Monday, July 08, 2019

An afternoon on the beach. Waves, wind and seagulls with a little rain


On a cold, blustery afternoon, the sound of crashing waves could be heard very well at our house, high up on Signal Hill. We took a mid-afternoon stroll on the beach at Bantry Bay

Splash!
The Hartlaub's Gull (Chroicocephalus hartlaubii) is endemic to the coast from Cape Town up to Namibia
About one half of the total population, currently estimated at about 30 000 birds, is within the Greater Cape Town area
It is a small dainty gull, about the size of a large pigeon, but has the most amazing ability to fly in any conditions
Coming in to land
Touchdown!









Snow white sea foam
An angry mid-winter sea with rain fast approaching 
Kelp clinging onto the crevices in the wave battered Cape Granite

 My favourite beachcomber, well wrapped up, looking for pretty shells
tide coming in
And a fresh wind blows back the surf on the incoming waves
A red-winged starling (Onychognathus morio), not normally seen as a seabird, on the rocks at Bantry Bay
My mother had a timeshare at the Bantry Bay resort (second block from the right) and loved it

An old tidal pool that is very popular in the summer
 Selfie
Seagulls fly, pigeons take up a sheltered position by the wall
And the wind tears the summer palm trees to shreds We have seen winter storms where the waves hit the rocks beneath the flats and hotel so hard that they crest at the 5th floor level. 
 A brave lady getting her weekend exercise 
Posted by MENU at 11:07 pm 2 comments

Thursday, July 04, 2019

This Week’s MENU. Dinner with Warwick and Reuben, Mojo Market, Groot Constantia at Blockhouse Kitchen, American Meat Loaf, Warwick Prof Black


Our best wishes to our American readers. Enjoy your Independence Day celebrations

  We’re being a bit cheeky this week and we hope that we’ll be forgiven. In a, presumably, unguarded moment, someone sent us a promotional email in which the addresses of the recipients were not hidden. We reasoned that other recipients of that mail must be people who, like us, are interested in good wine and food and in travel. So we’ve added your names to our mailing list with the request that, if you don’t like our stories, please unsubscribe. We really don’t like communicating with people who don’t wish to hear from us. But we’ll be delighted, obviously, if you stay on our list, joining the very large number who do like us. And please forgive the organisation who sent us your address. They’re actually a bunch of people whom we like
  Other than that, it has been a fairly quiet week with some lovely highlights, not least among them being the beautiful rain we are receiving. We need a lot more, but what we’ve had has been wonderful; we’ve enjoyed sitting in front of the fire with a good bottle. There are a few very good bottles in these stories…

The One&Only Hotel is running The Chef and The Vine Dinner Experiences in Reuben’s Restaurant on the last Thursday of every month until the end of November. We were invited to join them for the Warwick dinner last week. Next month's event will feature Hamilton Russell, so book soon if you are interested. R625 a person. This event was extremely successful with 111 guests for dinner

Always interesting to find an event in one’s own 'Hood. The Mojo Market in Regent Road was having a wine and cheese festival last weekend, so we decided to drop in on Saturday and see what was going on. No charge, you could go upstairs and taste wine and then come down and browse the food stalls and buy some lunch. There were just a few wine and cheese stands. A good move to get more feet through the door... They have been open for over a year and we are honestly surprised they are still there, knowing the local market as we do. It is not a real market, just a place with permanent stalls selling prepared food, drink and some retail items. Don’t go there looking for fresh produce or gourmet ingredients. When they were converting a row of shops, we honestly thought we were getting a Fruit and Veg Market - which Sea Point really needs. We dropped in when it opened and were not very impressed with the selection of stalls selling their wares and food at the time. This has improved somewhat. Then we visited again, when Baskin & Robbins introduced their 57 varieties of ice cream to SA and had a counter in the centre. And that, sadly, didn’t work. We so miss the Maple Pecan ice cream...

Tasting Groot Constantia wines with Boela Gerber at the Blockhouse Kitchen, Constantia

Groot Constantia is the third oldest farm in South Africa’s wine industry and it is our oldest wine producer. It has been producing wine for more years than any of the producers in the Médoc or Champagne. Constantia was producing wine before Dom Pérignon made his wonderful discovery. So much for being “New World”! Groot Constantia is classified as an Estate, so all the grapes used in their wines are grown on the farm. None is sourced from outside the farm. The Cape Dutch manor house dates back to the earliest days of the estate which was granted to Simon van der Stel in 1685…



This week’s recipe is perfect soul food for this wet and icy weather, but it might even be a good one in the US summer on this day of celebration. Lynne found it in an old American cook book many years ago and it is one of our standards. The great thing about meat loaf is that it has two lives. The day you eat it hot and the next day, when you put a generous slice into a sandwich. She has made one adaptation which makes a lovely difference. Watching Canadian chef Michael Smith on TV this week, she saw that he included cubed cheese in the meat loaf and wow, it was superb in this recipe too

MENU’s Wine of the Week. Warwick 2018 Professor Black White Blend

We were given a preview of this soon to be released wine at the Chef and The Vine dinner at Reuben’s restaurant in the One&Only Hotel this week. Hence the picture of the bottle with its temporary label. Professor Black is a white blend of 61% Sauvignon Blanc and 39% Semillon…



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

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 our website and ancillary works are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are often 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.

This email of this journal has been sent to you because you have personally subscribed to it or because someone you know has asked us to send it to you or forwarded it to you themselves. Addresses given to us will not be divulged to any person or organisation. We collect them only for our own promotional purposes. If you wish to be added to our mailing list, please click here to send us a message and if you wish to be  removed from our mailing list
Posted by MENU at 11:43 pm 1 comments

Tasting Groot Constantia wines with Boela Gerber at the Blockhouse Kitchen, Constantia

Groot Constantia is the third oldest farm in South Africa’s wine industry and it is our oldest wine producer. It has been producing wine for more years than any of the producers in the Médoc or Champagne. Constantia was producing wine before Dom Pérignon made his wonderful discovery. So much for being “New World”! Groot Constantia is classified as an Estate, so all the grapes used in their wines are grown on the farm. None is sourced from outside the farm. The Cape Dutch manor house dates back to the earliest days of the estate which was granted to Simon van der Stel in 1685
We had a superb tasting of their wines with Groot Constantia Cellarmaster Boela Gerber and our wine club The Oenophiles this week. It was held at The Blockhouse Kitchen restaurant on Constantia Uitsig wine farm. Why? Because we wanted to have supper after the tasting and the two restaurants on Groot Constantia do not stay open late enough to accommodate our large group. Our tastings can go on for a while
Many of you will remember this venue as the River Cafe, run by Judy Badenhorst, and then as Neil Grant’s The Open Door. Chef Brad Ball has now re-opened it as the Blockhouse Kitchen and the word is out that the food is good. Blockhouse Kitchen is open for breakfast and lunch from Monday to Sunday, 09:00 – 11:30 | 12:00 to 22:00 and dinner from Tuesday to Saturday. For bookings and enquiries, please email info@bhkitchen.co.za or call +27 21 794 3010.
We were in one of the side rooms in the restaurant which makes a very good function room; high ceilings, good window light and lots of long tables and comfortable chairs. Boela had brought three white wines for us to sample. The classic 2019 Constantia Sauvignon Blanc is grassy, herbal with minerality, crisp and round on the palate, with some ripeness. We had a tank sample, so unfiltered as yet and a little cloudy, but very special. They will be bottling in August. Around R150. The Chardonnay is fermented and kept in barrel for 10 months, so there is some wood smoke; another classic golden chardonnay with apple, limes and butterscotch, with minerality on the end. R280 on the farm. The Gouverneur’s Reserve White is a blend of 75% Semillon 25% Sauvignon blanc and has the characteristic nose of Semillon; dusty and smoky. On the palate, oily lanolin, crisp and buttery flavours reminiscent of a good French brie, then lemon and limes with wood on the end. R450

We began tasting the Reds with a new wine from Boela called Lady of Abundance, named for a statue next to the Groot Constantia manor house. 2017 is the first vintage. The blend will never be set in stone, which will allow them to use what they have made to show the estate at its best each year. The current blend is 32% Pinotage, 32% Shiraz, 32% Merlot and 4% Grenache which does add a little wildness. It is quite a feminine blend, with fresh fruit & smoke hints on the nose, with sappige berry fruit on the palate. Then the cool climate 2017 Pinotage, which came as a huge revelation. We absolutely loved it and that is not something you hear from Lynne when she tastes young Pinotage. Pretty and perfumed on the nose with hints of raspberry aromatics from its Pinot parent, with some spice. On the palate, cherry and caramel, soft tannins, more plum fruit, soft and silky; good acid balance and, on the end, the Cinsault parent is visible. R280 on the farm. 19/20

The 2017 Shiraz is also pre-release. Bruléed fruit and vanilla oak on the nose. Plums, rhubarb, sweet & sour fruit with grippy tannins; intense fruit acids at present, very young and will soften with age. Made in big vats. R260. Gouverneur’s Reserve 2015. Boela says that this is a Constantia blend, rather than comparing it to a Bordeaux, of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot and 10% Petit Verdot. It has soft sweet fruit with some green cassis leaves & incense wood on the nose. Chalky tannins; a Cabernet Merlot dominated classic with bruléed wood on the end. The 2010 Gouverneur’s Reserve, made from 53% Merlot and 37% Cabernet Franc, was superb - showing how age plays its part. Wildness from the Cabernet Franc; violets, soft sweet cassis and cherry fruit and juicy. 18/20. But the wine that impressed the most in this line up of three was the Gouverneur’s Reserve Cabernet Merlot 2006. Sweet cherry berry fruit, wood smoke and vanilla oak. Lovely fruit on the palate with soft tannins and more gentle oak. Delish and still in balance. If you have some, drink now. 19/20

A happy winemaker opening another good bottle
Smiling duo of Chef Brad and winemaker Boela Gerber
Our wine club members enjoying the tasting
That superb 2017 Groot Constantia Pinotage, we scored it 19/20
Boela answering questions
He has been with Groot Constantia since the 1st of January 2001, and is the longest serving wine maker in the Constantia area - where winemakers do stay for a long time. This premier (and historic) area for making wine is so accessible to the city, being only a 20 minute drive away. And it is blessed with great soils, mountain water and cooling sea breezes

The final wine was a real treat. The Grand Constance is a recreation of the famous Constantia dessert wine. To quote Groot Constantia’s web site, "The renowned Groot Constantia Grand Constance is South Africa’s oldest wine and is the finest example of the famous “Constantia Wyn” as drunk by Emperors and Kings, from Frederick the Great of Prussia to Louis Philippe (King of France); all vied for their share. Charles Dickens celebrated it in Edwin Drood, a Jane Austen character recommended it as a cure for a broken heart to heroine Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility and Charles Baudelaire compared Constantia wine to his lover‘s lips in his most famous volume of poems, Les Fleurs du Mal. Napoleon was allowed to drink wine made at Groot Constantia whilst exiled on the island of Saint Helena from 1815 until his death in May 1821. These wines were produced in the Cloete Cellar directly behind the Groot Constantia Manor house. It is known that Groot Constantia used the French translation “Grand Constance” on its labels, additionally to the normal “Groot Constantia” reference. "Made from both red and white muscat grapes, it does not currently have any botrytis. Rose petals and sandalwood on the nose; then sweet floral aromas, tea and some herbs. On the palate, a nice grip of acid in balance with sweet honey and cream with lime, apricot and cherry flavours. The 375ml bottle mimics the historic 18th Century bottles which can still be found in a few very valuable collections. R650 from the farm. And this will age beautifully, should you be able to resist it for a while

The menu
They took our orders while we were still tasting and the food arrived promptly when the tasting finished. This is one of the very good "Dirty Cheese Burgers" which comes in a soft roll, with caramelised onion, a secret sauce, fries and a dipping aioli and was enjoyed very much
The salt and vinegar chips that accompany the soda-and-spice-battered hake, fresh from the sea, with pearly flakes, in a good spiced batter, served with a malt vinegar mayo and half a lemon. This was very much appreciated and recommended. Perhaps, for us, slightly crisper chips next time, although South Africans do prefer 'slap' chips which to us are half-cooked. These were somewhere in the middle. These two dishes cost us R270 including a 12% tip, which we think is very reasonable
We cannot sufficiently express our appreciation of the tasting we had. It was really enjoyable and certainly showed us some really excellent wines. And the food is worth coming back for again, and again
Posted by MENU at 10:09 pm 0 comments
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