Posted in Beer on 22. Sep, 2011
You know you’re excited. Your mouth is salivating at the thought of tasty brews. Your knees are getting weak. You’re very, very thirsty. You need beer. Lots of it. And it’s coming. Yup, someone must have touched wood, tossed a dwarf or kissed their lucky stone because there’s another installment of the ridiculously popular craft beer festival and it’s only a week away. WE ♥ REAL BEER craft beer festival version 3.0 is on next Friday, 30th September. Put that in your diary. Do it now.
What’s it about? Same great venue. Same awesome breweries. But with some great new beers. Jack Black has a new pale ale out. The Brewers & Union boys have their Versus Goliath. Darling has their Bonecrusher Weiss. And there’s more – real artisan ciders from Eversons, Gone Fishing and Terra Madre. I’ve had the privilege of tasting the latter just once, and am really looking forward to more. There’s also music from the Dixie Swingers and rumour has it that there’ll be a home-brewing demonstration too.
Timing has also been cut back to the original 4pm – 11pm, which means 7 hours of pure unadulterated beer indulgence.
Get your tickets here at webtickets.co.za or at the door (best buy in advance and avoid the queue). Cost is R50 and includes a WE ♥ REAL BEER pint glass that you can keep by your bedside as a memento forever.
The Old Biscuit Mill.
September 30.
4pm -11pm.
Posted in Wine on 01. Mar, 2011
Saturday saw the Constantia Fresh wine festival held at Buitenverwachting from 3pm till late, with many nursing a solid hangover Sunday. My hangover was enormous, but not from the festival. I caught just the first hour, then dashed off to a wedding, but in my hour I was thoroughly impressed. When the first song of the day is the thumping beat of New Zealand reggae band Fat Freddy’s Drop, you know you’re at no ordinary wine festival.
I tasted some cracker wines, the Koru Sauvignon Blanc 2007 a standout (incidentally also a New Zealander), the Klein Constantia SB 2005 and Tierhoek SB 2009 also great. Both Husseysvlei Sauv Blanc’s from Buitenverwachting were outstanding, as was their standard but exquisite Buitenverwachting Sauv Blanc 2010. Winemaker Adam Mason and viticulturist Stiaan Louw (pictured above, Stiaan clutching the weissbeer) held the fort at the Klein Constantia table and were also tapping out some 2011 mid-fermentation SB from a water cooler, while next to them, Steenberg offered a Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2000 that had certainly past its prime but was still enjoyable. I loved the fact that most estates had an under-the-table bottle, sneaky Chardonnay or something different to add to their Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc blends on offer.
Spirited wino & writer Harry Haddon was the MC and kicked things off on a light-hearted note, announcing on the microphone that he’d be “tickling our earballs” over the course of the afternoon, another sign this was no ordinary wine fest. Constantia Fresh also ran a Twitter competition during the festival, had an &UNION beer stand (at a wine fest, brilliant!), served coffee from Truth. Coffee, hosted live music and apparently there was a burlesque show later. Or something like that. Either way, the generic oversized and overcrowded Cape wine industry events need to take some cues from this one.
Tasting 40 Sauvignon Blancs might also leave your teeth feeling like someone cleared the enamel off with a paint stripper, but thankfully they had some great food on hand. Those pork rillette cakes with anchovy mayo that Bertus Basson dished out… oh, boy… let’s just say it was really hard to leave at 4pm… but I look forward to next year, and being there till the end.
Cape Town. December 15th. Halfway through the last month of the year. It’s hot. It’s slightly humid. And tomorrow is a public holiday. Tonight may just be the biggest party night of the year? And that was an ironic question mark, because it is going to be the biggest party night of the year. Offices are closing, people are going on leave and there will be many a hangover tomorrow. But that’s fine. That’s why we have the beach. And the Lazari breakfasts. And Deluxe coffee. And the newspaper. And the couch. But forget tomorrow… tonight, where will you be?
There’s only two places to go, in my view. The Neighbourgoods Christmas Market happening at the Old Biscuit Mill. Yup, tonight is the night market, starting at 5pm. Some new stands, some new people and because it’s night, some more indulgence. Jason from Jardine Bakery has made a porchetta (deboned pig with stuffing, basted in cider) which is busy slow-roasting on a spit right now. That enough is reason to go if ever there was one.
The other place is &UNION. Tonight is the last of their Puma Real Music Wednesdays, this one featuring Wrestlerish. I was there when Wrestlerish played their first gig at &UNION last year and they blew me away. Undoubtedly one of the best local bands I’ve seen perform live. But if you’re not that into the music, there’s bound to be a good crowd and of course, those addictive pulled pork sandwiches and prego rolls. And the full range of beers. Tonight being what it is, and tomorrow being a public holiday, I have a feeling the Touro’s are going to get sunk in mad fashion.
Cape Town. Summer. Sunday. Good friends. And a snoek braai.
One snoek in apricot jam, one in capers, lemon and olive oil. Some &UNION unfiltered lager. A little Merwida Sauvignon Blanc. Sunburn. Sunday Times. Springfield ‘Life From Stone’ Sauv Blanc. Cheese platters. Chilli. Farking hot chilli. Bit of Eikendal Chardonnay. Some good salads. Bit of wind howling through the Oranjezicht trees. Two Jack Russels. Quick swim. Bit of Hedonist red. Bit of coffee over choc chip ice cream. Lindt Caramel Intense. Bryan Ferry looking smug. And that new red by who else but John Platter himself. Tasty stuff – for real.
Sundays. Summer. Cape Town. Own it, it is here.
Look, we warned you there’d be plenty of tequila – 8 bottles, to be precise. We warned you there were going to be actual luchadore masks and sombreros. We warned you there’d be loads of authentic Mexican food too. But we didn’t warn you how cute the piñata would be. Just look at the thing. Even we didn’t expect it to be so cute. It’s going to be hard to take a swing at that thing. Naturally, the Mexicans came up with a solution to this problem: the blindfold. And you thought it was to make it harder to hit the piñata? Ha, gringo.
So Jamie Who and I met on Friday morning and picked six winners. We were feeling the aftereffects of a rather tequila-heavy night, so it did take us a good while to make the decisions, but the winners we feel, are justified. Their luchadore names and the story of how our El Jimador Mexican dinner went completely mental will be posted soon. Consider yourself warned.
The luchadore winners:
Mike Metletkamp
Matthew Kent
Dylan Muhlenberg
Rob Armstrong
Massimo (who knows?)
Ruth Cooper
Please send an e-mail to jamiewhoblog@gmail.com to confirm that you’re still keen and so we can organise a date when everyone is available.
This one’s pretty much self-explanatory.
The coolest new pack you’ve seen around town is… ahahha, no, not vitaminwater! Eeucck! It’s BOS. A new locally produced range of iced rooibos teas. Simple, bright and bold, and yes, they all taste pretty good. Actually, not true, I didn’t really enjoy the Apple one. Couldn’t put my finger on it, but it fell short of how delicious the others tasted. The lemon one was the best. Even the bloody Slim one tasted good, which slightly repulses me, being a diet-oriented product. I had to go and eat a double-cheeseburger afterwards to make up for it. But you can’t knock what they’ve done here. Iced rooibos tea with natural flavourants. And a quirky design – which reminds me a lot of Afro-coffee, no? Flavours are Peach, Lemon, Apple, Slim and Energy. I drank all five in one sitting and felt remarkably good after. I’ve also picked up a few around town, and another good thing is they’re not expensive (under R10).
People have tried the rooibos iced tea thing before but nothing has really caught on. I hope BOS does. And not just cos they sent me a bright yellow cooler bag. Though it helps, of course. And the packaging, done by The President. Who else? That design agency is freaking everywhere at the moment.
www.bosicetea.com
Walk into Winex. Hand over ticket, collect glass. Ignore silly clipboard thing they offer. Walk into hall and notice how fewer exhibitors there are this year. Which is good, since it’s not crowded like a Bangladeshi street market as before. But bad, in that you might not find some of the wineries you’re after. Plenty little guys missing, which is sad.
Walk to the Idiom wines. Taste the Zinfandel and the Sangiovese. Two unusual varietals worth a taste. Notice the crowd lingering around Boekenhoutskloof. Chocolate Block lovers, all of ‘em. Eager for more, arms outstretched with empty glasses in hand and thirsty looks on their faces. If you manage to elbow your way through them, get a taste of the Semillon. Beautiful, big and minerally white worth a sip. As is their Syrah, a real elixir. Hit the Chamonix guys up for some of their Graywacke Pinotage. They make a portion of it Amarone-style, drying the grapes to concentrate sugars. It’s the kind of Pinotage that the varietal king Kanonkop should worry about. The Chamonix Pinot Noir is also killer, a true classic in terms of style.
Don’t get distracted by the pretty girls. Hundreds of them. Focus. Vinuous thoughts. Go to Eagle’s Nest and try the Little Eagle. A knockout red blend at R65. Try their big eagle, the Verreaux blend. Solid stuff, but even that is shamed by how superb their Shiraz is. Wine of the show? Who knows. Move along and keep tasting. Avoid pointless ‘this wine is better than that’ conversations. Avoid the tables with old tannies who fell into baths of self-tan. Don’t miss the Just Riesling stand. Wine hitman Jorg Pfuetzner holds fort here. Ask him for something special. Plenty of other great wines to try. Sterhuis – all the whites. Raats Family Wines – the MR De Compostella is kicking ass and taking names. Sutherland, the Elgin range from Thelema, has a cranker of a Pinot Noir out which the affable Tom Webb will tell you is going to sell at R90, which is a steal.
Tokara has a big Director’s Reserve red blend. They’re taunting it for great things, and the pundits probably love it, but it doesn’t seem all there to me. Too big, too young. Would rather have their olive oil. Make sure you get to Sumaridge. Their Pinot Noir is raising eyebrows but their Epitome blend is what got me even more excited. Shiraz, Pinotage and Merlot, so velvety smooth and luscious. Ooh, definitely my find of the night.
Watch out for the short hairy man in a bow tie when he tries his best to announce the show is over. Watch as nobody moves out, but rather quickly fills their glass with whatever is nearest and plants their feet defiantly. Talk turns to dinner and the debate of where to go. Choose somewhere hearty because if you parked, you’re in for a good wait. But you’re a pro, so you came in a cab, didn’t you?
I have many fond memories of traveling in Thailand. I’ve been lucky enough to go twice, spending two months there in total. If you’ve been, and I mean actually went instead of just staying in a resort in Phuket, you’ll surely remember the three things that stuck out most for me: how easy it is to get around the country, how tasty the food is and how friendly the people are. For an example of each, there’s the one time I caught a bus that felt as if the wheels were pointing in four different directions and had no suspension. After rocking left to right for half an hour I thought best to spare myself as an accidental sacrifice and jumped off. No problem, the local policeman simply gave me a ride to the next destination. Once there, I tucked into some street food at the night market while watching some locals do strange aerobics on a lawn. The aerobics was shocking, but the street food was awesome. Fish balls, curries, sweet coffee in a bag, coconut pancakes, chicken skewers, pineapple sticks and lots more. And then there’s friendliness, which I witnessed regularly. Mostly 20-30 minutes after each meal when I had to bang on some poor stranger’s door to ask if I could make use of their squat toilet. Knee-breakers, those things. But how good is the food there? Well, for every great meal I had in Thailand, I endured minor torture afterwards, yet somehow, the food made it all worthwhile. Really, go, you’ll love it.
On a completely separate note, here’s a recipe for the easiest soup in the world, which happens to be Thai.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
3x 340ml tins coconut milk
2 large chicken breasts, sliced
4 Tbsp fish sauce
5 kaffir lime leaves, crushed
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated or crushed
4 portions vermicelli noodles
2 red chillies, chopped lengthways
2 Tbsp red curry paste
2 small sticks lemongrass, hard layer removed and finely chopped
3 Tbsp palm or brown sugar
1 handful fresh coriander, loosely picked
Peanut or cooking oil
Preparation
First put the noodles in a bowl of boiling water while you prepare the soup. Heat a splash of peanut oil in a saucepan over medium-heat. Add the curry paste and fry for 30 seconds. Then add the chicken, ginger and lemongrass and stir over the heat for 10-seconds before adding half the coconut milk, the kaffir lime leaves and fish sauce. Let simmer for 15-minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in the lemon juice and sugar. Drain the noodles and add them to the saucepan along with the remaining cocount milk. Keep over the heat until warm again. Serve in bowls and top with chopped chili and coriander.
The aftermath should leave your entire table surface strewn with leftover bits of veggies on plates, scattered spoons and chopsticks, empty beer bottles and crumpled napkins. Signs of a good meal. Where? Chai-Yo. When? Well, the best Thai restaurant in Cape Town is open seven days a week, for lunch and dinner. Oh, and they’re also open on public holidays, so I’ll leave the time up to you. It shouldn’t be too hard.
Chai-Yo has thrived for well over a decade while other lesser restaurants continually come and go on the unsettled strip of Durban Road, Mowbray. And it lasts for good reason: the food is fragrant, intensely flavoured and incredibly tasty. Actually, scrap that, it’s better. Some of the dishes are just freakily, mouthwateringly magnificent. Better than I’ve had anywhere in Cape Town. Better than I’ve eaten in Thailand.
They have a dish that brought me not quite to my knees but almost. It actually got me back twice in one week, this mixed seafood curry that’s so good ‘the crave’ starts just thinking about it. It’s basically fish, prawns, calamari and mussels in a red curry sauce that comes in a cabbage parcel, with plenty of kaffir lime leaf flavour and sweet basil leaves. It could do without the mussels, but either way the dish is intoxicating; my favourite curry at the moment and perhaps of all time.
Chai-Yo’s menu spans the usual Thai genre, from satays to Tom Yum soups to curries and noodles dishes. The Pad Thai is reliably satisfying, delicate Tom Ka Gai coconut soup quite outstanding and lightly battered Kingklip served with chili and lime sauce nothing less than superb. Their dumplings can be a touch rubbery, but still very flavourful. Angry Duck was a little mild on the spice so we renamed it Mildly Agitated Duck. However, do not ask for anything to be prepared ‘hot’ on the spice scale or you will need to prepare your rear nether region for serious battle. The kitchen clearly take a ‘hot’ request as a challenge to see how much you can perspire through your forehead and cheeks. Not a problem in Thailand, where the weather hides your food-induced perspiration amidst the ample humidity-induced perspiration, but in Chai-Yo you might find neighbouring tables give you strange looks when you continually use your napkin as a sweat towel. Wristbands from your tennis kit may be a good accessory if you travel the ‘hot route.’
Aside from the food, there’s not much to draw you to Chai-Yo. You’re certainly not there for the sterile tile floors, slightly tacky wooden furniture and scant decoration efforts. Service is adequate and the wine list unexciting. But it’s all easily unnoticed when you’re slurping food this good.
A thought on Thai food and wine.
Pairing wine with food that has such unique and pungent flavours as Thai – think fish sauce, kaffir lime, aniseed – and is more often very spicy, isn’t easy. Over the last few meals at Chai-Yo and other Asian restaurants I’ve tried some interesting, floral whites, including Gewurztraminer, Rielsing and Sauvignon Blanc, with the food. Some bolder Chenin Blancs have worked, and some red with some dishes, but in reality, nothing matches with everything Asian as well as beer. I’m a serious wino but have to admit that beer really does go perfectly. Henceforth, unless you’ve got a sure bet, don’t waste your time with wine in future. As the Thai’s know, beer goes best.
www.chaiyomowbray.co.za/
(Oh, there’s also Chai Yo in Canal Walk apparently, but then who the hell would rather eat there?)
Who is the Foodie? It doesn’t really matter. Bacon is god. Wine cures anything. If you believe those two facts, then we’re going to get on fine. This means you have discovered the power of food to make life better. This knowledge is imperative to the art of living well.
