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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Beer, Wine and Curry Challenge at the Taj Twankey Bar

The view from the upstairs balcony of the Twankey bar

Getting started with the Devils Peak Saison beer and the Pierre Jordan NV Brut

Served with a warm spicy potato cake cumin yogurt and apricot tamarind chutney. Very warm and spicy tasted just like the potato in a dosa

Jean Muller was the cheerful and amusing Master of Ceremonies

Lynne chats to Giddy Caetano of Anthonij Rupert Wines about the Franschhoek Uncorked festival on the 7th and 8th of September

It was a nice buzzy crowd

Willem du Toit, Food and Beverage Director of The Taj

The next dish was a Seekh Kebab with mint chutney which went amazingly well with the Jack Black Lager and less well with the Good Hope Chenin Blanc

A huge bowl of Roti pe Boti – Spiced beef curry on rice. We have had the Devils Peak India Pale Ale before and absolutely love its fruitiness. It has wafts of tangerine and granadilla and a lovely dark depth of malt. We also had the Anthonij Rupert Optima full of cassis and minerality enough to cope with the curry.

This was half a pizza and half a stuffed roti! Full of sweet tomatoes and olives and covered in baked paneer cheese. Served with Jack Black Pale Ale and Paradyskloof Pinot Noir

Lauren Berry enjoyed it too

The outside of Twankeys on the corner of Wale Street and Cape Town’s main street, Adderley Street. It still has bits of history with the old bank doors and the Statue of our lady of Good Hope above.

Elgin Valley Shiraz tweet up

Making tasting notes, tasting through the range of Elgin Shiraz is complicated enough and now we tweet at the same time

These are the wines we tasted, their technical specifications and their cellar door prices.

And the bottles displayed - each flight on one of Caroline’s shelves

Meridian Trade tasting at Artscape

A good idea was a selection of the wines on show paired with suitable canapés:

Rather under-seasoned Oxtail spring rolls with Epicurean 2008 or Meerlust Pinot Noir

Duck with a fruit ‘jam’ with Rust en Vrede Shiraz or Saronsberg Shiraz. Sadly the duck was raw and needed seasoning

The all-time favourite dish of the evening. Duck mousse pate in a raspberry gel shell to go with either the Mulderbosch Faithful Hound or the Stellenbosch Kloof 2010

Roasted tomatoes topped with creamed snoek and sweet potato mash was a little strange. It went with Haute Cabrière’s unwooded Pinot Noir 2011 or La Motte’s 2012 Sauvignon Blanc, which is not a good match with tomato.

Poached chicken roulade topped with (tinned?) mango and peaches matched to Cederberg Bukettraube 2012 or Ken Forrester 2012 Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc

Unusual dish of deep fried seafood infused risotto patties with Zevenwacht Chenin Blanc 2012 or Buitenverwachting Blanc de Noir 2012

Very good twice baked cheese soufflés with De Wetshof Finesse Chardonnay and Cape Point Isliedh – both perfect matches with the rich cooked cheese.

Not to everyone’s taste, but Lynne enjoyed. Cooked beetroot slices sandwiched with goats cheese to match Delaire Graff’s Coastal Cuvée Sauvignon Blanc and Cape of Good Hope Ultima Sauvignon Blanc. The match worked.

Soft and juicy poached salmon wrapped in cucumber with Diemersdal 2013 Sauvignon Blanc and Simonsig’s Kaapse Vonkel 2011 Brut. A conventional match but good.

Rare roast beef slices wrapped around enoki mushrooms. No flavour at all, sadly. It needed a sauce or seasoning. Paired with Ernie Els Big Easy 2011, a lovely wine.

Rather overcooked chicken pieces in a sauce, paired with the smoky Paul Cluver 2011 Chardonnay or the Beyerskloof Pinotage Reserve 2011

Simple slices of salami with Guardian Peak SMG 2011

This course was strange until you tasted it with the wine, then it worked. Small dabs of duck paté on pieces of dried apple, served with De Grendel 2010 Merlot or Martin Meinert’s La Barry 2011 Red.

Peeled prawns with a ball of polenta and cheese with sweet corn inside it. It lacked flavour. We didn’t feel it worked as a canapé. Paired with Leopards Leap Chardonnay 2012 or Tokara Director’s reserve