Sushi & Sake

Yesterday Kari and I had the good fortune of meeting Andrew Milne, manager of Nobu at the One&Only Hotel in Cape Town, for an interview and sake lesson 101. 

Our good fortune continued when instead of just  a sake tasting, we received the full ‘Omakasa’ tasting menu. 7 courses of fantastic food paired with very good sake. 

We are so used to knowing what to expect from wines that it was quite strange to do this sake tasting with no frame of reference as to what we should be tasting and smelling. But with a little help from Andrew, we quickly got into the swing of things.

My favourite pairing of the evening: Hokusetsu Cho Daiginjo YK35 sake with grilled skewers of Chicken Anti Cucho. The sauce is inspired by a Peru street-food style. The sake was complex, velvety and had a long finish. 

Kari’s favourite of the evening: Hokusetsu Nigori sake with Passion Fruit Brulee. This is an unfiltered sake with notes of creamy coconut and tropical flavours. A good match with the tropical dessert.

And I have to end my mentioning my favourite sushi of the evening—the Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno, it was fantastic. If you haven’t tried Nobu yet make sure to save up, it’s a worthy dining experience.

Look out for Andrew’s interview in the June issue of Good Taste, as well as the ins and outs of sake.

–Shannon

The Truth About Coffee

I had the pleasure of attending the Truth Coffee Cult launch at the Prestwich Memorial in Greenpoint this morning.

Two amazing iced coffees and one cappuccino later I was on a bit of a buzz. However, the soothing sound of the jazz band against the backdrop of Table Mountain suddenly melted my daydreams of decaf.

Listening to the purr of the city, I felt like something out of Sex and the City. Eating my muesli out of a martini glass in the café’s outside section, with its distinct mini Central Park feel.

The owner, David Donde, aka the ‘godfather of coffee’, attended to me personally and made sure I got my soya cap with wings. What a perk, as any lactose-loather knows, soya milk can be hard to come by in this city. 

With five unique coffee blends from around the world, a light lunch menu and a selection of sweet treats, TCC is sure to be the next hot spot on the Cape Town coffee scene.

So, for all those coffee connoisseurs in the Cape, the truth is definitely out there…

–Kari

Tasting Indian

Yesterday I attended a Wine & Indian Cuisine Pairing at Bombay Brasserie at the Taj Hotel in Cape Town – with Nederburg wines.

The food and the wines were delicious. So often I find food and wine pairings don’t really work, and after tasting the food I can’t always go back and enjoy my wine. Maybe I just have a fussy palate. But these pairings had me sipping after each of the many courses. The wines seemed to complement the spicy Indian food – and often I had to go back for more sips to rescue my tongue from the curry!

My favourite pairing of the day was the Roasted Yellow Corn Soup and Turmeric Poporn served with the Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Rhine Riesling 2009.

Well done to the Executive Chef  Shyam Sunder Longani and to Cellarmaster, Razvan Macici.

Blackberries are the No.1 Free-radical Fighter

Doing research about health and nutrition is always slightly confusing. One month chocolates are good for you, the next month they’re not. One day coffee is good for you, the next day it’s not. And so it goes…

But I was on a quest to find out how to get the most antioxidants into my diet—I wanted to know how best to fight off  free radicals while eating lunch and dinner. Apparently early ageing, cancer and even cellulite is often caused by free radicals attacking our healthy cells. And the one thing able to neutralize free radicals is antioxidants.

So here is a very helpful list of the foods that come high in antioxidants – thanks to Health24.com. Blackberries top the list!

TIP: If you are ever in doubt of what the healthier food choice is, just remember: ‘fresh is best’. Always choose fresh fruit and veggies over processed and pre-packaged foods!

Wines to Taste…

I went to a tasting of Spier’s new Creative Block wines at the Spier Arts Academy at Union House in Cape Town last night. Very tasty.

Spier’s Creative Block 2: White Bordeaux style – Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon. Aromas of gooseberries, kiwi fruit and crushed nettle. Tropical fruit and fresh green characters on the palate.

Spier’s Creative Block 3: Rhone Blend – Shiraz/ Mourvedre/ Viognier. Aromas of violets, mulberry, sweet fruits, spice and toast. On the palate – mulberry with subtle vanilla and chocolate and a lingering aftertaste.

Spier’s Creative Block 5: Bordeaux Blend – Merlot/ Malbec/ Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc/Petit Verdot. Juicy plum, spicy black olives and black cherries on the nose. Ripe cherries and plum on the palate. Subtle, flavours of cinnamon and cloves.

Tamsin Reily

 

The Spier Creative Block wines are named after a Spier art project which is designed to stimulate and support the South African art community. Creative Block invites artists – both established and emerging – to create an artwork on a block measuring 18×18cm. The artists are given free reign to create a work in any style or medium that they choose. Collectors can select a combination of pieces, becoming a part of the creative process by building a greater, more personal artwork. Blocks are only R950 each. Now that’s affordable art! Visit www.creativeblock.co.za for more information.

What’s to Come in 2010

It’s been awhile since our last update. A slow, albeit busy, start to the New Year.

We’ve said a sad goodbye to Malu – we wish her all the best in her new position at Eat Out. And we’ve said a happy welcome to Kari – new on the editorial team. After she has settled in, I will ask her to share some interesting foodie news as well as the vegetarian recipe she lives by.

This year we want to bring you interesting news, delicious recipes and lots of tips on wine. So keep checking the blog for weekly updates.

Let’s start with something for the market lovers. Sorry, this one is  for Capetonians – or visitor’s to the Mother City – only. There are two new markets on their way. The first one is a night market that starts on 29 January at Constantia’s Waldorf School. And the second is in Kloof Street at the Jan van Riebeek Primary School – starting in Feb.

Take a look here for more details: MotherCityLiving

Enjoy the weekend.

Go Gourmet for Charity

I love a good book. Even better is a book that does good. On a Plate, recently launched at Myoga restaurant, is just that. All profits from the sale of the book will go to StreetSmart to fund the national roll-out campaign of this fundraising initiative that sets out to engage restaurants and diners to assist street children in South Africa to rebuild their lives. And it’s not a bad deal, as this glossy cookery book and restaurant guide features 20 of South Africa’s award-winning chefs and restaurants. I can’t wait to try out the Slow-Roasted Rib-Eye with Crayfish and Horseradish Cream. Mmmm.

-Malu

A Rather Grand Affair

Camps Bay was in need of a breath of fresh air. No—not the 130km gales we’ve been experiencing lately—but a culinary one. The Grand Café is providing just this for the well-known strip. It has a casually opulent interior and a Parisian café inspired menu.

I’ve always said that you can judge a restaurant on the quality of their cocktails, and I’m not disappointed. My Grand Margarita has the salty, tangy, sweet mix just right. Even though the wind is blowing close to gale-like force outside (I’m sure I see a cow and a fishing boat spinning in a whirlwind over the ocean), the sunset still manages to look pretty dramatic—a sandstorm embossed hot pink sky.

The drama of the gloaming outside nicely matches the baroque  saloon atmosphere inside. Inspired by trompe líoeil art, pictures on the walls have chalk frames drawn around them—against one wall a drawing of a sitting lamp pretends to light up the room. Not all just show though, the food is also very telling.

Our waiter, Mandla, tells us that they make the best steak in Cape Town. Quite a grand statement, so we take him up on it. My partner has the steak, and Mandla is right—it is melt-in-your-mouth perfection. I have the Sugar Salmon, and it’s also delicious. The sugar forms a crispy, light, and slightly sticky crust on the salmon that’s been cooked medium, so it’s still bright pink in the middle. The Grand Café is a welcome step away (in a Parisian stiletto) from the usual tourist fare served up at many of the strip’s restaurants.

-Malu

Boozy Botanicals

A G&T at 5pm is a long-standing tradition in my household. A G&T at 1pm, however, is another story…

Good thing then that it’s a martini in my hand. A pink one at that. Gordon’s London Dry Gin is celebrating its 240^th anniversary at Dish Food & Social in Gardens, Cape Town. Andrea Foulkes has created five martinis for us to try. The pink one is called the G&T Remixed and it gets its pink-y hue from fresh pomegranate seeds.

We’re given tiny purple juniper berries. I crush one between my fingers, and give it a deep sniff. Next, I pass my nose over a snifter of gin, and guess what? I smell juniper berries in the gin, and gin in the juniper berries.

Gin is a juniper berry-flavored grain spirit. A quick bit of etymology—the name comes from the Dutch term genever, which was actually borrowed from the French genièvre meaning ‘juniper tree.’ Gin was first found in Holland in the 1580s.

Soldiers going into battle kept a nip close at hand, and that’s where the term ‘Dutch Courage’ was coined. 

Soon I’m sipping on a Sayuri, (named after the protagonist in Memoirs of a Geisha). 

A combination of pink pickled ginger, mirin, gin, and lime create a martini that demands sushi as an accompaniment. Delicious.

Malu

Behind the Scenes with Margot Janse

I’ve been doing series of articles with Tasting Room chef Margot Janse for Good Taste. There are two already in the bag; we’ve spent time with her at home in Going Dutch Jul/Aug (there’s even a short video to watch) and at work in Kitchen Creative Sept/Oct.

In our upcoming issue we’ll be showing you how Margot likes to party or in any case how she throws one. Luckily she has just the excuse, Nikki Friedman — who is the niece of LQF’s owner, Susan Huxter — is getting married in November. So, Margot took the opportunity to throw her a Kitchen Tea.

Forget the dodgy strippers and condom balloons though. This was an altogether more whimsical affair. Check out our Oct/Nov issue (out mid-October) for recipes and tips on how to throw your very own party. Fun moreish canapés included.

–Malu