and fynbos. a 100 year old bike at a show celebrating its centenary
The flowers are so delicate and beautiful. Many have been hybridised and commercialised by the bulb and other flower industry, and are sold as bulbs or corms for you to plant in your own gardens, worldwide. Like Freesias, Ixias, gladiolas, gerberas, ericas and heath, they all originate from this area
Some guinea fowl in their natural habitat amongst the flax, heath and the wild rosemary (kapokbos)
Even some rare orchids
which only the experts know how to find. They are protected, as are all of our wild flowers
You can view individual specimens, which are replaced as they need to be
The modern world has reached the festival. Scan with your phone for information
Duckitt’s orchid farm is just outside Darling- this was their display
Time for lunch. The golf club was doing a braai and we really fancied some chops and boerewors but, sadly, we could not buy them with the vouchers which the show’s organisers had been kind enough to give us
So John went to find a German stand and had a lovely Bratwurst roll. Lynne had some ribs from a food truck and Loraine had some chips
You could lose yourself in the many alleys of stands
The weather was getting chillier and rain was threatening, so we found a table in the wine tent
and went to have a taste of Groote Post wines with Wimpie Borman
wonderful wood carvings
Bags and cushions and a German sausage stand
What a wonderful display of proteas and all for sale
So many different varieties
These very tall gum trees, which must be at least a century old, were planted along the roads to give the ox wagons some shade as they travelled along in the summer. The gums were imported from Australia; the Cape does not have many tall indigenous trees
We left the show and went to visit Duckitt’s Orchid farm just outside Darling, which is open to the public only on the first Saturday of the month from May to November, from 9 to 12 and always at festival time. The last open house will be on November 4th this year. It is a wonderful sight. We saw mostly cymbidium orchids but they do have other species as well. Delicate white and pink?
Or Yellow with red in the centre
Or a stem of bright pink with white centres
Purple
They are grown en masse in huge shade houses
So many different colours and variations
Lovely for a wedding
Wow!
They make such great decorations
So delicate
Even green with purple and white centres

We bought a huge orange orchid with two stems and one spray of these delicate white orchids to put in a vase. We will definitely be back next year
Posted by MENU at 12:30 am 0 comments

What is on the MENU this week Veal Piccante

Lynne loves this dish and ate it a lot when she lived in London, where there are many good authentic Italian restaurants. She has not ever cooked it but found this recipe by Donna Hay that she wants to try soon and thought you might also like it. Veal production nowadays is strictly controlled, the calves are not tightly penned as in the past. That means the veal is not white but pale pink and very delicious. So don't let history put you off eating it. You can of course also use pork escalopes
Donna Hay's recipe for Veal Piccante
Ingredients
8 veal cutlets, pounded thin - 1 cup of flour for dredging - ¼ tsp salt - ¼ tsp of fresh ground black pepper - 3 Tbls of butter - 1 Tbls of extra virgin olive oil - ½ cup of chicken broth - ¼ cup of dry vermouth or white wine - ¼ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice - ⅓ cup of capers, drained and rinsed - ⅓ cup of fresh parsley, chopped
Directions
Prepare the veal by pounding thin between two sheets of wax paper. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Dredge each piece of veal in the flour making sure you coat both sides. In a large skillet heat the butter and the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the veal for around 2 minutes on each side, add more butter if needed. When all the veal is done remove from the skillet and set aside. Turn up the heat deglaze the pan with the broth, lemon juice, vermouth and capers. Scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan and reduce. Return the veal to the pan for 2 more minutes. Plate the veal and pour the sauce all over the top. Garnish with parsley
Posted by MENU at 12:09 am 0 comments

Thursday, September 21, 2017

The annual Muratie Du Toitskloof cook-off

It was time again for the annual cook off between these two wine producers (one a family-owned Stellenbosch estate, the other a huge consortium of wine producers on the other side of the DuToitskloof Pass in Rawsonville); both renowned not only for their wines but their good cooking. They take turns in hosting this fun competition. The object is to each braai the same meat, prepared in two different ways and then have the attending guests taste them, and vote for their favourites. This year, the sixth time the cook off has happened, it was at Muratie in Stellenbosch and the theme was pork. They were to cook two different cuts each, they could choose which..
The weather was warm enough for the cooking and the sampling and judging to take place outdoors in the historic courtyard in the shade of the estate’s ancient oaks
A welcoming glass of Muratie Lady Alice MCC
The chefs relaxing with glasses of the Lady Alice MCC while the fire cooks the meat
Hattingh de Villiers is the Muratie winemaker
To keep the guests happy and from starvation (!) the traditional baked brie covered with strawberries was sitting warming on a mini Weber braai accompanied by some sourdough bread baked by Chef Kim Melck. There were also olives, biltong and droëwors and chicken liver paté from DuToitskloof
This Brie is so moreish that you have to stop yourself from eating too much. There was lots of food coming
Classic wrestling... or is it? A small sculpture from Georg Canitz's collection. He was an artist and was a previous owner of Muratie
The Muratie team, Kim Melck and winemaker Hattingh de Villiers, chose a deboned neck, smoked and drizzled with ginger, honey and soy, and rashers prepared with lemon juice, rosemary and coarse salt
The DuToitskloof team, headed up by winemaker Shawn Thomson and his wife Elrine, opted for neck steaks prepared with honey, mustard, orange, garlic and ginger, and short ribs marinated in red wine and star anise
Bernard Kotze, Marketing Manager of DuToitskloof, enjoying the refreshing cocktails Muratie made. It was made with Amber Forever, their Muscat d'Alexandrie dessert wine, topped up with lime juice, tonic and lots of ice
 Time to put the meat on the fire. Hattingh with the pork rashers, Shawn with his pork neck
The DuToitskloof spare ribs which had been marinated and precooked in red wine, are now ready for the fire. Definitely a method to try at home
They were using their Pinotage to baste. And to drink
The smoked pork neck from Muratie had been slowly cooking in the Weber
Rashers ready; more rashers waiting to be cooked
While the cooking was going on we repaired to the cellar where we were given a tasting of Muratie's 2017 Laurence Campher, shortly to be bottled. This is a blend of Chenin Blanc, Verdelho and small quantities of Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc. And it is topped up with some Chardonnay if there is any left. The Chenin and Viognier show on the nose with the merest whiff of smoke. It has a full mouth feel, nice kicky fruit acids and flavours of loquats, peaches and lime. An absolute must with food
How is it going chefs?
The new chef at Muratie, Tinus du Toit, who has come to assist Kim Melck in their restaurant, checking the Du Toitskloof progress
We take our seats; the first dish is on its way
And have a toast with the rather technicolour Pinotage rosé from du Toitskloof
Pork ribs cooked in 2016 DuToitskloof Pinotage, soy and five spice. They fell off the bone, flavoursome on the outside and tender and moist inside, most of the fat having been rendered by the fire. Voted a huge success. The pork neck was glazed with orange, honey and mustard, garlic and ginger. Very flavourful but the meat could have rested a little longer
From Muratie; the smoked pork neck, was rather like gammon, quite salty, very tender. It was given a honey soy and ginger splash. They like minimal seasoning. The Belly of Pork rashers were seasoned just with fresh lemon and sea salt. These two were served with the Ansela van de Caab red blend, full of heady dark fruits. We all tucked in and then realised that lunch was to follow!
Time to vote. Each team had a cork with the wine’s name and each of us chose one and popped it into the wine box
Time for lunch, which was roast chicken and roast sweet potatoes flavoured with rose water, very unusual and we liked it. There was also a potato salad and a huge mixed green salad with green beans. This was served with Muratie's Semillon 2014, an Orange wine, tasting rather like a weak Fino sherry
Everyone there had a vote. Chef Pete Goffe Wood was the chief judge and arbiter
 The chefs waiting to hear the result
Pete spoke amusingly about the competition and the meats and the cooking
Rijk Melck's dogs waited for scraps. Later boys, later
DuToitskloof Chairman Johan de Wet and Hattingh de Villiers wait, anxiously 
The Trophy! And the winner is....
The team from DuToitskloof, 
winemaker Shawn Thomson and his wife Elrine

Rijk Melck enjoying himself. They are already discussing what the theme for next year should be. And where it will be. A great fun competition that must continue
Posted by MENU at 11:44 pm 0 comments
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