Tag Archives: L’Omarins

Pierneef à La Motte introduces fine Winelands Tea treat!

Pierneef à La Motte is one of the Winelands top restaurants, with its extensive vegetable and herb garden, its Executive Chef Chris Erasmus having recently done a stage at the world’s number one restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, has a chef from leading Dutch restaurant Specktafel working with them until the end of December, and has made the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurants Finalist list two years running in its two year history.  Now it has introduced a fine Winelands Tea.

I had seen a sample tray of the Tea treats on a previous visit, and was told then that the Tea was still in its test phase.  Now it has been introduced, and one can sit under the oak trees, or in the side section of the restaurant, to enjoy the Winelands Tea.  I probably was the first customer to order the Tea, and some of the information was not readily available, but the Manager Inge Naude brought extra notes about the teas and asked the Culinary Manager Hetta van Deventer-Terblanche, and I was able to interview the Sous and Pastry Chef Michelle Theron, for further information.

A tray with glass jars of confiture, including watermelon preserve, fig preserve, and honey, was brought to the table, either for adding to the tea, or to one’s sweet or savoury treats.

Inge brought a beautiful presentation box of eight TWG (The Wellness Group) teas to the table, and opened one sachet to show me the cotton bag in which the chunks of caramel and tea leaves are contained. It had a good-enough-to-eat aroma.  She told me that the company is from Singapore, linking back to the Spice Route between the East and Holland via the Cape, and is deemed to be one of the best tea suppliers, according to their research.  They advise that one drink the tea ‘neat’, without adding milk and sugar, to get the best aroma of the tea.  Inge said the water should be boiled at 95°C, and that one should add the tea bag to the water, letting it draw for 2 – 15 minutes. The tea is served in crockery made by Ellalou O’Meara especially for La Motte.  One has a number of other options to drink other than the tea, but Inge emphasised that the La Motte experience is more about the tea than it is about the food. I ordered a cappuccino, but could have substituted it for a number of other options too, including the home-made La Motte fruit cordial, ‘soet sopies’ such as L’Omarins Port, Slanghoek or Graham Beck Muscadel, Monis Sherry, Slanghoek Hanepoot, Pepperment or Van der Hum Liqueur, or Amarula.  A R20 surcharge allows one to have a glass of Vin de Constance or La Motte MCC.

Chef Michelle explained each dish in great detail, giving it a greater appetite appeal, relative to the very scant description in the Tea menu. The Buckwheat Blini is based on a blini recipe in their ‘Cape Winelands Cuisine’ cook book, and was described as a ‘Blini Cake’ by Chef Michelle, layered with salmon, cream cheese and biltong, and a curried apple and peach chutney made to a recipe of Chef Chris’ mother. It was topped with poppy seed and dried capers, and at its back with chopped chives, and was the most unique item.  The menu called this lovely creation a ‘smoked salmon pancake with cream cheese’. A ‘Biltong Soes’ choux pastry contained a cheese and biltong filling too, topped with a slice of their own home-made biltong, from beef which comes from the Weltevrede farm near Kokstad.  The Truffle of the day was a Brandy Valrhona, and could be alternated with peanut mousse, milk tart, or a rose Turkish delight.  The Macaroon was a hazelnut and chocolate one, and alternatives are nougat, rose, lavender, thyme, and lemon.  The Tea Cake had layers of chocolate mousse, with a chocolate butter frosting.   One has a choice of one of three Tea Cakes daily.  Chef Michelle said that she is an ‘all-rounder chef’, responsible for pastries too,  even though officially she is the Sous Chef.

The Pierneef à La Motte Winelands Tea is expensive, especially if one does not have a TWG tea with it, being an expensive part of the offering.  The food treats should be described in greater detail in the Tea Menu, to explain how special they are.  The product knowledge of the staff about the Winelands Tea is not yet perfect.

Winelands Tea,  Pierneef à La Motte, La Motte, R45, Franschhoek.  Tel (021) 876-8000.  www.la-motte.com Twitter: @PierneefLaMotte  R125 per head.  Tuesday – Sunday 10h00 – 16h30.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Foie Gras is ‘jewel in culinary heritage’, produced humanely, has nutritional benefits!

Yesterday Rougié, the world’s largest producer of foie gras, introduced a number of us to their method of foie gras production, dispelled all myths of the ‘cruelty’ of this production, and spoilt us with a wonderful Chef’s Table lunch at the Mount Nelson Hotel.

Guy de Saint-Laurent, Directeur: Commercial Export of Rougié Sarlat, flew in from France to explain to Chef Rudi Liebenberg from the Mount Nelson’s Planet Restaurant, Chef Dylan Laity of Aubergine, and Chef Darren Badenhorst from Grande Provence how duck foie gras is produced.  The company specialises in foie gras supply to the restaurant industry, and calls itself the ‘Chef’s Foie Gras’.  We were told that foie gras is one of the oldest food products, having been developed in Egypt 5000 years ago, the Pharaohs already force fattening wild birds at that time.  For their long journeys to other parts of the world in winter, the birds naturally overfeed to create a natural layer of fat around their liver, for their long flights, doubling their weight. The first foie gras recipes emanate from Rome, and were based on geese livers. Now 80% of the world’s production comes from France, with another 15 % being produced in Spain, Belgium, Japan, and the USA.  With the introduction of corn from America to France, the production of foie gras was revolutionised, in being used to force feed the ducks and geese.  Foie gras is produced from Moulard ducks, a cross between Muscovy and Pekin ducks.  Up to 98% of all foie gras is made from duck, taking 12 weeks to breed and 10 days to be fattened, while geese need 14 weeks breeding time and 21 days of fattening.  Duck foie gras is more affordable therefore, and tastes better, Guy said.  Its preparation has been mainly pan-fried or seared in the past, but Rougié is working on guiding chefs to find more uses for it. The company has recently set up the L’Ecole Du Foie Gras, teaching chefs the art of foie gras usage.

We were shown a video of how duck are fed a boiled corn ‘mash’ with a tube which goes into their crop, the process called ‘gavage‘.  This process takes 3 minutes, and is done once a day over the last 12 days of the duck’s life.  Vets visit the foie gras farms, and confirmed that ducks are ‘anatomically pre-disposed to be force fed’,  having a long neck, and that there is ‘no indication of stress’ to the ducks, a study showed.  The quality of the treatment of the ducks is reflected in the quality of the foie gras that is produced.  Rougié exports foie gras to 120 countries around the world, either raw, in cans, or flash frozen, the latter having a taste and texture ‘as good as fresh’. The company is a co-operative of about 700 duck farmers, foie gras being one of the products they make.

Foie gras has nutritional benefits, containing Vitamins B, C, and E.  A slice of foie gras has 260 Kcal, compared to a hamburger having 275 Kcal, and a pizza 600 Kcal.  It has good fat similar to that in olive oil, and protects the heart.  It is a food that can be adapted to the food traditions of the world, going well with the sweet, sour, and acidity in ingredients.  The Japanese are even making foie gras sushi, and the Chinese are making foie gras dumplings for Dim Sum.

While we were listening to the presentation, Chef Rudi’s team was busy preparing a foie gras feast for us, a nine-course lunch of small portions, to demonstrate the diversity of foie gras.    Chef Rudi’s brief to his team was to do him and the foie gras proud in the dishes that they created for this unique lunch. Three foie gras canapés were served with Villiera Tradition Brut NV, a terrine with beetroot, a macaroon, and a whipped foie gras torchon.   We discussed the reaction to foie gras, and that the state of California has banned its use in restaurants, despite foie gras being USDA approved.  Restaurants in the state wish to reverse the ban through legal action.  Guy said that the negative reaction comes from foie gras being seen to be for the well-to-do, making it elitist, the gavache method of feeding, and the love for comic characters such as Daffy and Donald Duck.

We started with frozen shaved foie gras, which was served with pine nuts and litchi, a  fresh surprise combination of ingredients, which Assistant Sommelier Farai Magwada paired with Bellingham’s The Bernard Series Chenin Blanc 2011.  Guy told us that he has chefs which visit restaurants around the world, especially to those far away from France, to educate and excite chefs about the preparation of foie gras. Last week Guy and Sagra Foods, the importers of the Rougié foie gras, had hosted similar lunches at The Westcliff with Chef Klaus Beckmann, and at The Saxon with Chef David Higgs, of whom Guy said that his work was two star Michelin quality, having been more classic in his foie gras usage.  Foie gras served with fresh apple, apple chutney, on an oats streusel, was paired with Spier Private Collection Chardonnay 2007.

I asked Guy about cookbooks about foie gras, and he told me that three have been written to date, one produced for Rougié, another done by Chef Nobu of the restaurant group by the same name, and the third by Beijing restaurant Da Dong. Given that Rougié was not prescriptive about how the foie gras should be served at its South African lunches, it seemed a good idea to develop a compilation of the dishes served, perhaps even including those lying ahead for Guy in Mauritius and Reunion.  An indian touch came through with foie gras and curried banana being sandwiched between two poppadom crisps, served with a fresh Solms-Delta Koloni 2010. A fun dish was pairing foie gras with popcorn and chicken breast, which was paired with Jordan Chameleon 1995.  As if we had not eaten enough already, we had a small palate cleanser, being duck confit with artichoke and mash.

We moved to fish, for which we were served fish knives, for hake cured with lemon and lemon grass, served with foie gras spuma and grilled melon, and paired with Cederberg Bukettraube 2011.    Guy explained that sous vide was invented for foie gras, and has since been adapted for use for other foods.  He also told me that French chefs predominantly used foie gras in terrines, but since Rougié has started marketing their products, and running their chefs’ courses, they are seeing it put to a greater number of creative uses. The beef, marinated mushrooms, and foie gras emulsion was paired with L’Omarins Optima 2006.  We talked about Chef Rudi’s support of Farmer Angus at Spier, buying his free-range meats, and having guinea fowl and turkey bred for his restaurant.

The Mount Nelson’s creative pastry chef Vicky Gurovich has just returned from a stage at Chef Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir in Great Milton, and visited Valrhona in Paris.  Her dessert creation of a foie gras, Valrhona chocolate and toffee terrine served with hazelnuts was the pièce de résistance. It was paired with Nederburg Eminence Noble Late Harvest 2009.

Sagra Foods was established in 1994, and operates from Cape Town, but distributes a range of exclusive foods and wines nationally, and even into Southern Africa, planning to make this country a hub of distribution of its fine foods into Africa, Darryn Lazarus said.  They commenced with Italian products, but decided to focus and specialise on premium products such as truffle oils, truffle butters, and many more, to make these products more affordable for local chefs.  Darryn said they are the ‘pioneers in specialty ingredients’, using wholesalers like Wild Peacock to offer chefs a single source of supply.  They import products ‘that make a difference’ from France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Australia, and the USA. So, for example, they sell El Bulli’s Texturas range, being the technical elements which once world best Chef Ferran Adria uses in his molecular gastronomy; De Cecco pasta from Italy; Vilux French mustards and vinegars; Borde dried mushrooms; Belberry jams, sauces, syrups, and vinegars; pastry cases with an 8 month shelf life; Australian Massel beef, chicken and vegetable stocks which are kosher, halaal, and gluten-free; and Tea Forte, the original designers of the tea pyramid, with such award-winning tea flavours as Blueberry Merlot and Lemon Sorbet.

The Mount Nelson was praised by Guy for its playful and less classic interpretation of the foie gras challenge, and he liked how the structure and taste of the foie gras was brought to the fore with the ingredients used by Chef Rudi’s chefs.  It was a most informative, once-in-a-lifetime lunch highlight, with excellent food, paired with a amazing range of wines, good company, and hosted in a special venue inside the sixty year old Mount Nelson kitchen.  Merci beaucoup!

Sagra Food & Wine Merchants, 10 Flamingo Crescent, Lansdowne, Cape Town. Tel (021) 761-3360. www.sagrafoods.com.  Twitter: @SagraFoodsZA

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Wild Peacock Food Emporium dîner with French food and Great Domaines wines!

Wild Peacock Food Emporium hosted a lovely homely evening on Thursday, with 24 food and wine lovers spoilt with a French themed dinner, and a tasting of six French wines led by Great Domaines’ Derek Kilpin.

Costing R250, the French evening was attended by representatives of Waterkloof and L’Omarins wine estates, and Den Anker restaurant, amongst others.  Creating 2 adjacent long tables covered with red and white check table cloths, there was a cosy atmosphere and buzz.

Derek grew up on an apple farm in Elgin, and studied B.Sc at Stellenbosch University.  He worked at Waterford and Asara wine estates before moving to Dublin, to run a wine shop belonging to Vaughn Johnson. From there he moved to London, working at Fine and Rare Wines, and thereafter at Decorum Vintners.  The weather made him move back to his home country, and he joined Great Domaines in Johannesburg, a company importing French, Italian, and Spanish wines.

The white wines we tasted were

*   William Fevre Chablis 2010: Derek said this is one of the most respected domains in Chablis, and is excellent when paired with summer seafood, oysters in particular. The price is R229.

*   Bouchard Pere et Fils Bourgogne Chardonnay 2010:  This wine has been fermented in stainless steel, with only 15 % in barrels.  The producer is a big company, having invested heavily in a new cellar, and has ‘revolutionised‘ the quality of its wines, according to Derek.  The price is R 189.

*   Bouchard Pere et Fils Meursalt Les Clous 2010:   This wine is fermented in wooden barrels. Cost is R429.

The starter course was a lovely French onion soup served with crusty bread, prepared by new Wild Peacock chef Liesel Potgieter, previously with Knights Catering. She has most recently been a menu consultant to a clinic for eating disorders.

The French red wines we tasted were:

*  Bouchard Pere et Fils: Bourgogne Pinot La Vigne 2009:  Derek said that 2009 was one of the best vintages in Burgundy in the past ten years. Matured in stainless steel. Strawberry flavour.  R209 per bottle.

*   Domaine de Saint Cosme Cotes du Rhone Rouge 2010: The 15th generation of the family owns this estate, wines matured in old cement vats, ‘fresh pure Shiraz’.  Costs R195.

*   Domaine La Roquète Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2009: a blend of 70 % Grenache, 20 % Shiraz, and 10% Mourvèdre, costing R439.

A Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend is made of up to 18 varieties, including Piquepoul Blanc, Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Roussane, Cinsaut, Terret Noir, Counoise, Muscardin, Piquepoul Noir, Vaccarèse, Bourboulenc, Clairette Blanche,  Clairette Rose, Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Picardin, and Piquepoul Gris. Grenache Noir is predominantly used in red and white wine making in this appellation, about 3000 hectares in size, according to Wikipedia.

Great Domaines supplies Wild Peacock, Aubergine, The Saxon, Rust en Vrede, amongst others.  Derek spoke about ‘value for quality’, saying that below R150 per bottle South African wines offer exceptional value. However, above the R250 price point French wines often offer better value.

The enjoyable evening ended off with the French staple Beef Bourguignon and mash.

Wild Peacock Products was established 21 years ago as ‘purveyor of fine foods to the hospitality industry’ by Sue Baker, as a wholesale supplier of restaurant delicacies, starting with oysters initially. The company stands for offering ‘Fine Food, Fine Quality, Fine Service’, sources sustainable products, and builds long term relationships with its suppliers and clients. It now supplies leading restaurants in Cape Town and the Winelands with duck, pigeon, guinea fowl, quail, charcuterie, cheeses, Valrhona chocolate, rock lobster, mussels, salmon trout, caviar, snails, truffles, Italian pasta, olives, olive oils, farm butter, and much more. Two years ago they opened the Wild Peacock Food Emporium, run by daughter Sarah, stocking similar products to buy over the counter, as well as wines. They also serve breakfast, lunch, and snacks throughout the day, and dinner on Friday evenings.

Wild Peacock Food Emporium, 32 Piet Retief Street, Stellenbosch. Tel (021) 887-7585. www.wildpeacock.co.za Twitter: @WildPeacock  Monday – Friday 7h30 – 18h00 (dinner Fridays), Saturday and Sunday 7h30 – 15h00.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage

Rhapsody’s set to become a restaurant of note in Green Point!

Rhapsody’s opened in Green Point last week, where Doppio Zero used to be, perfectly positioned for business when the Cape Town Stadium hosts events, and for locals in general.  It is the first full-scale restaurant of this Pretoria-based franchise group in Cape Town, and the 12th for the group, which has ambitious restaurant opening plans for next year.  It was chatting to the Executive Chef Claire Brown, previously of Pierneef à La Motte, and some of the passionate managers that gave me confidence that this restaurant won’t be another franchise restaurant, but one that wants to make a difference for Capetonians.

I was intrigued when I first saw the logo on the boards outside the restaurant when I visited neighbouring Café Extrablatt about a month ago, and they told me the name of the restaurant.  The franchisor of the group and owner of the Cape Town branch is Michalis Xekalos, who opened his first Rhapsody’s branch in Menlyn, Pretoria ten years ago.  There are Rhapsody’s restaurants in Ghana, Bloemfontein, Polokwane, and Bedfordview, and an ambitious expansion plan for next year includes Continue reading →