Do yourself a favour the next time you’re feeling slightly overworked, stressed, tired, uninspired or just imprisoned by the city, book a cottage at Die Laaitjie. Actually, let me elaborate. If you’re feeling overworked, stressed, tired, uninspired or just imprisoned by the city, or none of the above, book a cottage at Die Laaitjie.
Die Laaitjie is a quiet place. It’s a collection of beautiful cottages in the mountains above Robertson. Nowhereland, really. Which is why it works – there’s really nothing there. Just a few simple white cottages, large green mountains, some orchards and a river with a pond for skinny-dipping. It works because you can be close to the nearest cottage, but clever layout means you don’t need to see them. It works because you feel closer to the stars at night rather than Cape Town, just 2 hours away. It’s the kind of place you’ll want to share with good people only.
To give you an idea of the bliss, this past weekend as example. Friday night: Steak frites, red wine and a couple games of Speed. Saturday: river-running, suntanning, smashing bottles of Everson’s stupidly good pear cider, smörgåsbording on Frankie Fenner’s ‘bloody mary’ chourizo (the best sausage I’ve had since 1723), pork rillette and stinky cheeses, drinking too much Roundstone Blanc de Noir, braaiing bacon-wrapped monkfish skewers and fat prawns, a coal-roasted pork shoulder that was forgotten and turned unexpectedly deliciously crispy and ending with homemade panna cotta. Oh, and Sunday: lazing in bed as long as humanely possible. Of course.
www.dielaaitjie.co.za
The sharp folk at Freeworld Design Centre have decided to throw a series of food movie nights in November, which is a pretty sweet idea if you ask me. If you haven’t been to this venue, you’ve missed out. It’s an architects wet dream, a designers heaven and inspiration for any creative out there. It has an interior design showroom, news stand, design reference library and what has to be the slickest ‘canteen’ in Cape Town – Hemelhuijs restaurant. Plus it has a 98-seat theatre that makes it perfect for screening food-related movies to a bunch of Cape Town foodies.
I say food-related, since, well, not all the movies are directly about food. And by ‘not all the movies’ I really mean the movie I chose, The Freshman. Yes, they were brave enough to ask me to choose one of the movies, so on the evening of Wednesday the 16th November I’ll be watching The Freshman with anyone else who cares to join.
Tickets to the movies are R40, but if you’re smart, you’ll also partake in the dinner and movie combo for R120. This will be hosted downstairs at Hemelhuijs, with food prepared by the designer, chef and aesthetic genius, Jacques Erasmus.
Full schedule for the month at the FDC website, along with details on other movies (I Am Love and Tampopo are the others I’m keen on).
www.freeworlddesigncentre.co.za
So I’m not really big on posting recipes. Why? Well, let’s be honest, there’s a ton of recipes out there already and I’m not exactly Marco Pierre White, even though I’m dying to read his autobiography. I just like to cook shit. Though I can’t even follow recipes myself, seriously. There are really two types of cooks: those that can cook ‘winging it,’ knowing how flavours work together and just trying things as they go along; and those that follow recipes. I’m definitely not the latter. I’m the guy with the blank look on his face staring at shelves in the supermarket, working out dishes in my head. I spend 20-minutes staring at the vegetable aisle figuring out what I’m going to cook. Actually, I spend 10-minutes in the meat aisle first, then once I’ve picked my meat I head to the veggie aisle for that decision process. The only thing that takes longer is picking a DVD on Sunday evening.
Anyways, Sunday was a beautiful summer-like day, the Dad was in town and my sister texted me to see what we should make for lunch. I suddenly found myself sending the message back, “Braaied chicken marinated in Berne, chilli, ginger, garlic and tons of honey. Sides etc.” Maybe it was because I hadn’t had a beer in ages. Like two full days. Or whatever, I just felt like making that. And drinking Berne. There’s something satisfying about drinking and eating something made with the same beverage. As an amateur cook, the second best thing about having a professional cook sister is that she has everything in her kitchen (Obviously the best thing is when she cooks herself). She simply replied: “Just bring the beer.”
And so it happened. Chicken in Berne. With loads of garlic, chilli, ginger, harissa paste and other stuff thrown in too. What paste, huh? Harissa, there you go. It’s really freaking easy, so easy I figured I could post the recipe and even people from both camps (the recipe followers and the ‘winging it’ folk) could try it. It worked really well, the spices and beer flavours merging into one unified smack of deliciousness. Even more so when served alongside some grated fennel salad with vinaigrette and some baby potatoes drenched in olive oil, parsley and coriander.
Sunday lunch. With the family. And beer. And some good Silverthorn bubbly to kick things off. Winning, it’s really not hard.
Do try this at home, kids. You’ll need…
1 Elgin Free-Range chicken, spatchcocked (can someone Google that to find out where the hell that word came from?)
1 Brewers & Union Berne Amber Lager
Tbsp garlic
Tbsp ginger
Tbsp green chilli
3 Tbsp harissa paste
5 Tbsp honey
tsp paprika
tsp cumin
salt & pepper
1/2 handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
1/2 handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 lime & 1 lemon
Okay, it simple from here. Firstly, light your fire, ideally wood with some charcoal added.
While that’s burning down, make a mix from the garlic, ginger, chilli along with a good dose of salt and pepper in a bowl.
Cut your chicken in half, breasts joined in the middle, and press flat. Salt and pepper both sides all over, then take the above mix and spread it under the skin that covers the breasts & legs, saving a little bit of mix.
Put the chicken in a dish, breast-side up, and empty the Berne all over it. Then sprinkle the remaining garlic-etc mix over the top along with 1/2 the harissa paste, paprika and cumin. Let this sit for at least an hour or so. The longer the better.
Once the fire’s ready, separate the coals and add the chicken so it’s not on direct heat, then if it’s a Weber, put the lid on to smoke it nicely. Turn it a few times over 30 minutes, basting with the beer.
Leave the chicken to cook, head to the kitchen and reduce the beer mixture in a pan until it’s about 1/4 it’s original volume. Once it’s there, add the honey and remaining harissa paste and cook a few minutes longer then remove. Take this outside and baste the chicken a few times, turning, until it’s ready (i.e. nicely browned, cooked through).
Remove chicken and cut on a board into pieces. Pour reduced beer sauce over the top, squeeze lemon & lime and then sprinkle with coriander & parsley and serve, with some more Berne.*
There it is. Less yada yada. More happy eating.
-
* And if you didn’t finish two Berne’s yourself during the cooking process you’ve failed miserably!
Yup, the picture pretty much says it all. That’s Liam on the right, me on the left and our little porky friend in the middle. Finally I get to combine my passion for pig with the talents of Liam Tomlin, who is nothing short of a culinary genius.
The three of us will be hosting a class at Chefs Warehouse on 7th July where we will:
a) feast on a menu from heaven that Liam has designed, each dish involving some part of our good swine friend there
b) imbibe copious amounts of ALPHABETICAL, the wine I make with Simon Wibberley (read my good mate Jamie Who’s writeup on it here)
b) also drink a few other things – think local artisan cider, bubbles, etc
c) generally revel in the glory that is excessive indulgence
For a taste of what we’ll be er, tasting on the night, see the menu below, which I’ll be helping Liam prepare (aka staying out of his way in the kitchen all day)…
Proscuitto popcorn
Oysters with chourizo
Pork cheek rillette with deep fried pigs ears
Liam’s “bacon and eggs”
Confit belly of pork
Chinese-style barbecued pork
There’ll be loads of food and drink and it all goes down at Chefs Warehouse on the 7th July. Cost is R450pp and there are ONLY 20 SEATS AVAILABLE.
For bookings, more details, etc, visit the Chefs Warehouse website here. It’s going to be awesome!
I get asked the ‘where to go for what’ question a helluva lot. Regular text messages like: “Restaurant recommendation please, bud. First date, somewhere cosy. Oh, drinks after? Thanks.” Phone calls where I end up discussing the merits of how important atmosphere is versus food. Emails from people saying they’re going to Paris and want to know where to eat. It’s cool to help out, and people generally seem happy with my suggestions.
Anyways, these days, you don’t need a black book, you just need a smartphone and The Google Machine. But I thought it’d be fun to throw down four or five spots I recommend a lot and for what. I ended up throwing down a few more. So here they are, 40 rather useful places to know about. Yes, there’s a lot that would overlap and plenty more to add, but this is just how I first thought of them…
- First morning coffee: Deluxe Coffeeworks
- Coffee & croissant: Jason (ex-Jardine Bakery)
- Hangover breakfast: Sidewalk Cafe
- Classy breakfast: Table Thirteen
- Brunch: Bistro 1682
- Saturday morning beer: Neighbourgoods Market
- Healthy lunch: Cookshop
- Lunch and the paper: Mozzarella Bar
- Quick sandwich: Jason (ex-Jardine Bakery)
- Unfussy lunch with a mate: Mano’s
- Classy lunch with a mate: Dear Me
- Power lunch: Caveau
- Long boozy lunch: The Foodbarn
- Very low-key lunch: Dias Tavern
- Hipster lunch: Superette*
- Sunday lunch: Woodlands Eatery
- Winelands lunch: Bar Bar Black Sheep
- Early afternoon espresso: The Power & The Glory
- Drinks by the pool: Sandy B’s
- Early afternoon beer: &UNION
- Vegetarian meal: Masala Dosa
- Second best vegetarian: Lola’s
- After work drinks: &UNION
- Martini’s: Planet Bar
- Rooftop bar: The Grand Daddy
- Dinner with a mate: Hudsons
- Dinner with the family: Massimo’s
- Dinner with a view: The Roundhouse
- Romantic dinner: Kitima
- Tapas dinner: La Boheme
- Business dinner: Bizerca
- Gourmet experience dinner: Test Kitchen
- Low-key dinner: Nonna Lina
- Zen dinner: Kyoto Garden Sushi
- Tequila-fueled dinner: El Burro
- Classy nightcap: Fatback Soul
- Messy nightcap: Black Ram
- 4am on brandy: The Shack
- 4am on cocktails: Julep
- 5am toasted chicken mayo: Restaurant L’Orange aka Engen
Feel free to add your own suggestions as comments…
* okay, so there’s more to the Superette crowd than hipsters
Forget the overhyped reopening in the new premises that never happened, Massimo‘s pizza joint is back. Open in their old premises, which are more than adequate, I went for a meal on Friday and can only tell you that the expectations of greatness were more than satisfied.
The restaurant is in that small centre with the Spar in it as you come down from Constantia Neck into Hout Bay, in a neat space with a playground for kids and a few tables outside. Nothing fancy, but aesthetically friendly. Massimo and his wife Tracy are also the most genuinely hospitable hosts, there every day to oversee things, Massimo making the pizzas himself. They have a decent wine list and plenty of local microbrews on offer.
But let’s focus on the food. I don’t think it’s fair to call Massimo’s pizza the best in Cape Town because to compare it to the other pizza on offer is a bit like comparing the best tennis player to the best squash players. They’re similar but different sports, and these are a different type of pizzas. And pizza is very subjective, everyone has their favourite place. Actually, wait, fuck it - Massimo’s is the best pizza in Cape Town. It just is. There. Done.
Why?
1. The crust is perfect. Light enough you can imagine eating two pizzas yourself and also crispy and a touch chewy without being doughy. Perfect.
2. The quality of ingredients beats any other pizza I’ve had in town. There are some pizzas out there with good crusts, but at Massimo’s he goes further with toppings. Everything, from the cheese (and he uses a wide variety here) to vegetables to the basic tomato sauce is fresh and noticeably more flavourful than what you’d expect. And with ingredients this good, just two per flavours pizza is good enough. Roasted fennel and some nuts on one. Fresh goats cheese and salsa verde on another. Feta and roasted peppers. You get the idea.
3. Here’s the kicker: a lot of his pizzas are made with ingredients added after he’s cooked the crust. And with no tomato base. Imagine pizza dough, rolled, brushed with garlic butter, cooked to crispy perfection, then a few blobs of superfresh goats cheese added, topped with some thinly sliced mortadella (salami-style meat). The cheese bursts with tart flavour to offset the rich, fatty meat. Or a similar thing with blobs of fresh bocconcini mozzarella balls and parma ham.
That mortadella pizza was my favourite of about the 9 pizzas the six of us ate. With the R115 “pizza feast” option, Massimo just brings out a new pizza every 15-20 minutes, meaning you get to try a bunch and experience a lot more options. A pretty good way to do it, since you’ll just want to keep eating these pizzas, I promise you.
We also had a bresaola, parmesan and rocket starter that was delicious and some roasted chestnuts afterwards. Massimo raves about the chestnuts but personally I think they taste like stale cake. Try for yourself though. They also do daily specials on the menu should you not want to eat any pizza, but that just seems absurd.
www.massimos.co.za
Posted in Wine on 18. Apr, 2011
Tasting at wine cellars can be a pretty dull affair. The best farms get it right with a mix of wine, non-regurgitated information and charm, making you feel welcome and relaxed. The worst wine tastings are horrendous. They make you feel awkward, especially when the student or whoever works behind the counter as a weekend job watches you taste the wine without saying anything, or maybe offers a few feeble descriptors on the wine (yawn!) and mentions all the medals it won (double yawn). Generally there is no music playing, so the ambiance in the dimly lit space (clearly an after-thought of the cellar) is zero and guests feel self-conscious talking about the wine while said person behind the counter listens in. If there is music, we’re probably talking pan pipes or something “moody.” Basically, cellar tastings can really suck – and I know wine, so can only imagine how much they suck for people trying to get into it.
Hence Almenkerk gets a big fat gold star for the awesome experience I had on the weekend. Let’s forget that the setting is gaggingly beautiful and the winery an architectural wet dream. Barely out the car and a friendly woman approached rapidly. I thought, “Shit, they’re closed,” but instead got: “Hi, I’m Natalie! Welcome, please do come inside.” We were the only people there on this quiet and very autumn Saturday, but this was the warmest welcome.
Belgians by birth but residents here for almost a decade, Natalie and her husband Joris run Almenkerk estate, involved in everything from vine to bottle, and then opening these to pour to visitors. The tasting room feels like you’re in the kitchen of a friend, and chatting and drinking wine (this wasn’t a small-sip tasting) with Natalie it felt exactly like that. No bullshit, no long-winded tales or proclaimed superiority, just a refreshingly open discussion about the farm, the wine business and their own story, complete with problems and good fortunes, no glossing over. Then a quick cellar tour (which unveiled some neat illustrations on the white board; see below) followed by some more chat and we’d spent almost an hour there.
They’re not into mass production and only have two wines released at the moment, a Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. The Sauv Blanc is exceptionally clean and light, the Chardonnay also subtle, but with a distinctive vanilla-coconut flavour that I really enjoyed. A Bordeaux style red and a Syrah are on the way too. There’s a large dining table you can book for a lunch on Saturday or in the week (Natalie will arrange catering), which with its views over the Elgin Valley is pretty hard to beat. Already earmarked that for my next special lunch with mates.
Easily my favourite new winery visit. www.almenkerk.co.za
The Lobster Roll. Glorious, isn’t it? You can pick ‘em up all along the east coast of the US at little roadside lobster shacks, and they’re AWESOME. The worst part about looking at these is you can’t go get one anywhere in Cape Town. Why don’t we get the local equivalent of these? It’s crayfish season now… and I’m craving one of these bad boys… with a little slaw and fries on the side. Man, I’d cut off my left arm – wait, in light of recent movie releases, we won’t be using that analogy – but I could really use one of these. With a few slices crispy bacon included. For lunch. Now.
The Constantia Fresh Festival kicks off on Friday. Why do you care? Some fair and completely unbiased reasons…
Number One: Well, because this Saturday sees the main gathering on the lawns of Buitenverwachting that pairs all the (very good) wines* on show with food. And not just snacks from some hotdog joints, but cuisine of the haute kind by the respected chefs from The Greenhouse of Cellars-Hohenort, Overture, Constantia Uitsig, Grande Roche’s Bosman’s and Buitenverwachting. There’s also NOT TOO MANY wines on show, which is how many wine events balls it up. Not here. Go slow, take it easy and get indulgent, you’ll taste them all. 3pm – 8pm. Tickets: R400.
Number Two: Because on Friday afternoon they are hosting (and probably sold out, but if you’re lucky you might still get a spot) a tasting of the best local and international white blends available, with representation from estates like Château Laville Haut Brion, Château Haut Brion Blanc, Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc and more. If these fancy French names mean nothing to you, let me say that they’re all a) fucking expensive and b) expensive for a good reason and c) hard to get hold of.
Number Three: They, the good people at Fine Wine Events, are also hosting a Friday dinner at the Cellars-Hohenhort where Iron Chef Peter Temeplhoff will prepare a five course degustation** menu that is guaranteed to make your tongue feel like it’s never really lived before. Naturally, paired with local and international wines of note.
Number Four: the lads from &UNION will be pouring their beers at this wine gathering on Saturday. Ever been sipping wine non-stop at a wino event for five hours and just feel like a beer? Now you can. And GOOD BEER too.
Number Five: because the good people at Fine Wine Events are my friends, Jörg “That’s-not-a-wine-mate,-this-is” Pfützner and his partner Claire “I’m-too-busy-to-run-for-president” Lockey. Legends x 2.
Number Six: they linked to the cool Klein Constantia viral video on their homepage. What one? This one… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL0eneoGaVM.
Number Seven: what? You need seven reasons?!! Okay, in case you do need more encouragement on Number One, note that this gathering is held on Buitenverwachting’s lawns. Yes, you get to drink plenty of (good) wine*, have an excuse to wear a panama hat/summer dress and act completely uncouth amongst very cultured people, all of them so merrily drunk happy they act uncouth too.
Tickets for Saturday’s general gathering available from participating wine farms as well as &UNION on Bree Street. More details at www.constantiafresh.com. No, I don’t have tickets for you, I’m selfish like that, but I’m told you can win some via Cape Town Girl.
–
* wines from Constantia include Constantia Uitsig, Klein Constantia, Groot Constantia, Steenberg (these guys know how to throw a party), Eagle’s Nest, Buitenverwachting and Constantia Glen. And there are more South African wines there too. Yes, more!
** degustation – a fancy French word for the action or an instance of tasting especially in a series of small portions. — de·gust \di-ˈgəst, dē-\ transitive verb, etc…
Easy peasy. Piece of cake. Simple as pie. Which is why I decided to make them for lunch the other day. With an ice cold beer. And what’s better than fish cakes? Spicy fish cakes! Because Cape Town thought it was Bombay that day, complete with mini monsoon and all and since I’d already been schvetzing like a mineworker, I thought ‘why not throw some spice in the mix?’ Spicy fish cakes. They came out alright, not bloody amazing, but good. I used angelfish, but hake probably would’ve been better. Simple hake, nothing wrong with it. Here’s how to do it…
What you need
300g white fish (SASSI green list, please)
zest of 1/2 lemon, finely chopped
3 green chillies, seeded and chopped finely
3 potatoes, medium sized
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, crushed
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
handful chopped coriander
1 egg
1 ice cold beer
flour
peanut oil
What to do
Put some cool music on. Then open the beer and take a big swig (duh). Look outside at the hot day and take another swig. Okay, you’re ready now.
Put the beer down, chop potatoes into small pieces and boil until soft. Remove and mash roughly in a mixing bowl.
Fry the fish on medium-high heat in a little butter until done (shouldn’t be translucent anywhere). Break into little pieces over potato mash.
Add the chilli, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, coriander and lemon zest. Mix well. Crack the egg in and mix well.
Drink some more beer.
Flour your hands well, then scoop a handful of the mix and shape into a ball. Sprinkle with flour and place on a flour-sprinkled board or plate. Squash gently until it makes a flat disc that resembles an ice hockey puck.
Repeat this until you’ve used all the mixture.
You can be fairly liberal with the flour, otherwise you might end up scraping fishcakes off the plate. You also might get sticky fish fingers, not the kind you eat but the kind you need to wash under warm water.
Heat a wide frying pan on medium-high and add some peanut oil, enough to cover the surface. Then place the hockey puc- er, fish cakes, into the pan and fry until golden brown on each side, then remove.
Serve with another beer and some dressed greens. Squeeze some lemon juice over the fish cakes and maybe enjoy with a bit of salsa verde or tartare sauce on the side. I just shoved mine down my throat before I could think of that, but if/when I make them again, I’ll sauce it up.
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.
