IPA | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Yesterday I attended a section of the Kfm Breakfast Show broadcast, as a member of the studio-audience, to welcome MasterChef Australia judge Matt Preston, who is visiting Cape Town. Preston praised Cape Town for being ‘an amazing city‘, having eaten at eight restaurants alone on Tuesday.

Even though I had hardly seen any MasterChef Australia episodes, I applied to Kfm to attend the visit to the studio by the almost 2 meter tall Preston, after Blogger Anel Potgieter raved about meeting him at the Good Food & Wine Show in Johannesburg over the weekend. We were part of a studio audience of at least 30 at the Primedia Broadcasting studios in Green Point, the majority of the attendees being serious MasterChef Australia fans. We were offered coffee and breakfast snacks such as fruit salad and cream, as well as salmon sandwiches, not quite MasterChef quality!

Presenter Ryan O’Connor invited us to sit down, coming into the live studio with Preston as well as Chef and MasterChef SA judge Pete Goffe-Wood, as well as the rest of the Breakfast Show team consisting of sport presenter Sibongile Mafu, traffic presenter Liezel van der Westhuizen, and surf reporter Deon Bing. Deon had made a toasted cheese Continue reading →

Beerhouse opened a year ago, with the proud claim of having the largest collection of bottled beers, 99 in fact, as per the song. Last night a number of writers were invited to the first of a monthly ‘Meet the Brewer’ food and beer pairing evenings. The Devil’s Peak Brewing Company and Beerhouse food pairing was led by Brewmaster JC Steyn, previously a winemaker for nine years at Dornier in Stellenbosch, and a brewmaster for the past two years.

We were a mixed bunch: wine writer Harry Haddon, whisky aficionado Bernard Gutman, beer blogger Lucy Corne, blogger Amy Rankin, and blogger Karissa of ‘My love affair with Cape Town’, and others. The biggest surprise was seeing Chris Zöller, previously at Kloof Street House, now at Beerhouse, a gem of a host, an asset for Beerhouse. His brother had worked with Beerhouse GM Murray Slater when they worked in London.

Chef Roy MacAllister took us through the do’s and don’ts of beer and food pairing, and he said there aren’t many. ‘Anything goes’, he said. It is not an exact science with hard and fast rules. The yeast and hops add flavour to the beer, and one needs to take this into account when choosing matching food. The bitterness in beer, which seems to go with a higher alcohol content, accentuates the salt content of food. Stronger beers can over-dominate the food, he warned. The chef had chosen the appropriate food pairings without the brewmaster. Each of the Devil’s Peak beers was paired with two or three food items. Each of the food items were prepared especially for the evening, and are not on the Beerhouse menu. It is planned to add Continue reading →