Archive for April, 2010
Two South African restaurants on World’s best list
Two South African restaurants are again on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list.
S. Pellegrino released their highly anticipated yearly list of the World’s Best Restaurants and El Bulli, after four years at the top has been knocked off its perch by Denmark’s Nomu.
The big news for South Africa however it that Constantia Uitsig’s La Colombe has moved up 26 places since last year to take a very impressive number 12 spot. Another regular South African restaurant on the list, Le Quartier Français, moved up 6 positions to number 31.
A huge achievement for both these restaurants in a very important year for South Africa.
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy compiles this list of restaurants. The panel includes 806 people including top chefs, gourmands, restaurateurs and food critics.
Iconic South African wine brand Kumkani, congratulates these restaurants for their achievement and for setting the standard.
South African English Slang for Tourists
With less than 50 days to go to the Kick of the World Cup, visitors can get familiarized with some of the South African English slang words.
South African English is both rich and peculiar. Here, cars stop at robots, not traffic lights. A pickup truck is a bakkie, sneakers are takkies, a hangover is a babbelas, and people greet each other with a heita or howzit.
Eish! expresses surprise, frustration or outrage, and a juicy piece of gossip is likely to be greeted with a drawn-out see-ree-ous!. An particularly handy word is sharp (often doubled up for effect as sharp-sharp!), used as a greeting, a farewell, for agreement or just to express enthusiasm.
Voetsek! means go away right now – or else – and a bliksem is what will happen to you if you don’t voetsek.
The nicest South African slang word is lekker which means nice, but it is nicer than nice because it is South African.
So when you visit South Africa you must drink a lekker true South African Kumkani wine. This wine embodies all the aspects that make our country so unique.
Cape Winemakers Guild awards bursaries for two Elsenburg students
The Cape Winemakers Guild has awarded study bursaries to two oenology and viticulture students at Elsenburg College as part of its ongoing Protégé program to further the development of young aspiring winemakers. The bursaries provide the students with financial support during their final year of study, after which they may become eligible for the Guild’s three year internship program.
This year’s recipients of the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Bursaries are Chandré Petersen, who hails from Paarl and Sifiso Mbhele from Bergville in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Chandré fell in love with wine’s “mystical qualities” at an early age, especially reds, thanks to her father and hopes to specialise in Pinotage, Merlot and Chenin Blanc one day. “I grew up in a famous winemaking area, Paarl, and hardly heard of a woman winemaker. It became a huge challenge to me and I am now determined to succeed in the wine industry,” says Chandré.
Sifiso has his sights set on becoming a cellarmaster one day. “In South Africa, winemaking is a scarce skill that offers a lot of opportunities. I want to enlighten the people from where I come from about winemaking and wine itself and as a future winemaker, encourage the youth to make winemaking their career.”
Once they have graduated, both aspiring winemakers will be interviewed for the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme, which offers students a three year internship during which time they will have the opportunity to learn from, and work alongside some of the country’s best winemakers who are members of the Guild.
This is the second year in which the Guild has offered these bursaries. Last year’s bursary holders, Sacha Claassen and Tamsyn Jefta, were both welcomed on board the Guild’s Protégé Programme in 2010 and have begun their internships at Villiera and The Company of Wine People respectively.
The Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme was launched in 2006 under the auspices of the Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Trust with the goal of bringing about transformation in the wine industry by cultivating, nurturing and empowering promising individuals to become winemakers of excellence.
Kumkani Brand News
We think it is a great initiative by the Cape Winemaker Guild and we are delighted to have Tamsyn Jefta (photo) on our winemaking team.
Bringing Wine to a Dinner Party
Bringing a bottle of wine to a dinner party as a gift to the host is a common occurrence. Make it a memorable one by bringing a bottle that reflects the taste of the host, as well as the style of the party. Make it a bottle that the guests will enjoy, and you’ve got a winner.
Before going to the store and staring blankly at the rows of wine before you, which is not recommended, try to get an idea of the menu that will be offered at the party beforehand. If a full menu cannot be disclosed, an assumption based on time of the party, mood, number of people, and occasion may assist you in at least selecting a type of wine before hitting the store.
There are two simple rules to remember when pairing wine with food. Keep light bodied wines paired with lighter foods, such as small appetizers. This way, neither the wine nor the crudités will overpower the other. Reserve the red, more fuller bodied wines for heavier dishes, such as Filet Mignon. So if the dinner party you are attending is going to be a party of various appetizers or small dishes, a white wine, perhaps a sweeter wine like a Riesling, is a sure bet.
Should you be unable to procure a menu from the host, there are other viable alternatives to selecting an appropriate wine. Price is mitigating factor in these considerations. How well you know the host, how much you have to spend, and the type of wine you desire to purchase will all play a role here.
More tips on professorshouse.com
Kumkani Brand News
The Kumkani Cabernet Merlot 2007 is a great and versatile wine to bring to a dinner where you know red meat will be served.
SA Wine Industry introduces world’s first sustainability seal
The South African wine industry has launched the world’s first sustainability seal as a guarantee of eco-friendly production.
Issued by the Wine and Spirit Board, the seal, intended for bottled wines only, is backed by a sophisticated tracking system in which bottle contents can be traced back to source at every stage of the supply chain to confirm the integrity of their production.
Every seal carries a unique number, through which the wine’s provenance can be tracked from vine to bottle.
Effective from 2010, the voluntary system is available to those wineries to have passed the accreditation of the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) set of sustainable principles, at farm, winery and bottling levels. IPW covers a range of issues such as integrated pest management, the health of workers, the conservation of biodiversity and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The seal is the result of collaboration between the Wine & Spirits Board, IPW, as well as the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI) and Wines of South Africa (WOSA) with the generic marketing body responsible for the worldwide launch of the concept as part of its Brand South Africa campaign.
WOSA CEO, Su Birch, speaking on behalf of the initiative, says it is expected to give another boost to the country’s already widely recognised international lead in the production integrity of wine. “Although other countries are introducing similar initiatives on a limited scale, at this stage South Africa is the only country to have the means to implement and certify the concept across the entire wine industry.
Kumkani Brand News
Kumkani support these transparent and sustainable wine production efforts of WOSA.
How to spot a good wine list
You don’t need to be an ultra oenophile or a sommelier to determine if a wine list is good or not. Whether you’re a frugal diner who enjoys an occasional drink or someone who goes all out for the table, it’s smart to look at your wine options to maximise a dining experience.
Next time you dine out at a nice restaurant, the following pointers should help you decipher the intimidating list.
A good wine list should have a diverse range of selections. If the wine director did his or her job, he or she will have prepared the list with loving care. As a person who loves wine, they’ll want you to taste different regions, styles and vintages at varying price points. A lower-tier bottle of wine should be as satisfying as the more expensive.
Ideally, there should be exotic varietals nestled between the more popular ones. If you spot a lot of brands that are sold at your local supermarket, it’s safe to assume the list is not top notch. You’re eating at a nice place – your food should be paired with an elegant wine, not with a generic mass market label. The whole point of eating out is to challenge and try new things.
Another great sign of a comprehensive wine list is the appearance of wine notes on each special region or grape. You’re there to eat, so you don’t have time to read a thick tome. Nevertheless, a few lines of description on what makes that certain type of wine special will help a long way in the decision-making process.
Finally, the wines should pair well with the food on the menu in terms of taste and price. A nice list will offer both red and white choices for each menu item. These choices should also have different note profiles for folks who like try different flavors. If you want something in particular, a well-trained sommelier will steer you to the best wine possible to enhance your meal.
Source: digitalcity.com
Savouring sweet and spicy Bo-Kaap
Cape Town is set to draw thousands of tourists in the upcoming FIFA World Cup. Visitors to Cape Town will be able to explore the beauty of the mountains, the winelands and will also be able to see and experience the cultural melting pot that is Cape Town.
One of the place that will attract tourists is the colourful Cape Malay Quarter, namely the Bo-Kaap.
Bo-Kaap, aka Schotsche Kloof (Scottish ravine), belongs to one of the most interesting parts of Cape Town. With its picturesque houses lined along steep and winding roads, you’ll find it on the itinerary of most visitors to the city. But the Cape is vast and beautiful – so what exactly makes Bo-Kaap so special – could it be the rich heritage or the tantalising food? Why don’t you explore and decide?
Taking a step back…
Bo-Kaap is the oldest Malay settlement in South Africa. It is nestled below Signal Hill where you’ll find the historically significant Noon Gun. Most Capetonians are accustomed to its loud bang at midday but the tradition began in the late 1800s to signal to farmers that ships had docked and were ready to trade. The hill is also the resting place of Tuang Guru, originally a prince from the Ternate Islands and believed to be the founder of the Cape’s Islamic community. A hallmark of the Cape Malay people is the warm hospitality they extend to all their visitors, which brings us to the exciting part – the food.
The Bo-Kaap neighbourhood is not your average food destination and its Southeast-Asian ties mean the menu is anything but bland. The Cape Malay’s fusion of Asian, European and Mediterranean flavours are available at many high-end as well as local authentic restaurants around Cape Town.
The Cape Malayan dishes like Bobotie and Biryani pairs well with spicy wines like the Kumkani Shiraz Cabernet . This wine has interesting summer berry aromas with spicy and toasty flavours.
Read More: gotravel24
Traditional South African festive trifle
South Africans celebrate Easter in different ways and some are following American traditions in serving smoked ham while others prefer a family braai (BBQ). But for dessert a trifle will be served in many South African homes as this is seen as a festive family time dessert.
Here is a traditional South African festive trifle recipe.
Servings: 6-8 portions
Ingredients
1 pt green jelly
1 pt red jelly
1 tin pears or peaches
1 swissroll (bought or home made) Jam or Chocolate
sherry or rum to taste
2 cups thick custard
1 cup pecan nuts – crushed
125ml cream
glazed red cherries – chopped (to garnish)
Instructions
Dissolve jelly according to package, separately. Leave overnight to set. Drain pears or peaches – keep syrup. Cut in pieces. Cut swissroll and line a round glass dish with 1/2 of cake. Sprinkle over some fruit syrup as well as some sherry or rum. Cut jelly in small blocks and spoon over some green jelly. Spoon over a layer of custard and some fruit and nuts. Spoon over some of the red jelly. Repeat layers with cake, green jelly, custard, fruit, nuts and red jelly till all finished. Beat cream till thick and garnish trifle with cream and red cherries.
Suggested wine
The iconic and uniquely South African wine , Kumkani will complete your traditional South African Easter meal.I suggest the Kumkani Merlot / Pinotage or the infamous Kumkani Infiniti MCC sparkling wine.
Read more on www.epicurious.com
