Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Lunch aboard Queen Mary 2


There are some invitations we receive that really, really make us happy and a tour on Monday of Cunard’s magnificent ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, including lunch while she was in port in Cape Town, had us jumping up and down with excitement.  Now 10 years old, she is Cunard’s flagship and was the world's largest passenger liner until overtaken by the Oasis of the Seas. She is not just a cruise liner and she is really the best built ship to tackle Transatlantic waters. Once a year, she leaves her regular beat on the Atlantic crossing and cruises the world. When she left Cape Town, she was headed to Durban, Mauritius and onward to Fremantle in Australia, then to China, and back through Suez to Southampton on a 119 day cruise

The Grand Hotel of the seas looks absolutely enormous as you approach her
With our ID’s ready, we wait in a very short queue to board, while many of the 2500 passengers queue for coaches to go on tours of Cape Town while they are here for two days.
Security is necessarily very thorough and tight but they do welcome you on board at the top of the very steady “gangplank”
We started on Deck No.2 of her 23 decks
and assembled in the Grand Lobby near the Pursers' desks
Our guide, Jessica Burke, shows us some magnificent bronze ‘tapestries’ (their words) showing all the continents Queen Mary visits
As an amusing signature, the artist hid a tiny depiction of Homer Simpson in the Northern American bronze
in which many North American places and activities are depicted
The Popular Golden Lion British pub where they hold quizzes and game shows each evening, there is a pianist and the pub lunch is free for passengers every day.
The Empire casino, closed while in port
The stairway map helps you to find where you are going.
This diagram by the lifts shows only 14 of the 23 deck levels. Some are mezzanine decks and others are crew and engine levels
One of the levels of the huge Britannia restaurant.  Breakfast and lunch are open sittings, Dinner is in two sittings. Dinner is in formal dress approximately every third night and smart every other evening. There are several more restaurants to choose from and some more relaxed options on the ship.
The Captain's and Officers' Tables in the Britannia Restaurant
Some of the wines on offer: They say they are mostly priced between $30 to $50 a bottle.
Another view of the Casino showing the slot machines
Paul Clarke, the director of Cunard’s office in South Africa, which is in Johannesburg, helped to lead the media tour. We are in the photo gallery which has concessions behind each of those boards, closed in port.
A model of the ship
The Queen's Room, which Jessica runs, They have a proper ballroom floor as this is where they hold the balls, the crossing of the Line, Neptune Ball, Black and White Ball, New Year’s Ball. They even have dance hosts to dance with ladies travelling on their own. They have bands and an orchestra, they do lectures, dance classes and bingo. And this is where they hold the famous White Star Line Afternoon tea from 3.30 to 5pm
One of the many pieces of art on display and for sale on the ship in the Clarendon Art Gallery
They sell an amazing amount of art on every cruise
The Boston Cup, c.1840. Presented to Sir Samuel Cunard in Boston on the arrival of his first vessel, RMS Britannia
The Royal Court Theatre is larger than many of the West End theatres in London
Illuminations Cinema is also the only floating Planetarium at sea. This is also used for mass in the morning, 3D and other movies and three lectures a day
The dome is lowered over the middle 150 seats and they can see five different half hour programmes.
The makers mark!
And then it was time for lunch
Our menu offered some tempting choices.  Most people went for the crab, as it is such a luxury in Cape Town. We do not have edible local crabs
Red wine was a Syrah from the Pays D’oc in France
We get seated. Our waiters were apparently mostly Filipinos and it was all Silver service, prompt and efficient with a little oriental cheek thrown in for amusement
The white wine was a palatable Sicilian Chardonnay, which went well with the fish and seafood
We both started with the Tian of crab with avocado and tomato vinaigrette. Scrumptious
Lynne chose Halibut for her main course and it was perfectly cooked, set on a Thai purée with lemongrass and topped with shiitake mushrooms. This large North Atlantic / Pacific fish of the flounder family was also a popular choice as we do not get it in South Africa.
John’s choice was the fillet steak with mash, vegetables and a great jus. Yes, Lynne enjoyed the mushrooms on top
Desserts had to be tried. Lynne chose the Passion Fruit Mouse cake with coconut ice cream and a tropical fruit salad. Light and gentle, a great ending to a good meal
Of course, John could not resist the Dark Chocolate Fondant with caramel ice cream and a coffee anglaise
A long walk down the stateroom corridors took us to
the huge library, which is situated right in the front of the ship and has seats with superb views
of the spare propeller blades, the prow of the ship and the port
This is the Todd English restaurant; he is a well known American chef. This restaurant is private and you have to book and pay
His menu with prices
In February, the ship will feature a South African wine tasting on board in the Britannia Restaurant and an Australia vs France wine tasting, something we would love to host and conduct for them in the future.
Then it was time to see the decks with the swimming pools
and hot tubs and just a few passengers not needing to go ashore
Those tall  windows above the deck are the most luxurious suites on the ship, double storey with their own private decks above the pool. There is only one available on the next Transatlantic trip in June should you wish to book. Starts at $18,000 plus per person!
Another swimming pool on a lower deck
Help yourself to a lounger
and a towel
This is the very Informal Kings Court restaurant, which is open 24 hours a day for breakfast lunch and dinner and anything you fancy in between. Not fine dining, but lots of familiar food choices.
Another of the comfortable lounges
Embarrassingly, this is what Cape Town had to offer the passengers, as it was the only catering on offer outside the temporary embarkation tent, while people queued for coaches or taxis.  We SO need to build proper cruise liner reception buildings with facilities. There were three passenger ships in port that day
A full view of this magnificent liner from the other side of the Duncan Dock
We absolutely loved our tour and lunch and send a huge thank you to all involved
Click here to return to MENU
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Friday, January 24, 2014

Can't find that special recipe element or product? Come to Main Ingredient's Online Shop! Today's feature: extracts

Finding that Main Ingredient

South African supermarkets seldom stock unusual or exotic ingredientsespecially if you live outside a major centre like Cape Town or Johannesburg. 


If you love good food, and follow author chefs like these* or programmes like Masterchef or Top Chef, you will often find that sourcing products that they call for in a recipe can be a challenge in South Africa.

We have access to many of the exciting ingredients and products that we all see in their recipe books or on the food channel programmes.

Main Ingredient has been filling that need since 2002 - we find the best and most unusual ingredients you are looking for and you can find them in our online shop. 


Our product of the day:

  

Do you bake? It seems a no-brainer when the cakes and biscuits available in the supermarket are very expensive and really not always terribly good and often taste of fake vanilla or other ersatz flavours. You may not be aware that we carry a very good range of real extracts for baking and dessert making from the United States. We stock 11 Nielsen Massey extracts which have real flavours and are world famous. Do not confuse fake “essences” with real extracts; they are chemical concoctions whose flavour can never compare with the real thing. If you watch the Food channels you will often see the professional chefs using them. They are strong and true to the flavours and last very well. Check our online shop to see more details and prices


Go to our Online Shop to see these and the  rest of our range of products

or call us at 083 229 1172 / 021 439 3169
Follow us on Twitter:
@mainingmenu
Place your order, we’ll check availability and invoice you. On receipt of your payment, we will post it to you (the Post Office has not let us down yet!) or courier it to you if you prefer. 
Please do not pay until you receive our invoice!
If you live outside South Africa, and wish to send a gift to someone in this country, we'll handle it for you and you can settle with your credit card

Some Famous chef/ authors:

*Bill Granger, Elizabeth David, Ferran Adria, Jamie Oliver, Julia Child, Katie Stewart, Marco Pierre White, Nigella Lawson, Ottolenghi, Prue Leith, Raymond Blanc, René Redzepi (Noma), Rick Stein, River Café, Robert Carrier, the Roux Brothers and Sam & Sam Clark (Moro)
If you’re on holiday in the Cape, or if you’re lucky enough to live here, have a look at our list of ongoing attractions – picnics, special restaurant menus, fun ideas for sundowners and things like that
See it here

Our Events Calendar lists food and wine related events in the Western Cape in date order


We can take you on a tour to some of the best wine farms and restaurants in the Cape. Tell us what you like and we'll design the tour for you around your preferences. 
Our website tells you more 


Our old Product List became obsolete, so we deleted it. Rather look at our shop for Argan oil, Asafoetida, Chipotles, Confit de canard, Duck fat, Extracts (Nielsen Massey), French patés, Goose fat, Grains of Paradise, Hazelnut oil, Mirin, Preserved lemons, Puy lentils, Ras el hanout, Raspberry vinegar, Rillette, Rose Water, Sherry vinegar, Sumac, Tarragon vinegar, Truffle products, Vanilla, Walnut oil, Za’atar 

140123 Main Ingredient's MENU - Lanzerac and Constantia Glen tasting rooms, Rice Pilaff, Last week’s Competition winners

MENU
Main Ingredient’s weekly E-Journal
Gourmet Foods & Ingredients
Eat In Guide’s Five time Outstanding Outlet Award Winner
+27 21 439 3169 / +27 83 229 1172
Follow us on Twitter: @mainingmenu
Late evening over the Twelve Apostles as a South Easter gathers force
In this week’s MENU:
* LANZERAC in Stellenbosch opens its tasting room
* CONSTANTIA GLEN tasting venue
* This week’s recipe: Rice Pilaff
* Last week’s Competition winners
Follow this link to see our Main Ingredient blogs, because to tell our whole story here would take too much space. Click on Bold words in the text of this edition to open links to pictures, blogs, pertinent websites or more information.
This week’s Product menu - Do you bake? It seems a no-brainer when the cakes and biscuits available in the supermarket are very expensive and really not always terribly good and often taste of fake vanilla or other ersatz flavours. You may not be aware that we carry a very good range of real extracts for baking and dessert making from the United States. We stock 11 Nielsen Massey extracts which have real flavours and are world famous. Do not confuse fake “essences” with real extracts; they are chemical concoctions whose flavour can never compare with the real thing. If you watch the Food channels you will often see the professional chefs using them. They are strong and true to the flavours and last very well. Check our online shop to see more details and prices.
It is strange how two similar events can come up in the same week, it doesn’t happen that often and this week we were asked to review two new tasting rooms on wine farms which have recently opened.
LANZERAC in Stellenbosch     We began at Lanzerac on Tuesday. They have done a complete revamp and rebuild and made the tasting room larger and more user-friendly. They have also added a Deli/restaurant and there now are also picnics available in a new location on the farm. Click here to see pictures and to read about the event and what is now on offer
CONSTANTIA GLEN     On Wednesday, having been invited, we visited the new tasting room at Constantia Glen. It has been open for a while over the Christmas season, but this was the first chance we had to visit. It is another great place to aim for when visiting wine farms in Constantia and a platter lunch with wine tasting on the terrace is certainly worth doing. Click here to learn more and see the photographs.
Next week is going to be very busy and we will be reviewing a new restaurant, attending the Riesling Rocks festival at Hartenberg on this Saturday, going aboard the Queen Mary 2 for lunch and attending a fairly formal dinner in town showcasing the Breedekloof area wines. Watch this space next week for reports.
Last week’s Competition winners     We are delighted to announce that Bryan Pearson and Barbara Swanepoel are the winners of a pair of tickets each to Franschhoek Summer Wines festival being held at Leopards Leap Estate in Franschhoek on Saturday 8th February. Tickets are still available if you were not successful. The correct answer was Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg and Hein Koegelenberg
This week’s recipe came about because Lynne was watching Michel Roux’s programme and she was intrigued to see him make a simple rice pilaff. This recipe comes from Larousse. We had cooked a duck on Sunday which came from Woolworths at Christmas. It was on special offer after Christmas – “Buy two and get a huge reduction”, partially deboned and stuffed with apricots and spices. She followed the cooking instructions to a T and, as usual, we found the duck to be flavourful but as tough as old boots. So, on Monday night, she removed most of the remaining flesh and slowly cooked the rest of the duck in some wine and good chicken stock, long and slow till it tenderised and fell apart. We have another of these ducks in the freezer and it will be cooked in a similar way in a closed casserole until it is tender. The rice Pilaff was very easy to make and absolutely delicious with the duck, soaking up all the juices. She loves recipes that you can bury in the oven while you cook something else.
It has a very different texture and flavour, being quite moist and creamy, but not sticky like a risotto, and the grains are separate. It will now be a regular way for us to cook rice for special dinners and definitely to go with Middle Eastern or Indian food. You can of course make this into a vegetarian/vegan pilaff by using vegetable stock and substituting the butter for more olive oil. And you can go on to add meat, chicken, seafood, vegetables and spices to add bulk and interest and turn this into a main course.
This is made in an oven proof dish with a tightly fitting lid that can also go on the hob. A Pyrex casserole or a le Creuset works very well indeed.
Rice Pilaff
2 shallots or one onion, very finely chopped – ½ t olive oil – 1 T butter - 2 cups of rice - 5 cups of chicken stock – 100 ml dry white wine - sprig of thyme – half a bay leaf – a pinch of saffron – salt – white pepper – a piece of baking parchment to cover the dish
Fry the onion gently in the oil and butter with a pinch of salt, until they are transparent. Do not brown. When it is soft, add the rice and stir till all the grains are transparent. Add the white wine and let it bubble away. You can also use verjuice, which has no alcohol, as an alternative to wine. Add the stock, a good shake of white pepper and the herbs and saffron. (At this stage you could add all sorts of different herbs and spices). Stir, then cover the pot with the paper, then its lid and put into a 170°C oven for 30 minutes or until the liquid has almost all gone and the rice is very moist and glossy. Do not overcook or let the rice get dry. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve with any suitable meat dish.
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. 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.
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.
Chez Gourmet in Claremont has a programme of cooking classes. A calendar of their classes can be seen here. Pete Ayub, who made our very popular Prego sauce, runs evening cooking classes at Sense of Taste, his catering company in Maitland. We can recommend them very highly, having enjoyed his seafood course. Check his programme 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 Wednesday evenings. She trained with Raymond Blanc, and has been a professional chef for 25 years. More info here





24th January 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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