{"id":79316,"date":"2016-05-31T00:05:41","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T22:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=79316"},"modified":"2016-05-31T00:05:41","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T22:05:41","slug":"one-ingredient-magical-mushroom-dinner-by-chef-matt-manning-paired-with-vondeling-wines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/one-ingredient-magical-mushroom-dinner-by-chef-matt-manning-paired-with-vondeling-wines\/","title":{"rendered":"One Ingredient magical mushroom dinner by Chef Matt Manning, paired with Vondeling wines!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a>On Saturday evening I was invited by Chef Matt Manning to attend the One Ingredient dinner, each of the magical five courses containing mushrooms, and each course paired with Vondeling wines. The highlight was the use of porcini in the dessert!<\/p>\n

Chef Matt used the Reverie Social Table restaurant in Observatory for the evening, 24 \"image\"<\/a>of us seated at one long table. I have eaten at Chef Julia Hattingh’s Reverie Social Table<\/strong><\/span> <\/a>before, and the sharing of the dinner at one long table is what makes the dinner even more special. The fact that we were the last to leave is testimony to the good food, good wines, and great fun we had at our end of the table. It was magical meeting such special people, laughing together, and we were all brought together by our love of good food. It was special to get to know Chef Matt’s partner Roxanne Leibbrandt, a talented PR professional who very recently won the award for best PR professional in our country!<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a>Chef Matt is from the UK, and worked at Michelin-star restaurants P\u00e9trus and Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, and has worked for Chef Gordon Ramsay. \u00a0He has lived in Cape Town for five years. \u00a0He created the unique concept of using one star ingredient in each of five courses for a dinner. The magical mushroom was honored in his dinners in May, forest foraging being all the rage now. Chef Matt and Roxanne went to Newlands Forest on Saturday morning, and picked porcini and pine ring mushrooms, carefully checking with mushroom expert Justin Williams whether they were kosher. They found the monster porcini held by Chef Matt in the main photograph. Chef Matt also\u00a0does freelance cheffing, for example working with Chef Neill Anthony Vaughn in prepping and preparing dishes for the shoots of his Private Chef reality TV food show on Food Network<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Kyle Martin of Vondeling introduced each of six Vondeling wines to us. Vondeling \"image\"<\/a>is in the Voor- Paardeberg, which he described as ‘Swartland South<\/em>‘, and the region is known for its good quality fruit. It is owned by Julian Johnson and two partners from the UK. The Platter’s Wine Guide informs that they employ a full-time botanist to ‘geo-tag, catalogue, and DNA fingerprint endangered fynbos<\/em>‘ on its farm. The winemaker is Matthew Copeland. They \"image\"<\/a>welcome visitors by appointment. We started with the Vondeling Ros\u00e9 2016, which we were offered as a welcome drink, and which\u00a0is made from Merlot grapes, growing on the southern slope of the Voor-Paardeberg, which is 5\u00baC cooler than the other wine estates in the area. \u00a0The Ros\u00e9 was\u00a0paired with canap\u00e9s of wild mushroom on porcini brioche with Sauce B\u00e9arnaise. <\/span><\/p>\n

After finding our seats (we were seated near the kitchen, so that I could take photographs there, and I must thank photographer Cherith Roodt for holding the plates for me to photograph)\u00a0<\/span>Chef Matt welcomed us,\u00a0telling us that he does his One Ingredient dinners in one of two ways – in a studio kitchen, which allows an interactive participation by guests, or as a sit-down with a served dinner, as we experienced on Saturday evening. Kyle poured their sparkling wine, a very unusual Vondeling Rurale 2014, a M\u00e9thode Ancestrale sparkling wine which is made in the original method, the back label informs, giving an ‘uncomplicated, pure expression of the grape and its expression<\/em>‘. \u00a0It is the first certified sparkling wine made in this style in our country. Natural fermentation starts in the tank but is completed in the bottle. Chardonnay grapes were used to make the wine, and it was bottle-aged for 16 months. Only 1800 bottles of this vintage were produced.<\/p>\n

The Amuse Bouche was a great one, in being roasted Jerusalem artichoke, ricotta gnocchi, pine ring mushrooms (eaten with\"image\"<\/a> fond memories of foraging these on Paarl Mountain as a child with my parents), chard onion, and Turkey Tail Tea (explained by Chef Matt as a mushroom variety that is less pleasant to eat due to its texture, but which makes a tasty broth, which he poured into each plated dish at the table). This dish was paired with Vondeling Chardonnay 2010, demonstrating that Chardonnay can age well, Kyle reminded us. The grapes come from a single vineyard, and are harvested early in the morning. There is natural fermentation in the tank. They mature the wine for seven months in old oak barrels.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a>The mushroom risotto used up the huge porcini, cut into cubes, and is definitely the favorite dish Chef Matt makes. This was paired with Vondeling Babiana 2014, named after a rare flower which grows only on the Paardeberg. It only flowers at night. The 2013 vintage of the wine is rated 4\u00bd stars in Platter’s Wine Guide, and is a blend of 50% Chenin Blanc, 24% Chardonnay, 13% Grenache Blanc, and 13% Viognier.<\/p>\n

I tasted pork cheek for the first time, looking much like short strips of bacon, which were \"image\"<\/a>miso-glazed, and served with soy-pickled shiitake, roasted parsnip, Golden Delicious, and prunes. This dish was paired with the Vondeling Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, receiving a Platter’s 4-star rating. The grapes come from a 30-year old vineyard, and the wine is matured in 100% Hungarian oak barrels.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a>The main course was pine-smoked Karoo lamb, a wild mushroom and dune spinach fricassee, cauliflower, roasted garlic salsa verde, and braised leeks. It was paired with Vondeling’s first-ever 5-star Platter rated (in 2012) Erica 2013, a blend of 81% Shiraz, 7% Grenache Noir, 6% Carignan, 3% Mourv\u00e8dre, and 3% Viognier. It is matured for 16 months.<\/p>\n

The pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance was the dessert, porcini mushrooms included in both the dark\"image\"<\/a> chocolate sweetie pie, as well as in the frozen yoghurt, served with hazelnut praline and cherries! This dinner ‘cherry’ was served with Vondeling Sweet Carolyn 2015, made from vine-dried Muscat de Frontignan grapes. It is fermented for six months, and is similar to Vin de Constance, in being made from the same grape variety. It is only released in exceptional years.<\/p>\n

Chef Matt changes the star One Ingredient monthly, and will announce what it will be for the June dinners. He is also planning to do a Sunday lunch, after taking his guests into the forest for mushroom foraging.<\/p>\n

One Ingredient,<\/strong> Chef Matt Manning, Cell 0762568654. \u00a0www.matt-manning.com<\/a><\/strong><\/span> Twitter: \u00a0@MattManningChef @OneIngredientSA Instagram: @MattManningChef<\/p>\n

Vondeling Wines<\/strong>, Voor- Paardeberg, Swartland. www.vondelingwines.co.za<\/a><\/strong><\/span> \u00a0Twitter: @VondelingWines Instagram: @Vondeling_<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog:\u00a0www.whalecottage.com\/blog<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 Tel 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@WhaleCottage \u00a0<\/strong>Facebook: \u00a0<\/strong>click here<\/a>\u00a0Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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