Thursday, April 18, 2019

On the MENU This Week Crispy Chilli Squid Tempura

Something easy to make for the holidays if you are having guests

500g small squid rings and tentacles (Cut up larger rings into bite sized pieces) – 500ml milk – 1 egg – 210ml ice cold sparkling or soda water – 1/2 t salt – 25g corn flour – 75g flour – 4 ice cubes – 2t chilli flakes or 1 to 2 (depending on your taste) finely chopped fresh red chillies, seeds removed – approx 500ml canola oil for frying – good sushi mayonnaise or Hellman’s diluted with a little milk to make it more runny

Soak the squid in milk for at least an hour (this tenderises it), then drain and pat really dry. Heat the oil in a wok or a wide deep pan to 370°C. Do not leave the oil alone. Mix the water with the egg and then stir in the flour, salt and chilli flakes and ice cubes. Quickly mix up the batter; it does not have to be smooth. Immediately toss the squid into the batter a spoonful at a time to coat well and then deep fry for just a couple of minutes until it is really crisp and beginning to turn golden. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest. Then serve with the mayonnaise drizzled over it. You can also drizzle over a sweet chilli sauce
Posted by MENU at 2:27 pm 0 comments

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Bellingham Pinotage 2017

We tasted this at the Pinotage and Biltong Festival last weekend. This lovely wine is perfumed with roses and dark berries, incense wood, showing the Pinot Noir parent of Pinotage. On the palate, plums, mulberry, raspberry, black cherry fruit, very juicy, layered fruit, good supportive wood, some vanilla, with a hint of salt and crisp tannins. Then it mellows into long, soft, full flavours, very satisfying, with dark fruit remaining on the palate. The Cinsault parent shows there
We had a glass at home later with some dark chocolate and it is such a good match. Chefs and Sommeliers, do try this, we don’t think we have had a better red wine with chocolate. Good value at R83 on-line and Pick n Pay have it on special at the moment, but do check that the vintage is the same
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Posted by MENU at 12:28 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

World Travel Market Africa at the CTICC

Our visit to World Travel Market Exhibition at the CTICC had to be on the last day Friday as we had work on the preceding two days. It was quite quiet when we arrived mid morning
Sadly, the sponsored tote bags had all gone by then so we had to manage handling any information we were given
Made life quite difficult
We tend to avoid all the large stands from other countries and expensive lodges, airlines and safari companies, as their attitude to media seems to assume that we are after freebies. We give value, we write stories with pictures and our readers do then try out these places. As more and more printed media disappears, they will be left with few people to give them coverage unless they embrace digital media
The Tourist Associations section, where we know people with whom we already work closely, and can make new contacts in areas we are not that familiar with. They know we will do photo stories about their areas and give them good value, as we have done for several years
Tulbagh is an area we will be visiting again soon and it was great to make contact with Patty Nieuwoudt
Samantha Lawrenson, President Hotel Sales Manager, with Michael Pownall, Managing Partner, Valor Hospitality Partners
Jordan had a stand, not for their wine, but for their luxury accommodation on the farm (which we have stayed in and written about), and their travel business Nine Yards Travel. Neleen Strauss, owner of the related London restaurant High Timber, was awarded the Freedom of the City of London recently for her services to the City. They shared a stand with Safari Life Africa
Thea van der Merwe, Director at Nine Yards Travel
Wow such skill making those beaded items. We never cease to be impressed by the creativity and the patience required, We asked how long it would take to make the small item he was working on and it could take most of the day
And then a visit to the Hop on Hop off Big Red Bus of City Sightseeing. where we chatted to many other visitors over a glass or two of good wine. First some superb Sauvignon Blanc from Groot Constantia
presented by Gur Milandou of City Sightseeing
Mandi Jarman Marketing, PR and Social Media Manager, hard at work
Selfie time!
Then a taste of some Backsberg wines. They are still doing their Sunday lunches on the farm
Posted by MENU at 5:06 pm 0 comments

Pinotage and Biltong Festival at Perdeberg Winery

We were invited to attend this year’s Pinotage and Biltong Festival at Perdeberg winery and went on Sunday. We travelled through a huge rainstorm, but the weather, when we arrived, was good and we were able to sit outside to eat some lunch. Because of the bad weather expected, they moved the stands inside the barrel cellar this year. Not needed on Sunday, but Saturday, we were told, was wet
Cobie and Bjorn van Oort are the organisers of the Festival
We loved this drinking Zebra in the tasting room!
Outside, there were a few food trucks and some covered seating
Inside the Barrel cellar
Apparently, they had to move hundred of barrels to another warehouse so that they could hold the festival indoors
After paying or receiving their pre-paid tickets, visitors were given this card with a list of the wineries and could taste each Pinotage and each biltong sample, which were then ticked off the list. A prize was awarded for having all the tick spaces filled. The theme was purple and there was also a prize for the best dressed guests

In between each two wineries, there was a table with a sample of biltong, paired with the two Pinotages to taste
Some of the wineries had brought other wines, so you were also able to taste those
We began with the two white pinotages from Mellasat and Wellington Wines. We chatted with old friend, Mellasat owner Stephen Richardson. These wines were paired with a Lemon and Herb chicken biltong. Chicken biltong is new to us and was not universally liked, as it has a rather strange texture in the mouth. The flavour was good
The Beyerskloof 2018 Pinotage Dry Rosé is very French in style and so enjoyable
It made Lynne reminisce about summers in the South of France
The lads were enjoying the day and John enjoyed tasting the red Beyerskloof Pinotage on offer and the Rosé
Some lean biltong was paired with this wine and the Franschhoek Pinno Rosé
A mix of dry and wet biltong
Victor Sperling showed his Delheim wines and we also really enjoyed their 2019 Rosé
It is perfumed and easy to quaff (as rosés should be) and really showcases this grape
We normally don’t enjoy Barbecue flavour biltong as the spices are too strong and too hot. However this one was really good
All the Biltongs came from the Afrifoods Biltong Factory. Guests were given a small portion of each to pair with the two wines
Another really enjoyable Rosé was the 2018 Lanzerac; perfumed, crisp and zingy
On the Lanzerac stand. Lanzerac Pinotage, marketed by Stellenbosch Farmers Winery
and made by Bellevue in Bottelary was the first Pinotage to be marketed, in 1959
Marietjie Luus, Financial Director of Afrifoods Biltong Factory, with the Springbok Biltong, which was paired with the Angels Tears Le Chocolat 2017 PinotAge and Simonsvlei La Mocha Pinotage 2018, which is not too wooded, young, fresh & fruity 
The Kalahari droë wors 
Doran Vineyards kindly gave us each a glass of their Pinotage to enjoy with our lunch
We had tasted half the room and felt it was time for some food
People enjoying the vibe in the hall 
and a madonna and child
The Best Dressed punters and the winner of the competition
John had a good burger from this food truck. Later we heard how good their brisket was. Darn, next time
An amusing Rasta with an immaculate Mk1 VW Kombi. Chef Janet Richardson told us that his cakes were excellent
Lynne had a Pizza from the stand 'next door'
Stir fries, wraps and samoosas
some fooling about on the lawn
Balance wines were showing their Sweet Temptation Non Vintage 
Marietjie Luus and Danie Kirsten of Afrifoods. Badsberg behind had their very sweet Jerepigo for tasting
The musicians played well
and dancing ensued
Time to go back and taste the rest of the wines. Perdeberg CEO Gerhard van der Watt
tried some of their 2015 Perdeberg Dryland Resolve Pinotage. It is a classic, so drinkable and purchasable
On the Brampton stand, they were tasting the 2017 Pinotage; nice and juicy with an aftertaste of salty licorice
And then, on the Bellingham stand, we found our Wine of the Week. Vintage 2017, this lovely wine is perfumed with roses and dark berries, incense wood, showing characteristics of the Pinotage parent Pinot Noir. On the palate, plums, mulberry, raspberry, black cherry fruit, very juicy, layered fruit, good supportive wood, vanilla, with a hint of salt and crisp tannins. Then it mellows into long, soft, full flavours. Very satisfying, with dark fruit remaining on the palate. The Cinsault parent shows there. We had a glass at home later with some dark chocolate and it is such a good match. Chefs and Sommeliers, do try this; we don’t think we have had a better red wine with chocolate. R83 on line. We see Pick n Pay also has it on special
James Gower, Premium Brand Manager at DGB (Pty) Ltd was showing us the Bellingham wines
Bacon Chilli Biltong. Um, new, um, different, um, hot. Um, maybe not for us
Later in the afternoon, the customers were into the Can Can and the joys of life. Hope they were Ubering home
Founded in 1942. Perdeberg is no longer a Co-op and produces some really impressive wines, especially Chenin Blanc
which grows so well in the area. They are easy to reach. Turn left at Windmeul,  just off the R44 on the way to Wellington
A cheery farewell from the kind gentlemen who carried our wine to the car
(Of course we bought some, can never resist)
And a new attraction to try
A Spitbraai is always an attraction
Posted by MENU at 7:42 am 0 comments
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