Food and wine pairing with Monis and Weekend Post (Part 2)

By Louise Liebenberg

FORTIFIED wine – the tipple we rely on at winter time, Christmas time and just about any time when nerves get the better of us at awkward family gatherings – had its origins not in Europe but thousands of years ago in the Arab world.

We may think of sherry as Spanish or port as Portuguese, but it was the Arabs or “Moors” who, having invented the process, first brought the secrets of fermentation to Spain – still home today to some of the world’s finest makers of “jerez” or sherry – when they ruled large parts of the Iberian peninsula for nearly 800 years.

From there on the process spread across Europe and to the rest of the world. These and other lesser known facts about fortifieds were shared last week when Weekend Post and Monis hosted an informative and fun food-and-wine pairing in Port Elizabeth.

Fourteen subscribers and their partners who won tickets to attend the event at Leo’s Bistro and Lounge in leafy Walmer were met by the “man from Monis”, Chris de Klerk, who flew in from Johannesburg to share his knowledge of these wines.

Monis is not only South Africa’s top producer but an international award winner when it comes to the likes of sherry, port and muscadel.

However, 2012 marks the year in which we will have to stop calling our South African ports and sherries such because of European Union labelling laws stipulating that all geographically based wine names outside the country of origin must be phased out. It was the same story a few years ago when sparkling wine made outside France’s Champagne region could no longer be called “champagne”.

So now, instead of speaking of “medium or full cream sherry”, we are simply to drop the word “sherry” (anglicised from “Jerez”, the town famous for it) altogether. The same goes for port, which means you’ll now enjoy a Monis Cape tawny or a Cape vintage, for instance, instead of a “tawny port” or “vintage port”.

Fortified wine, in short, is wine to which a distilled spirit such as brandy has been added, Chris explained. This means it can pack a powerful punch, which is why in South Africa it may only be served to the public in a 50ml glass.

Guests at the Monis event tasted how the pale dry – not dissimilar to the Spanish “fino” – adores salty foods like biltong and could explain why in that country it is so eagerly enjoyed, well chilled of course, with dry-cured ham and other tasty tapas.

The Monis medium cream paired particularly well with a milky camembert (brie would have been too creamy) while the intense, fruity port we tasted (sorry, Cape vintage!) could happily handle the gorgonzola and preserved fig it was matched with.

Our final tasting was of the amber coloured full cream that was practically off the charts in delicious sweetness and therefore ideally accompanied by the malva pudding prepared by Leo’s chefs.

After the tasting more classy canapes were served and some of our winners continued their lucky streak by taking home prize hampers from Monis.

Scroll down for some tapas-style recipes that make use of fortified wines or are ideally served with them, as well as more social pics from the evening! Also see last weekend’s post further down for more pics – and a recipe best served with Monis pale dry, or a fino.

Pan-fried chicken livers with melba toast and gooseberry compote

Recipe: Pan-fried chicken livers with gooseberry compote

Best with Monis Medium Cream – serves 6 as a starter

Ingredients 

For the melba toast: 6 slices white bread, crusts removed

For the gooseberry compote: 250g gooseberries; 80ml (1/3 cup) sugar; 45ml (3 Tbsp) vinegar; 125ml (½ cup) water; ½ small onion, chopped; 5ml (1 tsp) curry powder; pinch of salt

For the livers:  400g chicken livers (you can also use duck livers); 60ml (¼ cup) butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 160ºC. For the melba toast, roll each of the slices out as thinly as possible and cut each slice into four triangles. Place on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until crisp.

For the compote, combine all ingredients in a small pot and simmer until the mixture looks like thick chutney.

For the livers, heat the butter in a pan over high heat and fry the chicken livers for 2 min on each side until they are golden brown and slightly pink on the inside. Season.

Serve the chicken livers with the gooseberry compote and melba toast on the side.

Gorgonzola soufflé with smoked pear compote

Recipe: Gorgonzola soufflé with smoked pear compote

Best with Monis Full Cream – Serves 4

 Ingredients

For the smoked pear compote: 4 large pears, peeled and large diced; 60ml (¼ cup) wood chips; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 125ml (½ cup) vinegar; 125ml (½ cup) sugar; 250ml (1 cup) water

For the gorgonzola soufflé: 60ml (¼ cup) finely grated parmesan plus extra for moulds; 60ml (¼ cup) butter; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 60ml (¼ cup) cake flour; 250ml (1 cup) hot milk; 10ml (2 tsp) Dijon mustard; 4 egg yolks; salt and ground black pepper; 75g (½ block) gorgonzola cheese; 5 egg whites

Method 

Lay tinfoil in the bottom of a wok or frying pan. Place the wood chips on the foil and sprinkle lightly with water (like two squirts from a hairdresser’s spray). Place a cooling grid or wire rack on top of this. Top with the pear.

Cover the wok with a lid or anything that will insulate it well. Place the wok over a high heat and leave for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave for an additional 10 min to cool.

Remove the pears and place in a small pot with the onion, garlic, vinegar, sugar and water. Simmer gently for an hour or until your desired chutney texture is reached.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease 4 x 250ml (1 cup) oven-proof serving bowls and sprinkle with extra parmesan. Make a collar out of a double layer of buttered baking paper and tie around top of mould, buttered side inward, standing about 5cm high.

For the soufflé, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and cook for 2-3 min or until soft, add flour and stir continuously for 1-2 min.

Gradually add milk, mixing until smooth, then bring to the boil, stirring continuously and cook for 2-3 min or until thick. Remove from heat, add parmesan, mustard and egg yolks and mix to combine. Season to taste, set aside for 5 min, then stir in gorgonzola cheese, taking care not to break up chunks.

Whisk egg whites and a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Fold one third of the egg whites into cheese mixture to lighten, and then fold through remaining egg whites. Pour into prepared dishes and bake for 30-35 min or until puffed and golden.

Serve the soufflés with the smoked pear compote.

Walnut shortbread with mascarpone and fig-and-date chutney

Recipe: Walnut shortbread with mascarpone and fig-and-date chutney

Best with Monis Muscadel – serves 6 as a canape

Ingredients

For the walnut shortbread: 125ml (½ cup) butter; 60ml (¼ cup) castor sugar; 250ml (1 cup) cake flour; 50g (½ packet) ground walnuts

For the preserved fig and date chutney: 4 preserved figs, finely chopped, with 45ml (3 Tbsp) syrup; 125ml (½ cup) fresh dates, finely chopped; 45ml (3 Tbsp) red wine vinegar; ½ red onion, finely chopped; 250ml (1 cup) water; 1 clove

Method 

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper or a silpad.

For the walnut shortbread, rub all the ingredients together until dough is formed. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into heart shapes. Bake for 10 min until cooked and lightly golden. Cool on wire racks.

For the fig and date chutney, combine all the ingredient in a small pot and simmer on a low heat until a chutney consistency is reached. Store in the fridge in a sterilised jar.

Serve the biscuits with the mascarpone and a dollop of fig and date chutney.

More social pics

Louise Liebenberg with Chris de Klerk

Pat Hand (left) and Marilyn (Lyn) Harte

Ria and Malcolm Thom with Charmaine McCance (right)

Basil and Jill Blatch with Liezel Wait on the right

From left, Chris de Klerk, DJ Orie, Linda Christensen and Andrea Potgieter

All the winners

THE 14 Weekend Post readers who each won a double ticket to the Monis food and fortified wine pairing at Leo’s in Port Elizabeth are: Loredana Loyson, Malcolm Thom, Niel Dorward, Liezel Wait, Thomas Lupondwana, Doodie Candasamy, Basil Blatch, Brian Dawson, Charmaine McCance, Cindy Bester, Marilyn Harte, Rory Nottingham, Noelene Oakley and Herbert Klasse.

Food and wine pairing with Monis and Weekend Post (Part 1)

By Louise Liebenberg

WEEKEND Post and Monis hosted a fortified wine tasting for 14 subscribers and their partners who had all won tickets to the event, which was held at Leo’s in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, on Thursday night. It was a fun and fascinating evening in the company of “the man from Monis” Chris de Klerk, who took us through the tasting and shared plenty of interesting facts about fortified wines like sherry, port and muscadel.

See some social pics from the evening below – there will be more pics to come next Saturday along with a full report-back on the night’s proceedings both on the blog and on the back page of MyWeekend.

In the meantime you can also scroll down for a recipe incorporating fortified wines, which really are a lot more versatile than most people know! More tips, tricks and recipes with fortified wines will follow next Saturday April 21.

Monis' Chris de Klerk with De Kock Communications' Linda Christensen (centre) and Louise Liebenberg from Weekend Post.

Esme van Niekerk (left) with Doodie and Kruven Candasamy.

Guests (from left) Nev du Plessis, Kathy Garde and Craig and Cindi Bester.

Recipe: Mushroom and sherry soup with almond love bite

This recipe is best made and served with Monis Pale Dry, the South African equivalent to a beautiful fino or dry sherry. Guests at this week’s Monis event tasted how the pale dry absolutely loves salty, earthy foods like biltong; I imagine the combination below is going to be a winner now that we are starting to move towards the colder months!

This mushroom appetiser is best served with a pale dry like Monis' finest. Picture: Supplied

How to make the soup

Ingredients

1 shot of pale dry sherry; 1 cup of rich chicken stock; 2 sprigs of thyme; ½ tsp golden sugar; 200g shitake mushrooms, sliced (or whole shimejis); 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 tsp garlic; ½ cup cream

Method

Get the olive oil smoking hot in a small pot and add the mushrooms. Sauté them quickly to avoid burning them. Add the garlic and stir for a minute. Then quickly deglaze with the sherry. Simmer for a minute and add the stock, sugar and thyme. Simmer until all the flavours are infused (about 5 min). Now add the cream and simmer until nice and thick.

How to make the almond love bite

Ingredients

110g butter; 55g castor sugar; 150g flour; 50g ground almonds

Method

Rub all the ingredients together until a dough is formed. Roll out the dough while dusting lightly with flour and cut into heart shapes. Bake at 180 for 10 min.

Serve the mushroom soup in espresso cups with a love bite on the side for dunking or nibbling.

Don’t miss the blog next Saturday for more social pics, feedback on the food and wine pairing and other great recipes and ideas on how to use and serve fortified wines when next you’re entertaining!

Fresh finds at food fest – and a novel way to make gnocci

By Louise Liebenberg

PORT Elizabeth hosted a four-day food and wine festival at the DF Malherbe High School sports grounds last week. I  trawled the 150-odd stalls at the Nelson Mandela Bay Food Festival, put together by Jeffreys Bay-based organisers Eeden Projects, and came across several interesting suppliers. I found splendid Mediterranean black figs grown and produced in the Uniondale area and excellent grass-fed free-range beef from an Elandsriver farm… so exciting as previously I’d always bought imported figs and had had to search high and low for decent quality beef. I also came across Jeffreys Bay chef Brent Mills, of 3 Fat Fish, in the food demo tent, where he demonstrated several dishes, including the recipe for “poached” potato gnocci which we are running further down on the blog today. You can also scroll down for festival pics and other foodie finds.

Damian Schmidt led a tour of the spic-and-span Checkers tent, where we tasted wines, cheeses, aged beef and free-range lamb. Several cooking demonstrations were also held in the area over the four-day fest. Picture: Louise Liebenberg

Damian with a sample of Checkers's aged steak. Picture: Louise Liebenberg

Britain’s Broughton brothers Craig (left) and Andrew, of the popular 2 Fat Butchers store in Walmer. They make Scotch eggs as in the picture and excellent sausages like pork and apple, Moroccan with lovely spiced fruit and even the more traditional ones like Cumberland, as well as other British favourites like Leicestershire pork pies. I have never been able to bring myself to buy "shop" bacon again since tasting their beautiful dry-cured bacon when they first opened their store in Walmer just over a year ago. Picture: Louise Liebenberg

Lizelle Scheepers and her family farm in the Elandsriver area where they produce excellent quality beef products from free-range, grass-fed herds. I tried her boerewors and also bought some lean mince and burger patties which have proved excellent. I have really been hunting around for more places to buy good-quality beef as I am always severely put off by the idea of "feedlot" beef - and you don't always know what you're buying in some supermarkets. The 2 Fat Butchers in the picture above also sell good free-range beef. Lizelle is happy to travel to PE on a regular basis and will deliver to your door. Picture. Louise Liebenberg

Johan and Ella Jubelius are part of a family enterprise at Grootfontein farm in the Uniondale area where they and a handful of other producers grow magnificent figs that nowadays are being sold to the likes of Woolworths. The Jubelius clan also makes related produce such as their fantastic fig jam and also their dried figs. It was the first time I have tasted such good dried figs that are locally produced as previously I'd bought the imported ones at considerable cost. The Kammanassie is also becoming known as a supplier of quality pomegranates. Picture: Louise Liebenberg

Nico Basson and Jayne Liston at the Falksalt stand. I was first introduced to these lovely salts which are harvested in Cyprus in the Mediterranean by Angie Creaven, of Posh Pancakes in Richmond Hill, who also stocks them. Falksalt is a Scandinavian company but the brand is marketed and sold in South Africa by Cerebos. I especially love the rosemary salt for lamb dishes which their black salt is a fantastic dinner party conversation starter! Picture. Louise Liebenberg

Stuart Hudson-Lamb and Bronwen Hudson-Lamb at the Berry Nice Berry Co stand. This brand is a job creation project in Molteno and their raspberry and blueberry jams, which are preservative free, are downright excellent. The company is 65% BBBEE owned and all staff members are co-owners in the venture. Picture: Louise Liebenberg

Brent Mills (left) of 3 Fat Fish in Jeffreys Bay and his assistant presented a cooking demonstration on the Sunday at which audience members learnt how to make potato gnocci and fresh pasta. Brent and his wife Emmy-Lou are both chefs who met at one of my all-time favourite restaurants - Five Flies in Cape Town. The couple's business, 3 Fat Fish, includes a restaurant, catering service and cooking classes for all ages. Picture. Louise Liebenberg

Potato gnocci – the recipe

Brent’s recipe for potato gnocci – a delicious alternative to pasta – involves poaching and then pan frying the gnocci, unlike the more traditional  boiling method Salvelio and I have used in the past. The results were fantastic and I will definitely be trying this method in future as the pan frying gave the gnocci an almost nutty crust that was far richer in taste than the regular way. Brent also made a simple gorgonzola cream sauce which was fantastic with the gnocci – you simply heat 250ml of cream through to which you have added a 1/4 cup of crumbled gorgonzola (or else a variation like Simonzola). For the fresh pasta he demonstrated, including ravioli and tortellini stuffed with gorgonzola and others with duck, Brent made a simple sage butter which was a beautiful accompaniment. I’m sure it would have gone equally well with the gnocci.

Ingredients

1.6kg potatoes; 250g bread flour (Brent uses Eureka stone-ground flour); 250g finely grated parmesan or pecorino (not the pre-grated kind as it will lack flavour); 3 egg yolks and one whole egg; salt for seasoning; finely chopped fresh chives or oregano for flavouring; oil and butter for frying

Method

Bake the potatoes in their skins an oven until cooked through. Brent believes it’s better to bake the potatoes than to steam or boil them as you don’t want them to have any unnecessary liquid. As soon as they are done, peel the potatoes and mash them while still hot.

Mix the potato mash first with the cheese and then the flour (you can use food processor but don’t overwork the mixture as it can “cook” from the blade action – I prefer to do it all by hand). Now beat the yolks and whole egg together and add  to the mixture along with some seasoning and the herbs.

Place the mix on a piece of cling film (or you can use several) and roll it in a tight cylinder shape. Brent’s was quite a bit thicker – about the diameter of the “old” R1 coin or maybe a sushi roll –  than I have made it in the past. Roll it up so thoroughly and tightly that no liquid will be able to penetrate the clingwrap – and there must be no airpockets inside. You may have to knot one end of the clingfilm and then “swing” the cylinder a bit to make sure it is properly compacted before knotting the other end.

Now poach the cylinder(s) in a water bath of boiled water for about 20 minutes. This is a method many international chefs use nowadays and they all tell us there is no risk of the plastic taste or particles going into the produce, but I confess I still have my reservations!

Anyway, remove the gnocci roll from the boiling water and immediately place it into a pot of ice cold water – yes, with ice cubes in it! – to cool down completely. Remove, dry it off a bit and remove the clingwrap. Place the gnocci roll on a floured surface and slice into discs of about 1/5cm thick; you may have to reshape the discs a bit. These you can then pan fry in a bit of oil and butter (no margarine please).

Once it gets a bit of a golden “crust” on the sides, it is ready to plate. Brent served up a trio of the discs at a time with a drizzling of the rich, creamy gorgonzola sauce – no need to have it swimming in the sauce.

You could either serve the gnocci as a main course or as a starter.

A languid lunch on the MSC Sinfonia – and a recipe for seafood risotto

Louise in front of the MSC Sinfonia which visited the port of Port Elizabeth this week. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

By Louise Liebenberg

ONE tends to think of a cruise ship as a floating hotel but, with several thousand passengers from around the world on board, it is far more like a floating global village. And making sure that the up to 2180 guests of the MSC Sinfonia which visited Port Elizabeth this week remain happy, healthy and well-fed is a responsibility not to be underestimated.
The 251-metre Sinfonia left for Cape Town harbour on Wednesday night and is already hitting the home stretch on its northbound journey back to Europe as the season draws to a close.
Salvelio and I were lucky enough to land an invitation to step on board for lunch on Wednesday, meet MSC Cruises’ marketing manager Allan Foggitt and PRO Ingrid Roding-Tudor and also chat to the ship’s cool, calm and collected food and beverage manager, Hinesh Nensee.

F&B manager Hinesh Nensee in Sinfonia's Manhattan cocktail bar. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

The 716 crew members are largely Italian, just like the entire MSC cruise fleet’s super-wealthy owner, Gianluigi Aponte. The Italian influence is thus evident in all its menus, decor and public areas – including the Sinfonia’s stately Il Galeone main restaurant where we enjoyed our meal over a pleasant chianti from Tuscany.

Hinesh, however, is not Italian but hails from Bombay in India, adding to the cosmopolitan nature of the crew represented by some 39 nations. He spent eight years with the famous Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay and two before that with the city’s Hilton before joining MSC 13 years ago.
Being an “F&B manager” as they call  themselves in the trade was daunting enough on land, but the responsibility was so much greater at sea, he said.
For instance, food safety standards of the highest order are critical and the ship’s  kitchens must be “surgically clean” to avoid the risk of people falling ill in the middle of the ocean, so far away from hospitals.
Provisioning is another of Hinesh’s key roles. Some food-stuffs like olive oil and certain cheeses are brought in from Italy but the rest have to be sourced in their “home port”, which this time was Durban.
“We can’t buy too much or too little. Space on the ship is very limited but because our menus are pre-determined we may not run out. Planning must be spot on,” he says.

Between 7000 and 8000 meals are served daily in Sinfonia’s two restaurants alone – that excludes the buffet area which particularly in South Africa is extremely popular with at least half of the guests typically eating there, he said. On top of that every single plate has to be picture-perfect and completely standardised in its presentation.

Main restaurant Il Galeone where we enjoyed a lazy, Italian-themed lunch. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

The ship’s second restaurant is Il Covo while the buffet area on the pool deck also has a pizzeria and a grill flanking it. Then there are the six bars and four cafe areas to service, not forgetting guests also may call for room service 24 hours a day. No wonder you need to more patient and organised than most to do this job, as Hinesh suggests!
Cruising is said to be the world’s fastest-growing tourist industry. MSC Cruises, whose 12th liner, Divina, is being christened in May while the 13th, Preziosa, will take to the seas next year, is the fourth largest cruise company in the world. It also boasts the world’s most modern fleet – these ships are so modern they don’t even have rudders anymore, which means they are “manoeuvred” rather than “steered” in the old-fashioned sense.

Cruises heading our way

Good news for cruising fans is that the uber-elegant MSC Opera, Sinfonia’s slightly larger sister ship, is heading to South Africa in mid-November, including for a six-night cruise that will also visit Mozambique’s Portuguese Island and new destination Anakao in Madagascar, while its new year cruise will visit Reunion and Mauritius. There are several other options to come, including the quirkily named “cruises to nowhere” which sound idyllic on any day!
Sinfonia will also be back towards the end of this year including for a six-night new year cruise that will call at Madascar and other destinations as well as an 11-day cruise including Walvis Bay and the island of St Helena (where Napoleon was exiled) in January 2013. For details  about these and other cruises visit msccruises.co.za

Sinfonia’s splendid chef

THE MSC Sinfonia’s executive chef is Pasquale Scarpati, Italian of course, and he has agreed to share a recipe on The Global Table blog today. The recipe is for a creamy seafood risotto with prawns and fresh tomato (I had this as a first plate and found it scrummy, the risotto perfectly al dente and the prawns beautifully cooked!) We were also going to share a second recipe, for a main course dish of succulent Marche-style leg of lamb which Salvelio enjoyed during our lunch, but the ship’s PR headquarters in Geneva supplied the wrong recipe and so we’ll just stick with the risotto instead.

Chef Scarpati was born in Torre del Greco in Naples in 1959. He started his career in the Lauro fleet and in other cruise companies, and in 1995 embarked for the first time on the MSC Monterey as sous chef. He continued his career at MSC Cruises, reaching the position of executive chef in 2008 on board the MSC Rhapsody which was is also no stranger to South African waters.
Chef Scarpati has travelled extensively on all the itineraries of MSC Cruises and he got to know South Africa well from being on board both the Sinfonia and the Rhapsody for two contacts each.
He is married and has two sons, one of who has also started a career as a naval officer with MSC.

Seafood risotto with prawns and tomato. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

Recipe: Seafood risotto with prawns and tomato

The quantities given are for one serving only, which can be a challenge for home cooks! However you should manage it if you have an electronic scale at home. I did a trial run of the recipe in my own kitchen over the weekend and have adapted it ever so slightly so it would make sense not only to an Italian chef, but to the home cook as well! I found the Italian it had been translated from rather charming, by the way – for instance calling for “tomatoes bunch fresh fillet without seeds”!  Remember the secret of risotto is to make sure your stock is very hot and also to keep stirring the risotto until done.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil; 12g chopped onion (about half a a smallish onion); 5g chopped fresh garlic (about 1 medium-sized clove); 50g ‘Roma’ rice (you can just use short-grained arborio rice); just under 2 cups of good seafood stock (I used an Ina Paarman fish stock sachet from her new range with just under 2 cups of boiling water); 20ml white wine; 20g mussel meat (about 2 heaped Tablespoons); 30g cooked shrimp meat (about half a cup); 20g prawn meat (I used 2 nice big prawns, blanched and shelled and which I then gave a quick fry in a bit of garlic butter right before adding to the risotto at the end of the cooking time); salt and white pepper to taste (watch out for too much salt if the stock is quite salty); 20g unsalted butter; another teaspoon of olive oil for; a few fresh rocket or basil leaves for garnishing

Method

Follow the preparation of a basic risotto: Heat the 2 teaspoons of oil, fry the onion and garlic for about two minutes, then add the rice and mix through for about a minute so it is coated with the oil. In the meantime you will have added the wine to the stock and heated it all together to make about two cups of liquids in total. Make sure it boils for a bit too so the  obvious alcohol taste can be tempered. Now start adding ladle-fulls of the stock to the rice bits at a time, stirring all the while and only adding more as it gets properly absorbed. In total from the time you start adding stock to the time the risotto is done it should take about 20 minutes – you can set a kitchen timer when you start to make sure you stay on track. Once you are almost at the end of the 20 minutes’ cooking time, add the mussel and shrimp meat and the prawns to heat through; ditto the tomato. By the time you’re done the rice must be creamy but still a little al dente. Check the seasoning and stir through the butter (I forgot to weigh it but only used about a teaspoon) and the extra teaspoon of olive oil to make it even creamier. Garnish with the rocket or basil and serve right away.

More pictures of the MSC Sinfonia

The MSC Sinfonia in all her evening splendour before departing for Cape Town from PE Harbour. Picture: Mike Holmes

Alessandro di Costanzo, the friendly and helpful guest relations manager from Naples, in the ship's La Baroque coffee shop. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

Allesandro (right) and two of his colleagues from guest services - Thomas Ten from Perugia in Italy and Jamie Lee Clark from London. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

Connecting with friends and family back home is a mouse-click away. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

The Sinfonia's passageways exude swish elegance. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

The ‘Duetto Imperiale’ appetiser of smoked salmon rosettes and prawn tails with Marie Rose sauce. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

Salvelio's main course of Marche style leg of lamb serve with prettily barreled new potatoes, tomato au gratin with aromatic herb bread topping and a rich, meaty jus. I had the beef fillet with green peppercorn sauce served with fanned out grilled lettuce. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

The chef’s ‘Gâteau Opera’ is a rich chocolate and coffee cake. I loved that it wasn't overly sweet but had a lovely, intense espresso punch. Salvelio had the apple crumble for pud. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

Prep early for next weekend’s Earth Hour!

By Louise Liebenberg

EARTH Hour is next Saturday and this annual WWF-endorsed campaign, practised by greenies world wide  in a bid to reduce electricity consumption, is a good excuse to light a braai fire and a few lanterns and have some like-minded mates around.

Kurland Hotel in the Crags near Plettenberg Bay has decided that, rather than turning off  lights for one hour (during the 8.30pm  and 9.30pm time slot which would not be viable for them), their executive chef Leon Coetzee will create a gourmet braai that night. He and his team will therefore not rely on conventional cooking methods to prepare the meal.

The dinner will be held at Kurland estate – a member of the Relais & Châteaux Association - from 7pm till late and prawn and lemon kebabs, mushrooms with gorgonzola and caramelised onion, and lamb lollipops are just some of the mouth-watering choices to be prepared. But rest assured, there will also be options for  vegetarians! Guests may book for the braai at R200 per person on (044) 534-8082 or email reservations@kurland.co.za

This is just one of the many eco initiatives Kurland Hotel has set in motion over the past year since the new management team took over headed up by Peter Behr, whose family founded the historic estate and village.

For even more Earth Hour inspiration, scroll down for Leon’s oxtail potjie recipe, which can be prepared on the fire from start to finish! Also see the earth-friendly idea from Amarula a little further down.

For more on Earth Hour visit www.earthhour.org

Leon Coetzee's oxtail potjie. Picture: Peter Unsworth

Oxtail potjie on the fire

Serves 3-4; cooking time 3 hours

Ingredients

500g oxtails cut 2 inches thick pieces; 10 slices bacon cut in 1 inch (2.5cm) pieces; ½ cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper; 1 litre beef stock or you can use 4 beef stock cubes; 150g tomato paste; 3 bay leaves; 6 springs of thyme; 8 black peppercorns; 4 celery sticks; 4 large leeks; 3 large onions; 6 large carrots; 10 button mushrooms; 1 cup red wine; ½ cup sherry; 2 Tablespoons butter; 3 Tablespoons olive oil; 2 Tablespoons crushed garlic

Method

Wash the oxtails off with water. Put seasoned flour in a glass bowl, then add the oxtail and shake to coat with flour.
Heat butter and olive oil and sauté bacon pieces in a pan on the fire.
Remove bacon and brown oxtail in resulting fat; remove and drain. Now in your black pot on the fire add the next ingredients: the carrots, onions, leeks and celery all of which have been finely diced. Sauté until softened and slightly caramelised
Add the oxtail, bacon, thyme, bayleaves, peppercorns, garlic, tomato paste, red wine and sherry.
Bring slowly to a boil and cook slowly for 3 to 4 hours, stirring it regularly. Just before serving add the mushrooms and continue cooking slowly.
If you want to thicken the sauce, mix some cornstarch with water before adding.

Amarula has bought out a lantern pack that should prove useful when Earth Hour rolls around. Picture: Supplied

Other Earth Hour news

Amarula has come up with a nifty way to celebrate Earth Hour. It has designed a special lantern to hold a single candle, so you too can switch out the lights at 8.30pm local (SA) time on Saturday March 31. You only have to stay “lights out” for the next 60 minutes – and feel REALLY good that you and fellow South Africans are joining the more than 135 countries or territories world wide that are doing the same.

Iconic landmarks like South Africa’s Table Mountain, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Sydney Opera House are also supporting the initiative to highlight the importance of promoting environmental sustainability.

Amarula lantern packs, including a 750ml bottle of South Africa’s favourite marula drink, are available from selected stockists nationwide. And even if you don’t get it in time for Earth Hour, it’ll make a lovely gift for someone. I’m definitely going to be stocking up on one or two before hubby Salvelio and I head off to Spain in July – I’m sure the Spanish amigos y amigas will love both holder and liqueur!

For further information, visit www.amarula.com or www.facebook.com/amarula

Eastern Cape’s best baristas set for national event

Angeline with baristas Simpiwe Adams (left) of La Vela Cafe and Sisa Mapetu of Como Cafe. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

By Louise Liebenberg

THEY’RE all steaming ahead… National Barista Championship coordinator Angeline McLagan, of Urban Espress Coffee and Co in Port Elizabeth, this week helped organise a workshop at the Roastmaster Cafe in Brickmakers Kloof to prepare the Eastern Cape’s six contenders for the highly anticipated national finals later this month.

Held under the banner of Scasa, the Speciality Coffee Association of Southern Africa, the nationals will be held at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town from March 22 to 24, with the country’s best overall barista (the term used for a professionally trained coffee maker) going on to compete in the world championship in Vienna, Austria, in June – all expenses paid!

And Angeline and her fellow committee members from Scasa Eastern Cape – including cafe owners and representatives from the likes of Urban Espress, Sumatran Premium Coffee, Ciro and Tribeca, are taking no chances. Having hosted the very first Eastern Cape regionals at the Homemakers expo in July last year, they are determined the six finalists to have emerged from this region are going to shine when they participate on the national stage for the very first time – and are judged according to World Barista Championship standards.

The competition has been held for several years and with Durban traditionally walking away with the honours, the Eastern Cape has a lot to prove. To even remotely have a shot at being the nation’s best they’ll really have to know their stuff… the current international champion is from Bogota, Columbia – now that’s coffee country! – and according to Angeline works closely with local coffee growers and roasters.

At the training session on Thursday the baristas – including current Eastern Cape champion Percy Chikwira who came all the way from Jeffreys Bay along with his employer Jayne Davies from J’Bay’s sensational Infood Deli and fellow finalist Belinda Ruiters – were given a thorough introduction into what they might expect from the nationals. They will be judged on both sensory and technical aspects and there are very specific criteria for the perfect espresso and the perfect cappuccino (right down to the “stretch”, shine and density of the milk in the cappuccino!). Angeline has promised to teach The Global Table more about this fascinating subject in future, including how to pick out the subtleties of taste, aroma, colour and “stretch” – we can’t wait!

Each finalist had a turn to prep their station and conjure up the very best cappuccinos and espressos they could manage for the mock judges on the day. The baristas were also taken through the scoring process which in Cape Town will be done by trained and accredited coffee aficionados so expert they’ll quickly poke holes in any lacklustre effort.

Besides creating perfect cappuccinos and espressos the six baristas will each be required to present a “signature” drink to the judges. We’re told they’ve been feverishly experimenting and while no one is revealing any secrets just yet, there are sure to be some inspired flavour combinations!

The six finalists from the Eastern Cape are, in the order they achieved at the regionals: 1. Percy Chikirwa (InFood); 2. Sisa Mapetu (Como Cafe); 3. Tristan Tait (Deli Street Cafe); 4. Simpiwe Adams (La Vela Cafe); 5. Belinda Ruiters (InFood); and 6. Lennox Lubabalo (Woolworths Cafe Greenacres). Tristan was unfortunately unable to compete in the nationals and so he has been replaced by Mike Chilwa, also from Woolworths Greenacres, who came seventh at last year’s regionals. Sisa, incidentally, is now with Como Cafe but was working for Valley Harvest when he reached the finals; both he and Simpiwe were encouraged by Ciro to enter.

Urban Espress Coffee & Co’s Donovan McLagan and Shaun Aupias from Sumatran Premium Coffee took charge of this week’s training while Wayne Ferreira from Mugg & Bean was the sensory judge.

Donovan is the current Eastern Cape Cup Tasters champion and will compete for the national title in Cape Town over the same weekend. And Mike from Woolworths Greenacres is the region’s reigning “latte art” champ and he, along with Sumatran’s Shaun who was the runner-up – will also compete for that national title.

“Some incredibly beautiful espresso shots were extracted, smooth and sweet… as well as a few technical mess-ups from overdosing and incorrect grind settings,” Angelina said following Thursday’s workshop.

“The Scasa Eastern Cape committee is so proud of each of our baristas and we have so enjoyed seeing their passion for the coffee industry grow. We know that, should they apply all they have learnt over the past nine months, they will stand out at nationals.”

Contact Angeline McLagan on 082-612-1515 for further details on the national championships.

Infood Deli's Jayne Davies (right) from Jeffreys Bay entered baristas Percy Chikwira and Belinda Ruiters for last year's regionals. Percy went on to win the Eastern Cape event and both are now fully prepped for this month's nationals. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

Urban Espress Coffee & Co's Donovan McLagan (left) with Shaun Aupias from Sumatran Premium Coffee and Wayne Ferreira from Mugg & Bean. Picture: Salvelio Meyer

Chorizo and prawn salad

Picture: Salvelio Meyer

Text Louise Liebenberg

I WAS a bit stuck for a supper dish for Salvelio and myself the other night and with hunger pangs increasing by the minute I dreamed up this unusual salad. Fortuitously enough there were some leftover salad greens from a dinner party the night before, some blanched prawns in the freezer (quick enough to thaw) and cured chorizo imported from Spain in the fridge.

And so I put it all together in a dish that I was mightily chuffed with but which Salvelio the purist thought was a downright weird combination… especially the unorthodox use of that holy grail of the Spanish table, the noble chorizo, in… horrors, a SALAD!

Later, posting the picture on Facebook, I had to chuckle when our South Africans friends said “yeah, awesome dish!” while all those with Iberic DNA raised eyebrows and make observations about “cultural differences”!

It always experimenting in the kitchen and, while some experiments are more successful than others, I enjoyed the flavour combinations of this particular effort. Salvelio (initial revulsion aside) thought the chorizo a bit too overpowering for the salad and so, if you’re likely to make the same judgment, use less chorizo or slice it thinner.

Anyway, here’s how to make my chorizo and prawn salad if you’re feeling adventurous! 

For two people, spread a platter with washed, thoroughly drained greens – I used butter lettuce but gem would also be good; top with some rocket, cress and a sprinkling of pretty micro greens (now available at Woolworths, at last!) Season lightly and drizzle with a few drops of red wine vinegar here and there to add a bit of acid. Now add some cucumber (I always remove the skin as I prefer the more delicate colour of peeled cucumber) and a few thin slices of red onion or palest pink shallot.

In the meantime, fry half a chorizo which has been cut into slices in a tiny bit of olive oil till some of the rich flavours are released; remove from the pan and set aside.

Add a bit more olive oil to the pan, fry a nice fat clove of garlic which you have chopped; then add 8 or so thawed, drained and blanched prawns (the ones that are ready peeled and come in a frozen bag from Woolies or Fruit & Veg are fine). Season and sprinkle half a teaspoon of Spanish smoked paprika or pimenton over the prawns before flipping over to cook the other side and stirring all the while so the pimenton is assimilated into the oil (a wooden spoon is best for this). NB: Do not cook the prawns for more than three minutes in total or they WILL become unpleasantly rubbery.

Toss the chorizo through the salad and then add the prawns, including all the bits of sweetened garlic, while also drizzling over the still-hot pimenton oil which you will use instead of an olive oil dressing. Adjust the acid balance by adding a few more drops of red wine vinegar if needed.

Add some fine sprouts and croutons as a final garnish and serve immediately.