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Lazy days I recently enjoyed a happy four day beachside break on...

Sat, 11 May 2013 16:40:22 +0300

Lazy days

I recently enjoyed a happy four day beachside break on the Langebaan lagoon.

The sunny days were perfect for recharging in the sun, drawing, devouring books, and cooking simple food:

Leaves from Oep ve Koep’s garden dressed with lemon juice, lamb on the braai with wild herbs and bokkom butter, marinated mushrooms, and rustic bread baked in a temperamental gas oven.

The slightly chilly evenings were spent inside, drinking wine by lamp light, sharing supper with friends and making conversation until late night.

It was a perfect post-season breakaway.

Hello (again) world Thanks to posterous.com being laid to rest...

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:36:00 +0300

Hello (again) world

Thanks to posterous.com being laid to rest sometime end of last month, Sardines on Toast has had to find a new cyberspace HQ, which means that I am in the process of moving over three years’ worth of content to tumblr.com

Admittedly, it was awfully quiet around here lately, but there’s some new life behind the scenes as I am busy dusting off all the existing recipes, stories, willd food discoveries, travel anecdotes and restaurant visits, fixing faulty links and shining up photos as I go.

It’s a real trip down memory lane digging up some of my very first posts, such as my first day baking bread at Oep ve Koep, or one of the very first recipes using my favourite West Coast ingredient, bokkoms.

There are also many home dinners captured - from comfort food classics such as sardines on toast, the recipe, to memorable family meals such as my local twist on Ossobuco which I decided to name after Elvis Costello.

Travel updates cover anything from quick visits to Kalk Bay and a trip up the garden route (including the most magical lunch), to memorable meals in France and a dreamy summer holiday in Zanzibar.

Recipes vary from vague to very detailed and include anything from boerewors, Lulu’s famous butter chicken and rooibos tea ice-cream, to bokkom tapenade and waterblommetjie quiche.

And of course there’s always plenty of talk of drinks on the rocks, boozy lunches and lazy dinners with friends.

Although I might not be posting as regularly as I used to way back, Sardines on Toast has most certainly not fallen off the bus or taken a backseat forever. It’s merely in the sidecar for now, happily cruising alongside other projects (such as the cookbook, duh-duh-dum!) and other Oep ve Koep bistro-related happenings.

For shorter, more regular updates keep an eye on facebook.com/sardinesontoast and facebook.com/oepvekoep or follow me on twitter @sardines0ntoast and pinterest.

Here’s to many more years of sardines and tumblr-ing.

Abdol se baai.

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:31:23 +0200

Abdol se baai.

Wind and fire Heavy breathing: it’s that time of year when...

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0200

Wind and fire

Heavy breathing: it’s that time of year when the South Easter is blowing a hot, dry summer our way.

In Bekbaai, clouds of sand blasts everything in its path.

Infesting the beach like angry snakes of smoky dust.

Wind and veld fire season. (Remember, Bokkie says: only you can prevent bush and veld fires.)

The most basic of fire-cooked food: rustic roosterkoek with an unbeatably smoky flavour.

Just add butter and moskonfyt.

Or…that sand-swept beach, this smouldering fire: flame-grilled nectarines, rooibos ice-cream, crumbled roosterkoek.

Black earth Mosselbank at dusk: black earth at the water’s...

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0200

Black earth

Mosselbank at dusk: black earth at the water’s edge.

Try to keep up with the shifting tides - you will be summoned at all hours of the day.

Granite and clumps of mussels gleam in the last light.

Radiant tidal pools are brimful with anemones, glistening laver and kelp.

In the distance waves seem to crash in slow motion, between spells of primordial silence.

Black earth on a plate: dark lager and seaweed steamed mussels edging a cauliflower veloute.

Surings (oxalis pes-caprae), duwweltjies (tribulus terrestris),...

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0300

Winter on the West Coast: overgrown paths where weeds and wild flowers flourish. Such as the sprightly reënblommetjie (dimorphotheca pluvialis):

Thankful for the rain, barren dunes, empty plots, even roadside ditches transform themselves into edible fields of wild winter abundance:

Surings (oxalis pes-caprae), duwweltjies (tribulus terrestris), veldkool (trachyandra cilliata), wild mustard (sinapsis) and young wild radish roots (raphanus raphanistrum). All you have to do is take a bite.

Leoš Janácek knows what I’m talking about.

Mosselbank at low tide Twelve hours, like clockwork. Day in, day...

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0300

Mosselbank at low tide

Twelve hours, like clockwork. Day in, day out.

When the freezing cold water of the Atlantic ocean pulls back from the clump of rocks at Mosselbank in Paternoster, it leaves behind a glistening trail of crystal clear pools: vibrant tidal gardens alive with klipkombers, laver, sea lettuce and periwinkles.

Crunching inland over mussel shells and dried kelp, miniature forests filled with succulent leaves and fragrant Strandveld herbs await.

Edible shoreline treasure = a mouthful of West Coast: Maasbanker bokkom with soutslaai, dune spinach and wild parsley; poached pear, ginger, celery and almond.

Blousomer The arrival of “season” has brought with...

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Blousomer

The arrival of “season” has brought with it a strange and much needed energy boost. Like it’s gently forcing me into overdrive - a coping mechanism for surviving the madness I guess?

It’s quite enlivening, and in the back of my mind it reinforces the fact that no matter how crazy it gets in the kitchen or how many dirty pans and plates heap up or how testing the no-manners holidaymakers can become, there’s no ignoring that a serene blue summer is patiently happening just outside our tiny restaurant.

Even though I wouldn’t mind spending the next few weeks lounging on my balcony in Kalk Bay, strolling down to the tidal pool for a dip, and eating ice-cream for breakfast, it’s still kinda cool that I’m spending my summer in a bustling dorpie with the movie-star good looks of a Mediterranean island.

So Paternoster is not exactly invaded by a crowd who resembles the beautifully eccentric characters you’d find in the blissful Mediterranean scenes sketched in Verano Azul, Le Grand Bleu or a Giuseppe Tornatore movie.

But luckily South African summer and all its wonderful sights and smells - cobalt blue water at dawn in Bekbaai; whiffs of suntan lotion around the braaivleis fire in the early evening - persists in bringing about a certain holiday feeling which is impossible to ignore. And each time I realise it, it instantaneously evokes memories of every summer holiday past:

Salty sea breezes, mirages in the road. BMX bicycle gangs. Homemade orange juice icicles and rooibos ice tea. Sleeping outside after tanning yourself to a crisp dark brown on the beach (an eighties phenomenon not to be repeated!), catching klipvissies at Jongensfontein and swimming in a Kalahari sun-baked pool in the middle of the night.

And more recently, palm tree silhouettes in Kalk Bay. Fish braais, prego rolls and Tipo Tinto in Mozambique. White wine-induced afternoon naps, vintage sunglasses and pool parties. Paternoster stoep kuiers. And lazy lunches that blur into al fresco dinner.

Silly season and its ridiculous demands aside, one thing is certain: to you, blue summer, I raise my glass.

A spicy sixtieth and the dawning of the silly season To end the...

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0200

A spicy sixtieth and the dawning of the silly season

To end the almost-month-long celebration of my mom’s sixtieth birthday last month, we hosted a dinner for a few friends and close family at home in Paternoster recently.

And what better way to celebrate sixty years than with a spicy six course dinner, with a mild but fragrant Cape Malay lamb curry as the star of the show?

As the sun started to set, we kicked off the celebrations with sparkling wine and fresh Saldanha Bay oysters cooked on the braai, with a crushed cherry tomato and tamarind dressing (fellow Paternoster chef Suzi Holtzhausen’s recipe as featured in the December issue of House and Leisure. Suzi very generously provided me with some secret ingredients for this delicious dish).

My formidable cook of an aunt treated us to her famous snoek thermidor as hot starter. This was followed by papaya, pickled onion, fennel and coriander salad - a dish which has now become an Oep ve Koep summer staple, and one of my favourite salads of the season so far. It’s a refreshing combination of fresh papaya and crunchy fennel bulb dressed with soy sauce and sesame oil, finished with a cooling fennel granita.

Although we kept the menu a secret, my mom did have one ingredient request - smoked Jonkershoek salmon trout. This I incorporated into an entree of soy-glazed asparagus, salmon trout ribbons and mascarpone cheese.

Main course was a traditional Cape Malay lamb curry which was served with boere naan bread (oven-grilled naan made with plaasbrood dough and lots of melted farm butter) and an array of hot and cold sambals: stewed dried apricot, raw onion and mint, pickled quince and coriander, peach chutney and cucumber raita.

For dessert I served a decadent landscape of flavour which I nicknamed “black pudding” because of all the dark colours - flourless dark chocolate cake in a pool of dark, sticky moskonfyt, with ginger biscuit soil, lavender sand and fresh blackberries.

The hot, windy season has arrived in Paternoster, and with it the first holidaymakers and the dawning of the silly season. This time I know what to expect - and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

But I’m armed and ready with a shiny new heavy duty potato ricer from Chef’s Warehouse in Cape Town, an arsenal of exciting new ingredients and a head full of ideas.

Pure. Happy. Magic. Sous-vide eggs, savoury ice-creams,...

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Pure. Happy. Magic.

Sous-vide eggs, savoury ice-creams, compressed fruit, fossilised vegetables (and pan-fried bokkoms)… Pondering this list, it probably won’t take you long to figure out that I spent the last two days in the high-tech kitchen of culinary magician, friend and mentor Richard Carstens, at the beautiful Tokara in Stellenbosch.

With season looming, and me still trying to shake that holiday feeling, I jumped at the invitation to join Richard in the kitchen for a couple of days. And I couldn’t dream of a better way to get into the groove than with a serious dose of mad science and abundant creativity.

As I swapped my casual Paternoster attire of shorts and sneakers for a chef’s jacket and trousers, I had flashbacks of my days as trainee chef in Richard’s kitchen at Le Provencal, on the erstwhile Agusta wine estate in Franschhoek. It’s pretty amazing how things - food preparation, plating, equipment - have changed since then. But it’s also nice to see that some things never change, such as the signature salmon ice-cream that Richard first made at Le Provencal 10 years ago, and which is still served at Tokara today.

So what happens when maasbanker bokkoms and a bag of freshly foraged dune spinach lands in his kitchen? You get a take on my staple “sardines / bokkoms on toast” which is quirky, beautiful and mind-blowingly delicious.

The humble bokkom elevated to a trio of culinary delight: with sofrito, tomato and corn; with apple, watermelon, coriander and spiced lemon emulsion, and my favourite: with apple and basil, yoghurt, dune spinach and a ginger-orange dressing to beautifully balance the intense saltiness of the bokkom.

Richard’s kitchen runs like a mild-mannered, well-oiled machine - it’s no surprise then that the vibrant plates of food that are created here contain pure happy magic.

My tiny kitchen in Paternoster is a far cry from the stainless steel heaven that Richard, Zané and the team call home at Tokara. Nonetheless I am on a high of ideas and determined to implement them - and ever grateful for the creativity and knowledge shared.

Of course, no visit to Tokara - not even an incredibly inspiring kitchen session - would be complete without a decadent meal in the sleek restaurant. But I’ll save the delicious details of this happy occurrence for a post of its own.

One year later It’s been a year, almost to the day, since...

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0200

One year later

It’s been a year, almost to the day, since my move to Paternoster.

Sometimes it feels like yesterday that I still commuted by train from Kalk Bay to Green Point, to be desk bound day in day out. And in some ways it feels like I’ve spent a short lifetime of joyous baking and laid-back cooking in Paternoster.

It would be a terrible cliché to describe my last year on the West Coast as “an incredible journey”, but that is exactly what it has been. One crazy cool, laid-back, routine-changing, taste-discovering, life-redefining, challenging, spaghetti-linguine-del-mare-eating, ocean-to-ocean travelling journey.

The challenges and changes have been numerous and wonderful. To think that one year ago, I had to try hard to convince people to sit down in our “tea garden” and sample dune spinach or bokkom linguine as opposed to scones and fried-from-frozen fish and chips. And now I am humbled and honoured that on a random Sunday, a table of six - Sardines on Toast readers at that :) - come and visit our full-fledged al fresco bistro, all the way from Cape Town for the day, simply to sample my food. How unbelievably cool is that?

But none of this would have been possible without the help of some incredible family, loyal friends, supportive co-workers - and avid blog-readers! Without trying to sound like I am writing an Oscar speech, I would like to thank some sidekicks to whom I am most indebted (most still here, some unfortunately lost along the way): Mom, Dad, Ouma, Roelie, Annelize, Freda, Lulu; Shermonay and Nancy, Elzanne, Michelle and Ilke, Rochelle and Porché; Richard for significant direction and influence… friends too many to mention - hopefully you know who you are - the Food24 team and blogger clan, the Eat Outers, the inventor of Spaghetti del Mare, and probably most importantly, Fred and Samuel.

To try and get my head around the last 365 days and to try and put things into perspective, I have estimated some Oep ve Koep statistics:

3696 - the amount of plaasbrood loaves I’ve baked
1860 - the number of ciabatta loaves I’ve baked
6240 - the whopping number of free-range eggs that were cooked in the Oep ve Koep kitchen. Busy, busy, happy chickens!
2673kg of Koperfontein flour was used in the making of our rustic breads
And 234 metres - the overall distance of fresh pasta sheets I’ve rolled with my trusty pasta machine

Here’s to years and years and years to come.

Thanks for everything,
Sardines on Toast

The bokkom controversy This is the beautiful Liza richardsonii,...

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0200

The bokkom controversy

This is the beautiful Liza richardsonii, the fish used to make bokkoms, depicted here on a faded and clearly outdated WWF poster listing sustainable fish options which I snapped on my visit to Victoriabaai a few weeks back.

Sadly this handsome little pisces recently became the subject of much debate (and despair in my case) because of the discovery that SASSI lists it as an unsustainable species. You might remember that I reported on it in my Spaghetti del Mare recipe not too long ago.

Well, I finally seem to have gotten to the bottom of this slippery issue. Unfortunately the outcome is not quite for the better for bokkom lovers, but hopefully it will be to the advantage of the southern mullet.

After a very nice chat and some (initially lost in cyberspace) email correspondence, this is SASSI’s response:

“Hi Kobus

Sorry for not getting back to you, for some reason your first email ended up in my Spam folder. I did try to post an answer on your blog but it just kept timing out, I’m not sure if this was because my post was too long but I tried about 5 times and then gave up and just posted it to Jamie’s blog here(http://aficionado.co.za/jamiewho/2010/11/10/gaaitjie-restaurant-review-and-some-debate-over-sassi/).

In terms of whether you should continue to use mullet, I would recommend that where possible use green-listed options like maasbanker or even sardines if possible. Once the mullet assessment has been finalised, we will be able to give you more specific advice on this species.

We are in the process of updating the SMS database and I will also put the same answer up on our Facebook profile. Sorry for the confusion, but please understand that mullet may still end up being Red-listed but our mistake was adding it to the SMS database before the assessment has been finalised, it is not a matter of the information being incorrect but more that we are waiting on our review panel to look over the assessment before it is finalised. There are hundreds of species on the market and we are trying to get round to assessing each of them thoroughly with the help of appropriate experts but this will take some time, please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

Kind regards,
John Duncan.”

The initial, more detailed response to my original email (posted on Jamie Who’s blog), is as follows:

“The most important thing to understand is that with the recent update of the SASSI list, the Red list no longer only contains ‘no-sale’ species which are illegal to sell but it also contains the least sustainable legal species (For more info on this process, have a look at the SASSI website here http://www.wwfsassi.co.za/?m=6&s=1&idkey=1163). Thus it is important to realize that while they are definitely not the most sustainable option, not all Red-listed species are actually illegal to sell.

In answer to the issues around the bokkoms in particular, we are currently busy completing the assessment for Southern mullet (Liza richardsoni) which is normally the species used to make bokkoms. The draft assessment has indicated that there are a number of environmental concerns around the ecological impacts of the beach seine and estuarine gill net fisheries in which this species is caught, including high levels of bycatch of vulnerable linefish species such as white steenbras (which is a Red-listed no-sale species) as well as juvenile mullet. There are also concerns around the current levels of illegal fishing in these fisheries. However, as I mentioned, the assessment is still in draft format and has not been finalized so it should not yet be listed with a colour on our FishMS system, it is a mistake that must have slipped through our net while we were updating the FishMS system and we are rectifying it to make sure that consumers are getting the right information with which to make their dining choices. Once the assessment is finalized, we will put it back up on the FishMS system with the relevant colour coding.

Lastly, in answer to the issue of how a species like our local hake can be certified as sustainable by the MSC while species from our small-scale local fisheries are Red-listed. It is important to understand that in order to gain MSC certification a fishery has to meet very specific criteria in terms of sustainability and the fishery is regularly audited against these criteria to ensure that it is meeting them. Thus the MSC logo is really the most reliable way for consumers to know that they are making a sustainable choice. MSC certification is open to any fishery that would like to apply, although it does have costs associated with it, which can make it difficult for smaller operators to get certified even if their practices are actually sustainable. However, it is not always true that small-scale fisheries are more sustainable than large-scale industrial fisheries and it is important to look at each species on a case-by-case basis. Due to the ease of access to the resources, many small-scale fisheries suffer from high levels of illegal fishing, in South Africa this is one of the reasons for the collapse of inshore resources such as abalone and many linefish species.

Sorry for the long post, I hope this clears up your questions and once again I apologise for the mistake. For now, the best thing I can suggest is that as a consumer, you need to be communicating to your seafood supplier, whether they are a small-scale fisherman or restaurant or the local retailer, that sustainability is important and it’s up to all of us to ensure that we are only dealing in sustainable seafood products…”

PS. Join SASSI on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SASSI/269064825146

Tokara Magic, on plates. This would be a more apt description of...

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Tokara

Magic, on plates. This would be a more apt description of the fare that Richard Carstens presents at his latest dining destination, the beautiful Tokara. Mere food - even cuisine, or gastronomy - this simply is not.

With both my parents celebrating their birthdays in November, our family recently had the fortune of experiencing a beautifully light and inspiring celebratory lunch here. A feast for the eyes, alchemy in your mouth.

I have always loved Tokara’s setting - it feels wrong that you can be perched on a hillside vineyard in the heart of the Stellenbosch winelands, and see all the way to the ocean and mountains of Cape Town’s Southern Peninsula. The arrival of Richard Carstens in the kitchen now makes it an even more sought after spot.

Our family gathered around a large round table in the middle of the restaurant. From here, the breathtaking “views” that arrive on rimless white plates are equally spectacular. I also had a view of the amazing, high-tech kitchen - from the outside it’s a quiet hive of organised activity.

The wizardry began with an interesting and fun amuse bouche of sweetcorn soup with chorizo and popcorn. This was followed by a special treat - from the evening degustation menu - of fossilised parsnip with porcini and truffle soil, honeycomb, rocket and honey. A mindboggling combination of sweet, savoury and earthy aromas in different textures.

Starters around the table included West Coast mussels mariniere, a dainty mushroom salad, chicken liver with beetroot, and bouillabaisse.

My vegetarian main course of roasted aubergine with spelt, fried tofu (I have found tofu which I actually like!), miso, mange tout and asparagus was magnificent. The aubergine and miso combination is an intense, meaty one, beautifully set off against vibrant greens and al dente spelt.

But without a doubt, the colourful desserts were the stars of the afternoon - what incredible, happy magic! Favourites included the textures of chocolate - nine different versions of theobromanic divinity: frozen, aerated, as a dense mousse, inside a creamy dark truffle, as snappy cocoa-dusted twigs.

And raspberry sorbet with white chocolate, raspberry leather and basil seeds - a pristine work of edible abstract expressionism. But Willy Wonka eat your sugar-saturated heart out: although each mouthful from Richard’s laboratory also spontaneously brings about childlike, joyous laughter, it does so with subtlety, subdued sweetness and in sublime layers of flavour.

Be warned - you will leave Tokara euphorically happy and enchanted, possibly in love. To avoid post-euphoric depression, plan your next move very, very carefully.

Smits Winkel My cousins on my mother’s side of the family...

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Smits Winkel

My cousins on my mother’s side of the family recently opened a country store not unlike Oep ve Koep on the R62 close to Calitzdorp, so I couldn’t wait to pay them a visit while in the area.

They’ve set up shop in a beautiful old farm building situated in typical Klein Karoo surrounds - you know, the kind where ostriches roam freely and spekboom-covered mountains stand guard in the distance.

Their shelves are laden with local finds, from jams and preserves and biltong, to fortified wines and olive oil, while home bakes such as quiche and lamingtons or kleinkoekies are stacked on the tables throughout the shop.

They have already become quite famous for their Sunday lunch in these parts - proper boerekos I’m told. But I was there on a weekday, so I tried a delicious homemade kudu pie with salad, and freshly made lemonade.

You can imagine that thier plaasdam herb garden made me feel right at home.

I also stopped in picturesque Calitzdorp to taste some wine at Boplaas, and stocked up on some of their award-winning port, deliciously crisp sparkling wine and a decadent chocolate port.

A bit of Dutch courage before attempting the Swartberg pass I guess.

An incredible afternoon. Fynboshoek. A perfect meal, and...

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0200

An incredible afternoon.

Fynboshoek. A perfect meal, and conversations about: Christopher Alexander, the ambiguities of traditional South African recipes, dune spinach, and indigenous wild asparagus.

A roaring fire, the friendliest Rhodesian Ridgebacks, piles of incredible books and freshly baked rosemary bread with butter.

An intimate table next to the piano - a Fritz Kuhla, almost identical to the one I grew up with. Mozart sonatas and Satie gymnopedies being played in the background.

A melted goats cheese and thyme toasty to rival that of Heidi’s.

A beautiful salad of home-grown leaves with crispy baked shards of cheese.

The most heavenly cheese platter, all homemade on the farm - hard and soft goats cheeses, cream cheese, mature cheddar-style cheese, Valencay with a thin-layer of ash.

A salad and herb garden to die for.

Pastoral surrounds. Heaven on earth.

Plettenberg Bay My October culinary adventures were continued in...

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Plettenberg Bay

My October culinary adventures were continued in the picturesque seaside town of Plettenberg Bay. I really never expected there to be so many deliciously awesome eateries in this area - but as I soon found out Plett and surrounds offer a venerable banquet of tasty discoveries.

A beautifully simple al fresco lunch at Enrico’s in Keurbooms was the perfect introduction to Plett, after the indulgences of Knysna.

For starters I had smoked springbok carpaccio with avocado and lemon, served with a paper-thin, crispy pizza “balloon” - an incredibly light and satisfying starter, with classically clean Italian flavours.

You can imagine my excitement when I spotted linguine del mare on the menu - I simply HAD to order it, for research purposes. Although not as smoky as my favourite version at Olympia Cafe, Enrico’s take on the classic was satisfying. However, I was very disappointed to see that they use imported New Zealand mussels.

In between drinks at Sand at The Plettenberg, cocktails at Fu.Shi, (horrible) coffee at the Beacon Isle hotel, more drinks at Moby Dick’s right on the beach, and sundowners at The Lookout Deck, I managed to sneak in several lunch and dinner appointments at the many eateries in town.

A highlight included dinner at the magical Emily’s at Emily Moon guesthouse, situated on a hilltop on the outskirts of Plett, overlooking the Bitou river.

The striking location and cool bohemian interior aside, I was even more impressed by their small, daily-changing menu consisting of a handful of down-to-earth staples - steak and chips, Thai-flavoured salads and spring rolls, sticky ribs, sustainable local fish prepared with Asian twists. I much prefer such a small menu with a few well-prepared dishes, to a thick manual of a menu which is only written to impress but which the kitchen fails to deliver on.

On an afternoon drive through The Crags, I discovered Bramon winery where I tasted some delicious Sauvignon Blanc and a brilliant Methode Cap Classique sparkling wine. Rumour has it that they will soon be joined by one of the talented MCC producers of the famous Villiera estate in Stellenbosch.

They offer a delicious tapas-style lunch at their informal restaurant situated right in the vineyards. Here you can assemble your own culinary adventure from a list of cheeses, pickles, olives, cured meats, pates and freshly baked bread. Definitely my kind of lunch.

I also had the privilege of visiting Fynboshoek in the Tsitsikamma region - a religious experience which deserves a blog post of its own. Watch this space.

Knysna So I’m not going to talk about the weather, as...

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Knysna

So I’m not going to talk about the weather, as this is no longer a summer beach holiday. I have decided to stop waiting for the sun to come out, I’ve put away my shorts, found a brolly under the seat of the car… and swapped suntanning and swimming for eating and drinking - and lots of it.

First stop in Knysna was breakfast at the famous Ile de Pain - a huge “to-do” on my list as on my two previous visits to Thesen Island they were closed.

I had the most deliciously light but hearty breakfast of steamed green vegetables with poached egg and a shitake pesto. It’s a rich combination for breakfast, but it certainly hit all the right notes, and inspired me to continue creating more adventurous breakfast options at Oep ve Koep.

For lunch I headed out to The Red Barn in Rheenendal - one of the highlights of my previous Knysna visit - and was taken

completely by surprise by the presence of a brand new chef, Salim Mia, with a larger than life personality. He’s all the way from Kalk Bay (coincidence?!), and was previously employed by Madame Zingara.

He’s a jovial entertainer and a rustic, magical cook to boot.

I had Mozambican spiced liver wraps for starters, followed by a very comforting and somewhat strange mushroom risotto (apparently containing some mild psychedelic ones - Salim promised some really lucid dreams that night) topped with strawberries, lots of parmesan and soft butternut.

I also tried Asian-style chicken fillets with, soy, sesame, pineapple and a trio of salads (I told you I’m eating a lot…)

A messy, slightly confused meal, with never the same bite twice. And it’s good to know that all their ingredients are still organic and free roaming, and sourced from neighbouring farms only.

I would have loved to go back for their pizza - which really wowed me last time - but unfortunately it is now only served at

night.

Dinner was had at the charming Firefly Eatery in town. It’s a magical place at night, with a roaring fire in the dining room

and candles burning everywhere - soft, romantic lighting, hence my lack of picture evidence.

Spices are taken very seriously here, with menu explanations ellaborating on the history, country of origin and uses for the

spices contained in their dishes.

Lots of little treats are brought to the table, starting with a shot of mulled wine and some spice-and-salt-baked crisp bread.

Then a treat from the bar - a ‘shot’ of Darling Sauvignon Blanc, which they are thinking of including on the wine list. How generous is that?

For starters I ordered cheese and corn spring rolls served with a homemade clove mustard - a delicious combination.

This was followed by a rich, saucy pork curry with cardamom, ginger and star anise, served with steamed rice as well as an

apple chutney and a quince chutney.

I could not face dessert - especially not with the knowledge that even more deliciousness awaited me in the Plettenberg Bay area.

I returned to my base in Buffelsbaai happy and full , and I slept like a rock (babies don’t sleep well in my opinion). Salim’s predicted lucidum intervallum? Completely escaped me - which could be a good or a bad thing.

So that’s Knysna in quite a mouthful. Plett to follow soon.

Victoriabraai So much for expecting a tropical beach holiday...

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Victoriabraai

So much for expecting a tropical beach holiday touring the Garden Route this October - it has turned out to be everything but summery.

Luckily I packed for four seasons, so I haven’t been caught completely off guard by the cold, windy, mostly overcast weather. But because of the cold, I have been indulging in padkos and eggy breakfasts and braaid meals just a bit more than usual, so I’ll probably return to Paternoster flabby and white, instead of fit and sunkissed.

Oh well, you win some… En route to George I stopped in Grabouw to pick up some of their famous boerewors, and while there discovered Alan’s authentic general trading store in the main street. What an amazing old shop - I bought a stack of enamel baisins and 5kg of maize meal.

Trying to stick to the road slightly less travelled, I headed for Bredasdorp, followed by Kassie’s Baai in Arniston, where I was met by scenery not unlike that of Paternoster…

At Malgas I took the ferry accross the Breede River, and slowly made my way back to the N2.

Arriving at the breathtaking onceanside campsite in Victoria Bay was one of the highlights so far. Of course I expected the Garden Route to be beautiful, but this place is magical.

Once I caught my breath, I set up camp, made a fire, opened a bottle of Lanzerac Cabernet Sauvignon and soaked up the view. The Grabouw boerewors found it’s way into a boerie with Dijon mustard, All Gold tomato sauce, and my favourite braai side show - tomato and onion salad with lemon-infused olive oil, fleur de sel, garlic and lemon juice.

I also spotted a WWF poster which still lists harder (liza richardsonii) as status GREEN.

It’s off to Knysna and Plett next, and then inland to discover the delights of Uniondale, Oudtshoorn and Prince Albert.

Gutted! (Previously, Spaghetti del Mare) Last night I casually...

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Gutted! (Previously, Spaghetti del Mare)

Last night I casually SMS “bokkom” to the SASSI FishMS service to proudly show someone that our beloved West Coast dried mullet is as green an option as you can get. I’ve used this party trick plenty of times before. But what an awful surprise when Shock! Horror! the SMS returned displayed: Bokkom: Dried, salted mullet. STATUS: RED.

I was, and I still am mortified. I don’t even order status orange fish in a restaurant, let alone cook with it. And here, all of a sudden, one of my favourite and most used local ingredients is RED!

I feel cheated. And the whole thing really scares me. I thought I had the locally sourced, sustainable produce thing completely down. And it turns out I know fokol.

How can a small operators such as the Bokkom Lane fisheries be more of a threat to our oceanic resources than multinational, commercial big guns like Sea Harvest and I&J (who, by the way, all of a sudden all carry a Certified Sustainable Seafood stamp from the Marine Stewardship Council)?

The issue apparently steps in with the fishing methods of gillnets and treknets which is used to harvest harders, and the fact that Bokkom Lane is situated on the sensitive Berg River estuary. It is illegal to fish in an estuary, and if indeed the Bokkom Lane fisheries are guilty of this practice, I will be sure to boycott them.

Secondly, if indeed harders are a species under threat, I am determined to stop using industry bokkoms, and will much rather make my own bokkoms from sustainable fish, according to Leipoldt’s recipe.

However, I find it a little hard to believe that trekking harders are less acceptable than deep sea fishing where considerable damage is done to the ocean floor with their huge vacuum systems. Not to mention the bycatch that get discarded in the process, or their negative impact on marine bird life.

But I kind of smell something fishy somewhere. And I am determined to investigate. Or to stop eating fish altogether. Kind of makes we wonder what other ingredients I should stop eating, or cooking with.

Until I have figured it out, I very reluctantly share the recipe for my version of Spaghetti del Mare as served at Oep ve Koep, with bokkoms (possibly for the last time).

Olive oil
Olives
Capers
Bokkom fillets, torn into strips
Rosemary
White wine steamed mussels in the shell
Sustainable fresh fish, cut into large cubes
2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes
Tomato puree
Garlic, crushed
Glass of dry white wine
Smoked paprika
Sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Al dente spaghetti or linguine, and freshly grated parmesan to serve.

Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan. Briefly fry the bokkoms, olives, capers and sprigs of rosemary until fragrant. Add the white wine in one go and allow to bubble up, then turn down the heat slightly. Now add the tomato paste and canned tomatoes, crushed garlic, paprika and some seasoning. Cook over medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken slightly. Now add the chunks of fish, and allow to boil in the sauce until just cooked. Lastly add the steamed mussels, and cook until heated through. Taste for seasoning, spoon over freshly cooked pasta and serve.

*Before you decide to include a version of Spaghetti del Mare on your menu, I suggest logging on to www.wwfsassi.co.za to download the list of status green, sustainable fish. And to religiously use the FishMS service when you dine.

To lighten the mood somewhat, you can also watch Isabella Rosselini’s informative and incredibly cool Green Porno short films at http://www.sundancechannel.com/greenporno/

Her beautiful book and DVD of the same title is one of the main reasons that I have stopped cooking or eating shrimp and prawns whatsoever.

Waterblommetjie quiche and seasonal separation...

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Waterblommetjie quiche and seasonal separation anxiety

Ingredients-wise there’s so much to look forward to with the arrival of spring and summer. Artichokes, strawberries, gooseberries. Soon we’ll have tomatoes that actually smell of tomato. And in due time some luscious grapes and huge watermelons.

Still, I can’t help feeling a little bit of separation anxiety thinking about all the ingredients we’re leaving behind. Avocado, naartjies, oranges. Quince and guava. And two of the very regional ingredients I’m going to miss most - veldkool and waterblommetjies.

The late-season blommetjies are not as tender and dainty as the ones from a few weeks back, when I could briefly pan-fry them in a dash of soy sauce, and then toss it into a salad. But whenever I still see waterblommetjies available in the shop, I buy them immediately.

The somewhat butch blossoms that are around now require a little more cooking – still perfect for the traditional bredie, of course. But I like to treat them almost like asparagus, steamed with lemon and black pepper, and dipped it into a buttery hollandaise.

They’re also delicious with egg – soft-boiled, scrambled or folded into an omelette, as long as they’re precooked of course. And my latest favourite – as a delicious filling for that sometimes very mundane but actually way undervalued dish: the humble quiche.

What you need:
500g punnet of Waterblommetjies (if using butch waterblommetjies, like I did, be sure to split them lengthwise so that they cook more evenly)
Olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
Black pepper
1 onion, chopped
100g butter
60ml flour
300ml milk
Salt
White pepper
Nutmeg
2 lightly beaten eggs

Pâte brisée or your preferred recipe for short-crust pastry

What to do:
Start by making the pastry. Allow it to rest in the fridge while you make the filling.

Heat a large pool of olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan. Chuck in the waterblommetjies, squeeze some lemon juice over it, and add a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Put the lid on and allow to steam for a couple of minutes. After approximately 3 – 5 minutes, lift the lid, give the pan a good shake and check the blommetjies for tenderness – they must be just-cooked, not mushy. If more cooking time is needed, add a few drops of water and put the lid back on.

Meanwhile in a separate saucepan, fry the onion in all of the butter. Once softened, add the flour and stir through. Now start adding the milk bit by bit, as you would when making béchamel sauce. Once all the milk is incorporated, continue stirring the sauce over medium heat until it thickens. Add a pinch of salt, white pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. Taste for seasoning, and set aside.

Grease and flour a metal pie dish, and line it with the short-crust pastry. Prick with a fork and bake blind in a pre-heated oven at 180°C – about 10 minutes should do it.

Combine half of the cooked waterblommetjies with the béchamel sauce. Add the beaten eggs and mix through. Scatter the remainder of the waterblommetjies in thepre-baked pastry shell, and then pour the béchamel mixture over it. Place in the oven and bake for a further 20-3o minutes, until nicely browned on top.

Best enjoyed with a glass of nicely chilled Viognier.