Thursday, August 04, 2016

This Week's MENU. Laurium Red Blends, Caroline's Red Wine Review, New chef at Catharina's, Mussels and wine at Den Anker, Nederburg Auction preview, Ham and chicory, Badsberg NLH

A winter walk on the beach, Britannia Bay
When life gives you lemons     This is been a rather disappointing and very stressful week for us. We all have these weeks from hell from time to time; the point is that you just have to take charge and get through them. After the storm last week, most of the phones in Sea Point were down. We registered a complaint, almost everyone is back on line, we are not. Last time, in June, we were without a phone for 20 days and dealing with Telkom is chronic. No response at all to our logged calls and no appearance of anyone. How to run a business from home! Then, on Wednesday, on the way to Steenberg, our car started kangaroo jumping. We assumed that there must have been water in the petrol, as we had filled up after the storm the day before from a garage at the bottom of our hill. No. We broke down that evening while crossing the intersection of Beach and St John's Road at 7 pm. Dangerous. Thank heavens for AA membership, and we were finally towed home at 9.30. Sea Point Beachfront security were also supportive, thank you. We have an electronic problem and a leaking gearbox. Barons, the VW dealership, only does plug and play repairs with new components nowadays, they don't actually fix anything and can't help us, so it now has to go to the gearbox people and then to an electronic firm. The main problem? We are due to go to Tulbagh on Sunday for five days, visiting Saronsberg and other wine farms, the Tulbagh Hotel, restaurants and other fun things to do there, which we will write about. So car hire looms. We will regard it as a holiday expense, regardless of the fact that we will be working the whole time
MENU has a new Facebook page 
The Laurium Capital Signature Red Blend Report 2016 at Ellerman House     This annual competition now has Laurium Capital as their sponsor and it was held this year at Ellerman House. Christian Eedes (winemag.co.za), James Petersen and Roland Peens (Wine cellar) usually judge the red blends entered, this year. Roland was ill, so Accountant Hennie Coetzee was co-opted. There were 16 winners. You can see who won here: http://winemag.co.za/the-laurium-capital-signature-red-blend-report-2016/. There will be public tastings in Cape Town on 17 August at Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront and in Johannesburg on 18 August at Summer Place Hyde Park respectively. Tickets available on line from winemag.co.za
Tasting some of the Cape's best Reds at Caroline’s Red Wine Review     Caroline Rillema of Caroline's Fine Wines holds two of the best wine tastings every year: her Red Wine Review in July and the White Wine Review on Wednesday, 19th October. She selects wines that have four and a half or five star status which she judges to be great wines. It is an incredibly well attended tasting, held this year at rather hot Table Bay Hotel.
An intriguing meal at Catharina's at Steenberg     Are you an adventurous eater? Because we have been in the food and wine business for so long, first as retailers selling unusual ingredients and fine wines, then as writer and photographer of food and wine, etc, we tend to take adventurous food in our stride, but the event at Steenberg this week made us pause. We were invited to sample the food of new Executive chef Archie Maclean and it turned out to be quite an adventurous journey that we absolutely loved, but others, perhaps, were cautious.
Muscling in on Mussels at Den Anker     We had been invited to Muratie for the Port Festival but sadly, without a car, we had to cancel. That meant we were able to take up Mark Norrish's (he heads the wine buying at Ultra) invitation to attend his annual Ultra Mussels Wine Celebration at Den Anker Restaurant, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town as we can get there and back by MyCiti bus
Nederburg Pre Auction Tasting at Durbanville Hills      We attended the Nederburg Auction last year and Lynne did manage to secure one lot, despite heavy bidding, of Graham Beck 2009 Blanc de blancs MCC for John for his 70th Birthday. So we were delighted to be invited to taste the wines that will be auctioned this year. However, because of heavy home going traffic it became an exercise in speed tasting. A good friend kindly lent us her car and we left Sea Point at 10 to 4. We reached Durbanville Hills at 10 to 6 - they were closing at 6. Luckily, others had also been working or delayed and they kindly stayed open to allow us to taste till nearly 7 o'clock, for which we are very grateful
What's on the MENU this week?     We had this dish for supper tonight and wonder why it is not more popular. Chicory or witloof is a vegetable that is widely available, but we don't see many of you buying it. Nor do we remember ever seeing it on a restaurant menu. But, cooked the right way, it is delicious. You can also include this as a standard Banting dish. You could use slices of smoked chicken if you don't use pork. As the chicory needs proper draining, you might like to start boiling it a few hours before you eat. We are having four and using 300 ml of thick cheese sauce and grating cheddar on top.
Chicory enrobed in ham with a thick cheese sauce
2 large chicory bulbs per person - sea salt - one large slice of ham per chicory bulb - salt and pepper - a rich cheese sauce - more grated cheese for the top
Take a sharp paring knife and remove the bitter core of each chicory bulb. Insert the knife tip in the root and rotate it, a tent shaped piece will drop out, discard. Place all of the chicory in well-salted cold water. Bring to the boil. Drain the pot and repeat once again. This removes any residual bitterness from the chicory. Boil until it is very tender. Drain carefully and leave in a colander to continue draining. When they are cold, squeeze out any residual water and pat them dry. If they stay wet, it will thin out the cheese sauce. Wrap each bulb in a slice of ham. Place in rows in an ovenproof casserole. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over your thick cheese sauce. Top with a good grating of strong cheddar. The matured English cheddar at Checkers is especially good and well-priced. Put into the oven and cook uncovered for 20 minutes or until the top is browning and the sauce is bubbling. You can also put this under a hot grill. The flavour is close to asparagus. Enjoy with a crisp dry white wine. A white blend would also be good, but we chose a Chenin blanc, Forrester Meinert FMC 2010, which, predictably, was superb.
What's on the WINE MENU?     Badsberg's much awarded 2009 Noble Late Harvest made from Chenin Blanc and Hanepoot grapes.
We had a superb tasting of Noble Late Harvest wines last night at our wine club and this wine was one that really impressed from those which are still available for purchase. The bottle looks like a Christmas tree with baubles, it is so decorated, but you do need to take the gongs seriously; it is not easy to earn a Platinum award from Michelangelo or many of the other awards. The producer is a co-operative in Rawsonville which produces a range of very good wines, with dessert wines being four of the five wines which were awarded four or more stars in the 2016 Platter. This wine earned four stars. The non-dessert wine in this group of five is the Chardonnay sur lie.
The wine is, as expected, a honeyed, amber-coloured sweet wine with great acid sugar balance. It is full of treacle tart on the nose, quite salty, with almost a liquorice drop character and with bucketfuls of apricots and marmalade. A wine to go perfectly with desserts and rich patés. And, at last, some serendipity. We discovered that we have a bottle in our cellar. It is made from 80% Chenin blanc and 20% Hanepoot (or, if you like, Muscat d ‘Alexandrie)
4th August 2016
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What's on the MENU this week? Chicory enrobed in ham with a thick cheese sauce

We had this dish for supper tonight and wonder why it is not more popular. Chicory or witloof is a vegetable that is widely available, but we don't see many of you buying it. Nor do we remember ever seeing it on a restaurant menu. But, cooked the right way, it is delicious. You can also include this as a standard Banting dish. You could use slices of smoked chicken if you don't use pork. As the chicory needs proper draining, you might like to start boiling it a few hours before you eat. We are having four and using 300 ml of thick cheese sauce and grating cheddar on top.
Chicory enrobed in ham with a thick cheese sauce
2 large chicory bulbs per person - sea salt - one large slice of ham per chicory bulb - salt and pepper - a rich cheese sauce - more grated cheese for the top
Take a sharp paring knife and remove the bitter core of each chicory bulb. Insert the knife tip in the root and rotate it, a tent shaped piece will drop out, discard. Place all of the chicory in well-salted cold water. Bring to the boil. Drain the pot and repeat once again. This removes any residual bitterness from the chicory. Boil until it is very tender. Drain carefully and leave in a colander to continue draining. When they are cold, squeeze out any residual water and pat them dry. If they stay wet, it will thin out the cheese sauce. Wrap each bulb in a slice of ham. Place in rows in an ovenproof casserole. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over your thick cheese sauce. Top with a good grating of strong cheddar. The matured English cheddar at Checkers is especially good and well-priced. Put into the oven and cook uncovered for 20 minutes or until the top is browning and the sauce is bubbling. You can also put this under a hot grill. The flavour is close to asparagus. Enjoy with a crisp dry white wine. A white blend would also be good, but we chose a Chenin blanc, Forrester Meinert FMC 2010, which, predictably, was superb
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

On the WINE MENU: Badsberg's much awarded 2009 Noble Late Harvest

We had a superb tasting of Noble Late Harvest wines last night at our wine club and this wine was one that really impressed from those which are still available for purchase. The bottle looks like a Christmas tree with baubles, it is so decorated, but you do need to take the gongs seriously; it is not easy to earn a Platinum award from Michelangelo or many of the other awards. The producer is a co-operative in Rawsonville which produces a range of very good wines, with dessert wines being four of the five wines which were awarded four or more stars in the 2016 Platter. The exception is the Chardonnay sur lie. This wine earned four stars

The wine is, as expected, a honeyed, amber-coloured sweet wine with great acid sugar balance. It is full of treacle tart on the nose, quite salty, with almost a liquorice drop character and with bucketfuls of apricots and marmalade. A wine to go perfectly with desserts and rich patés. And, at last, some serendipity. We discovered that we have a bottle in our cellar. It is made from 80% Chenin blanc and 20% Hanepoot (or, if you like, Muscat d ‘Alexandrie). It is available on line from the cellar at R75 per bottle
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Wednesday, August 03, 2016

2016 Nederburg Auction wine preview at Durbanville Hills

We attended the Nederburg Auction last year and Lynne did manage to secure one lot, despite heavy bidding, of Graham Beck 2009 Blanc de blancs MCC for John for his 70th Birthday. So we were delighted to be invited to taste the wines that will be auctioned this year. However, because of heavy home going traffic it became an exercise in speed tasting. A good friend kindly lent us her car and we left Sea Point at 10 to 4. We reached Durbanville Hills at 10 to 6 - they were closing at 6. Luckily, others had also been working or delayed and they kindly stayed open to allow us to taste till nearly 7 o'clock, for which we are very grateful
The tasting was held in Durbanville Hills' spacious restaurant with great views, a good venue for something like this, unless you are vying g with going home traffic
Old friend, hotelier Michael Pownall, was busy tasting when we got there and was able to point us to some gems
The Cabernet Sauvignon wines available for tasting. Many have some age and are from well known wine farms. The Glenelly magnum really impressed John
Lynne tasted mostly white wines and found some good Sauvignons Blanc. Good to see Almenkerk there this year
A small but good selection of wines in the Other White varietals. The Semillons rocked. The Viognier is a little shy, waiting to come to the fore
Our marvellous white blends. Some very exciting wines here.
Lynne tasted all the Chardonnays and was impressed with the strength and depth of this varietal. Wooded or unwooded, they are an elegant group
The great and the good in the Chenin patch. We suspect the Forrester Meinert FMC will, as usual, soar and we particularly enjoyed the two Remhoogte wines 2011 & 2013 Honeybunch
Bottles of the JC Le Roux Scintilla 2003 entered for the Auction. It appears to have been used as a welcome drink
Then the classic Bordeaux Blends. Jordan’s magnum of Cobblers Hill 2009 was showing well, but then it always does. There were lots to taste. One or two were a little tired
Lynne and Michael trying the large Shiraz/Syrah group
Everyone who was left trying to taste as quickly as possible before they closed
The port selections. These always do so well and there are some aged gems
Noble Late Harvest. These are our jewels. We wish locals would appreciate them more. Overseas recognition is growing for their honeyed fruit, clean acid sugar balance, purity and long life. The 1979 Nederburg Edelkeur deserves its iconic status, dark brown in  colour, but still rich and unctuous, the sweetness and acidity in perfect balance
Talking to Michael van Deventer from Distell about his and our experiences
The Auction will be held at Nederburg on Friday, 16th and Saturday, 17th September 
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Ultra Mussels Wine Celebration at Den Anker Restaurant, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town

Muscling in on Mussels at Den Anker
We had been invited to Muratie for the Port Festival but sadly, without a car, we had to cancel. That meant we were able to take up Mark Norrish's (he heads the wine buying at Ultra) invitation to attend his annual Ultra Mussels Wine Celebration at Den Anker Restaurant, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town as we can get there and back by MyCiti bus
It was a glorious Saturday after a wet and cold week but we were all celebrating the news that at last El Nino has gone and the dams are filling up at last. We hope this means that the drought has broken its back. Den Anker looked resplendent
Mark Norrish tasting De Morgenzon's wines with owner Wendy Appelbaum
Blaauwklippen winemaker Narina Cloete shows her wines
You were given a glass, a list of the wines on tasting which were divided into wine made by Women and wine made by Men and some vouchers which got you a bowl of Den Anker’s famous mussels and some frites/ Everyone who could crammed themselves onto the terrace to enjoy the wines, the food and the views
Luke Krone organised the event and here he is announcing the lucky draw. You had to vote for your favourite wine of the day
The Glenelly team, Jerome Likwa and Luke O’Cuinneagain
Mark announces the winner
She collects her prize, which was a hamper and a visit to a wine farm
Can you look a bit happier!
Ernie Els cellarmaster Louis Strydom behind competitor Kleine Zalze’s wines, which were on the opposite counter. The beer taps made an interesting counterpoint to the wine bottles
His wife, Rianie Strydom, with her wines from Dombeya and Haskell
Yes please, that would be very nice. JC le Roux winemaker Elunda Basson with a keen admirer of bubbly
Louis talks about his Ernie Els wines
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

Lunch at Catharina's, Steenberg with Executive chef Archie Maclean

An intriguing meal at Catharina's at Steenberg
Are you an adventurous eater? Because we have been in the food and wine business for so long, first as retailers selling unusual ingredients and fine wines, then as writer and photographer of food and wine etc, we tend to take adventurous food in our stride, but the event at Steenberg this week made us pause. We were invited to sample the food of new Executive chef Archie McLean and it turned out to be quite an adventurous journey that we absolutely loved, but others, perhaps, were cautious
The event started very well with a glass (or two) of Steenberg's Lady R MCC, made from 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, dry, crisp and completely captivating. This high end sparkler has spent 52 month on the lees and has a very low dosage. The grapes are from Stellenbosch, Darling and Robertson. The wine and the restaurant are named after Catharina Ustings Ras, an immigrant from Germany. She founded this historic wine farm in the 17th century and was the first woman from the old world to own land in South Africa
The Steenberg girls with Caroline van Schalkwyk, Sales and Marketing Manager and Gudrun Clark who manages the PR for Steenberg and other companies
Chatting with Michael Olivier
The canapés were very good. Everything we were served for lunch is on the current menu, so you too can experience these adventurous dishes. First, a small salad of baby confit tomatoes, rocket pesto, mozzarella bocconcini and a parmesan crisp. Nice and refreshing with the bubbly. They also served huge shucked Saldanha Bay oysters which John says were superb.
Then two shared a platter: a sushi roll of raw fresh yellowfin tuna wrapped in salmon skin topped with pea purée, sundried tomato and dill. Sadly the tuna flavour did reach out to the other canapes, which were slices of a quail and bacon 'boudin' (sausage) topped with a truffled quail egg and a Caesar dressing
Another starter was Franschhoek salmon trout in a horseradish and sour fig risotto with fennel and radish
Also on Catharina's wine list are other brands and we had some of these served with lunch
The restaurant is newly decorated and origami swans hang from the ceiling to depict the original name of Steenberg which was “Swaaneweide” – The Feeding Place of Swans.
Time to sit down and begin the meal. No menu was provided until we went home. The wine served with the starter was the sophisticated 2014 Steenberg Semillon, a lauded food wine we admire
Steenberg General Manager John Loubser introduced the chef to us. John has been at the farm for 15 years. Garth Almazan, their previous chef was there for 18 years. Garth, whose food we always appreciated, has gone to open his own restaurant in Paternoster. Archie Maclean comes from Paisley and Dundee in Scotland and has worked in many impressive places in the UK, like Gleneagles and The St James Club, He did his apprenticeship with Michelin starred chef David Evans. He has been in South Africa for 9 years, is married to a South African and comes to Steenberg from a year at Neethlingshof. He spent five years at the Kruger Park, at Singita Lebombo and Sweni, and previously worked at Le Quartier Français with Margot Janse and at Asara. He has also spent time in New Zealand and Australia, so his experience is wide
Listening and making rapid notes
Cellarmaster JD Pretorius gave us a rundown on the wines they were serving with lunch and the current wine list
The origami swans. There is one black one to denote Catharina, always different
First course, our starter of fried parmesan gnocchi on beetroot puree with a beetroot, mushroom and basil ragout and topped with slices of almost raw crisp grilled cauliflower, Who knew that beetroot went so well with mushrooms? They do. Both have an earthiness that melds
Writers Malu Copeland and Neil Pendock discuss the food and wine
Chef Archie Mclean terms his food 'Contemporary Heritage'. “Catharina is the adventurous one and I need to follow in her shoes”, is how Chef Archie describes his role as new Executive Chef. “As a farm, Steenberg has such a deep and colourful history and we want our restaurant experience to bring the adventure of Catharina Ras to life. This is the crux of our contemporary heritage food.”
Fish course? That is what we all assumed when we saw the dish and when Chef Archie announced what it was, there were a few gasps. It was pan-fried crocodile tail on top of a salted crocodile brandade (just like a salted cod bacalao, tender and moist), creamed leek and roast garlic, blackened corn salsa, crisp fried leek. Those of us who had previously eaten crocodile were excited, it is delicious. And no, it doesn't resemble chicken in any way. More like lobster or monkfish in texture and a delicate flavour all its own. It also, like lobster, takes other flavours very well. The blackened corn was super, with great texture and the creamed leek and roasted garlic were just what the dish wanted. The blackened sweetcorn rock was not great, we don't like eating carbon. This was served with Mulderbosch's 2012 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay and the rich woodiness of the wine is a good pairing.
Chef announces the next course;. To quote him: When I started delving into the life of Catharina Ras, I just knew I had to include ingredients she would have served at her table,” says Chef Archie, whose menu is interwoven with unusual accents not readily found elsewhere. As a seasoned huntswoman of hippo and lion, warthog, ostrich, crocodile and zebra served with indigenous veld food would have been regular fare at Steenberg in her day
This was a first for us and we welcomed the experience. The clue was on the landscape plate, the black and white pap (maize meal porridge coloured with squid ink) stripes! It was grilled Zebra loin, smoked aubergine maize meal, chakalaka, buttered baby marrow, chickpeas and fine beans with a toasted pine nut and coriander. The zebra was very soft and did look rather undercooked but then we learned it was cooked sous vide which gives it this rare look. It was perfectly cooked and very tender. The flavour is not at all like horse, which both of us have eaten and not enjoyed, not at all sweet and rather resembles a good fillet steak. The plating is very witty, the spicy chakalaka being the sun setting. Lynne didn't enjoy this as she found it overwhelmed the delicate zebra and beautiful wine jus but others, who are more familiar with it as a family chutney, absolutely loved it. But to be honest, there were one or two shocked diners who declined
 The wine perfectly paired with this interesting dish was Steenbergs elegant and refined Catharina 2014 red blend. The soft sweet fruit has a lovely hit of fruit acidity which will help it last and mature, as will the good structure
Then a cheese course with a slice of Langbaken Karoo Sunset cheese, which according to their site is a camembert style cheese. We don't think that is what we were served. It was a sharp hard cheese and tasted more of goat than cow's milk. It was served with baba ganoush (aubergine puree), sour fig and goji berry compote and tiny mustard crackers. This came with Allesverloren's 2010 Fine Old Vintage Port, a classic, with forest floor nose and rich Christmas pudding vanilla fruit and many called again (and again) for more
Three happy guests: Winnie Bowman CWM, Mike Bampfield Duggan, owner of Wine Concepts and wine writer and judge Fiona MacDonald
Roving Sommelier Higgo Jacobs with Chef Archie. Higgo helped put the wine list together
Dessert: a Coffee panna cotta, amarula brulée, cocoa nib ice cream, shortcake, smoked hazelnuts. There were some lovely textures on this plate, mainly from the cocoa nibs, hazelnuts and the shortcake mixed with the soft panna cotta.. Lynne does not like coffee flavoured anything, only coffee but had to admit that this panna cotta is superb. A cold and wickedly creamy coffee
And the pairing was witty too: Non alcoholic Ginger beer or Steenberg's 2013 Shiraz
And finally: Good coffees and some mixed friandises: raspberry macaroons, chocolate truffles and mini soft almond biscuits, with a texture like those from Austria (crescents) or Italy, called Ricciarelli
We sat and chatted with chef about the rather controversial meal. Here he is with Malu Copeland
Cellarmaster JD Pretorius with Malu Copeland and Christian Eedes making notes
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016