Specktafel | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Dutch Chef Michiel den Hartogh is assisting at Pierneef à La Motte for the next six weeks, and shared some views on the cuisine in the different countries in which he has travelled and worked. He praised Australian and South African cuisine for its use of fresh ingredients, and the wide selection and quality of fish in Australia, and game and other meat in South Africa.

Five years ago Chef Michiel came to the Cape, and worked at both Lanzerac and The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français. He did not learn anything at Lanzerac, and shared his knowledge with the staff there, he felt, rather than the other way around, but he enjoyed the latter restaurant, where he met Chef Chris Erasmus, now Executive Chef at Pierneef à La Motte. The friendship continued, and last year Chef Chris cooked at Specktafel in Haarlem, in conjunction with a South African festival. Having left Specktafel as Head Chef earlier this year, after ten years with the restaurant, Chef Michiel did a summer stint at Ajuma in Zandvoort, before coming to join Chef Chris at Pierneef à La Motte ten days ago. Specktafel does not serve bacon, but is based in Spekstraat in Haarlem, and is ‘speck’-tacular, he said! The restaurant specialises in ‘world cuisine’, and the menu covers Canadian, Moroccan, Italian, Japanese, Scandinavian, South American, Chinese, and South African dishes. He has been a representative for Luiten-food, doing demonstrations for them of kangaroo, emu and crocodile, New Zealand venison, and our local meats of ostrich, wildebeest, springbok, kudu, and more.

He has done short ‘internships’ in restaurants around the world, including at Nobu in London, and also in France, the USA, Spain, Madeira, Asia, Australia, and Italy. In Australia he was impressed with the range of seafood available, not only from the Sydney fish market, but also that he could go spearfishing to harvest some of it himself. He raved about the blue swimmer crabs, oysters, kangaroo, and crocodile, from which interesting dishes can be prepared. Springbok and our other game, as well as excellent quality grass-fed beef and poultry impresses him about South Africa, a luxury in Holland. Compared to five years ago, our restaurant cuisine has developed, and is not as ‘primitive’ as it was then, largely due to the experience our chiefs are gaining from working with international chefs locally and overseas, such as Chef Chris’ one month stage at Noma in Copenhagen. The international experience benefits not only the head chef, but that of the whole team too.

Chef Michiel is very impressed with the herb and vegetable garden at La Motte, and he himself is a keen gardener, having planted some favourite herbs and vegetables on his parents’ farm, and he has begun to forage mushrooms, wild herbs, and wild flowers. He has brought some seeds from Holland, and Daniel Kruger will prepare a vegetable garden just for him at La Motte, which will be his legacy to Chef Chris and his colleagues, when he leaves to continue his world travels. He has brought seeds for ‘boerekool’, and ‘endejvie’, which he said is not an endive but a lettuce/cabbage, purple carrots, and more.

Asked about the plans for the future, Chef Michiel said he is working on a ten year plan, and it is still a ‘secret’. He intimated that he may stay on beyond 31 December at Pierneef à La Motte, and I got the feeling that his vegetable garden in Holland may be the clue to the possible opening of his own restaurant. Should he open his own restaurant, it would serve ‘pure cuisine’, he said, being seasonal produce, and that which is grown in close proximity. He wants to educate diners about vegetables, meats, and herbs, and take them beyond their restricted knowledge gained from TV and supermarkets. ‘Pure cuisine’ also means presenting fewer elements on a plate, and utilising known ingredients in an unusual form.

We talked about the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant awards, and he will be attending the Eat Out Conference next Saturday. There does not appear to be restaurant award of a similar nature in Holland, and I got the feeling that winning a restaurant award is not a big deal in that country.

Chef Michiel is looking forward to developing his vegetable garden at La Motte, and in working with Chef Chris to develop new dishes, and in preparing dishes for the new Pierneef à La Motte summer menu, which was launched yesterday.

Pierneef à La Motte, La Motte, R45, Franschhoek. Tel (021) 876-8000. www.la-motte.com Twitter: @Pierneeflamotte @Mich_ha13

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

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