Grace in flight -
a grey heron comes in to land
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A quieter week... has given us time
to do a few useful things around the house, but we have still been included in
some wonderful activities. We hope you’ll enjoy reading about them. We have
been able to taste some spectacularly good food and wine.
Season of Sauvignon This
annual festival heralds the new releases of the Sauvignons blanc from the
Durbanville Valley. We went on Saturday and we started at the furthest farm,
Phizante Kraal, where we were given a tasting of four bubblies from the area,
two made from Sauvignon blanc, in the media lounge. They had also laid on
brunch, but we were rather tardy after our long Karoo trip and there was not
much left when we got there, entirely our fault but we had eaten breakfast.
Each farm had
organised its own tasting, its own entrance price, its own deposit on glasses
and its own entertainment. So those farms who could afford to go to town had a
lot of visitors, more than the others. At previous festivals people circulated
from farm to farm much more than we saw this time. We managed to get to 8 farms
but didn't manage to taste at all of them. And a 9th was just too popular and
we were not allowed to go in. We had a good lunch at Hillcrest. See the farms we visited...
Prescient Chardonnay Awards Prescient
Limited is the new sponsor of these Chardonnay Awards run by Winemag.co.za.
They promise to be around for many years to come. 60 top Chardonnays are
invited to enter. This is not a top 10 competition, but a certificate is given
to every Chardonnay (29 of them) entered that scored 90 points & over (out
of 100). We were able to taste all the wines that scored over 92 at the awards
ceremony at Momo gallery in Buitengracht this week. There are some fire
crackers. Public tastings are to be held in Johannesburg on 4th November at 18h00
at the Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel and in Cape Town on 11th November at 18h00
at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Waterfront Tickets cost R225 and are available from
Winemag.co.za. Photographs from the event
Lunch at Benguela on Main Benguela
Cove winery is on the hillside overlooking Walker Bay, on the road between Bot
River and Hermanus. Owner Penny Streeter OBE has now opened a fine dining
restaurant nearer to Cape Town on Main Road and Coronation in Somerset West. We
experienced the great food and newly released wines there on Friday. See it here
Launch of the 2016 Platter's Wine Guide Invitations
to this launch are always hard to get, but fantastically rewarding when you are
invited. You can taste all the just awarded 5 star wines and chat to their
winemakers informally, as you and they taste all the wines. There were some
surprising results as usual and some expected winners. 8 000 wines tasted this
year. 83 wines, three brandies and one husk spirit rated 5 Stars (wines scoring
95 or more out of 100, so rated superlative). Best White wine of the year went
to Warwick for their 2014 The White Lady Chardonnay. Best Red wine to Mullineux
& Leeu Family Wines 2013 Iron Syrah; they also won the award for the best
Dessert wine with their Olerasay NV Straw Wine. They also received 5 stars for the
2013 Straw Wine and their 2014 Granite Chenin Blanc, our favourite of the bunch
and therefore took Winery of the year, a tour de force. The red ink entries are
back to everyone's delight - they denote 4½ Star and 5 star status. Read on for photos and the Five Star list
Stormy Weather Surprise at The Deck
House Crab Shack Our plan on Sunday was to drive through to
Kalkies for great fish and chips in Kalk Bay. A big storm hit us at 08h11 on
Sunday morning and, after consultation, we decided it would be more sensible to
go closer to home, but we still wanted to eat fish and we wanted to try one of
the many new restaurants that have been popping up all over Cape Town in the
last few months. See it here
Salmon fishcakes We had some hot smoked salmon left over and a
small piece of fresh salmon in the freezer so Lynne decide to make some Banting
fish cakes for supper. But how to make them without any or just a few
carbohydrates? This was her solution. You could use any fish you like, fresh or
left over. You can adjust the flavours to your own liking. Adding chopped
spring onions might be one option. Do not make the fish mixture too wet or you
will have to add some flour or breadcrumbs to hold it all together and this
would rather defeat the object.
200g
hot smoked salmon - 200g cooked fresh salmon - 300g sweet potato, boiled and
mashed with butter - 1 egg - salt and freshly ground black pepper - 1 T fresh
dill, finely chopped or parsley - a quarter teaspoon on chilli flakes or
cayenne pepper
Flake
the fish and mix everything together well, form into fishcakes and set aside in
the fridge to firm up for about 20 minutes. This should make 6 to 8 fishcakes
One
egg - 150g ground almonds - 2 T white sesame seeds - lots of seasoning -
another shake of cayenne pepper - coconut fat for frying
Mix
the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another bowl beat the
egg. Dip each firm fishcake into the egg and then into the dry
mixture. Fry gently on each side until nice and brown. Lynne
served this with courgette spaghetti and a good mixed salad. It can be
accompanied by a tartar sauce (use thick Greek yoghurt with finely chopped
capers and pickled cucumber), lemon wedges or horseradish added to thick cream. Serve with a rich unwooded chardonnay like DeWetshof Bon Vallon, Glen Carlou or Groote Post.
Coming Events:
NOVEMBER
Until end November Franschhoek Art in Clay For more information and accommodation bookings, please
call 021 876 2861 or visit www.franschhoek.org.za
Thursday, 5th November at 19h00 Top12Wines tastings
series: Pinot Grigio at
MOLO LOLO LODGE 27 Hudson Street, De Waterkant, Cape Town www.molololo.com R220pp
inclusive of meal & Cheeses from Ile de France The format is as usual, a blind tasting 12 of the best SA
Wines in the category of the day, all winners of awards and top reviews,
competing against the public! You will rank the wines in order of preference,
with old friends and new friends alike. Expect amazing quality wines. Info: +27 81 799
3899 - info@top12wines.com - www.top12wines.com
Saturday, 7th November From 09h00 to 13h00 The
Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa Movember - #WaitersRaceCapeTown Camps Bay High School Sports Fields. We would like to invite
hotels and restaurants to participate in our 3rd annual #WaitersRaceCapeTown -
and encourage members of the public to join the action as spectators, free of
charge! All proceeds of the day will be donated to Movember SA. READ MORE The
Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, Victoria Road, Camps Bay 8005, CAPE TOWN, South
Africa Telephone: +27 21 437 9029 Email: restaurants@12apostles.co.za
Thursday, 12th November at 19h00 Top12Wines tastings
series: Gewürztraminer at
MOLO LOLO LODGE 27 Hudson Street, De Waterkant, Cape Town www.molololo.com R220pp
inclusive of meal & Cheeses from Ile de France The format is as usual, a blind tasting 12 of the best SA
Wines in the category of the day, all winners of awards and top reviews,
competing against the public! You will rank the wines in order of preference,
with old friends and new friends alike. Expect amazing quality wines. Info: +27 81 799
3899 - info@top12wines.com - www.top12wines.com
Saturday, 14th & Sunday, 15th November Bosman Release
Celebration on the Bosman family estate,
Lelienfontein in Wellington. The day begins at 11h00 and ends at 16h00. The
tasting journey is open from 12h00 to 15h00 in the cellar. This event
marks the release of new vintages from their Fairtrade De Bos Handpicked
Vineyards and signature Bosman Family Vineyards wines. Exclusive releases for
Bosman Family Wine Club Members will also be launched on the day including a
Weisser Riesling, a Pinot Gris and, for the first time in South Africa, a Nero
d’Avola. A festive food market will be set up on the lawns. Live music. Trained
crèche staff will look after smaller children. Wine maker theatre sessions can
be booked on a first come first serve basis during 12h00 to 15h00. Tickets at
R150 per person include access to both days, a wine glass and a R50 voucher
redeemable with your first purchase of six bottles of wine on the day. Children
under 12 enter free of charge. Food sold at R50 per station. Space is limited,
so book now at http://bosmanwines.com/tickets/ to secure your place. For more information please contact
Neil Büchner at neil@bosmanwines.com or call 021 873 3170
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. Karen Glanfield has taken
over the UnWined
wine appreciation courses from Cathy. See the details here
The Hurst Campus, an accredited school for people who want to become
professional chefs, has a variety of courses. See the details here
In addition to his
Sense
of Taste Culinary Arts School, Chef Peter Ayub runs a
four module course for keen home cooks at his Maitland complex. Details
here
Nadège Lepoittevin-Dasse has French cooking classes in Noordhoek
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
Nicolette van
Niekerk runs baking courses at La Petite Patisserie in Montague
Gardens
George Jardine
will be running a series of winter cooking courses and other activities at
Jordan. Details here
We write about
our experiences in MENU, not only to entertain you, but to encourage you to
visit the places and events that we do. We know you will enjoy them and we try
to make each write up as graphic as we can, so you get a good picture of what
is on offer at each place, restaurant, wine farm, festival we visit.
4th November 2015
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
We apologise if MENU caused
your phone to bleep in the early hours. To send to our huge list of subscribers
takes a long time and many of them receive it in the middle of the night. Might
we suggest that your phone should not be activated to receive messages from us
or from other sources in the witching hours? If your boss needs to contact you
at that time, (s)he’s intruding on your valuable personal time.
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
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