Newsletter of the Cape Town Convivium

Number 74, October 2009

Year-end party and fundraising raffle, Sunday November 29, 12h30 at the home of

Stephen and Pat Flesch, 11 Peninsula Road, Zeekoevlei

Our year-end party this year will be a GENUINE WOOD FIRED LAMB SPIT BRAAI by Leon Patterson, with wonderful accompanying salads and desserts, prepared by Slow Food members. You should bring rugs to sit on the lawn or if you prefer, tables and chairs. You will also need plates, cutlery and glasses and if it is sunny, an umbrella. Also if there is a South Easter blowing it may be chilly and you should bring a jersey or jacket.

Soil for Life This year your Committee has decided to donate funds to Soil for Life, an NGO helping people and communities to become self-sufficient by growing their own vegetables. Please go the website http://soilforlife.co.za to get an idea of the activities.

As usual there will be a raffle with many great prizes to be won. Members who have items which they are prepared to donate to be raffled are asked to contact Lorna to let her know what they will be donating and whether they will be bringing the items with them or require them to be collected.

Raffle tickets will be sold at R40 each or R100 for three. Even if you are unable to come to the picnic you could still buy tickets or simply make a donation.

The cost of the lunch, including wine, will be R120 each to members and R130 to guests.

To book your places, please deposit payment into the Cape Town Slow Food account at FNB, Grassy Park, code 203109, account number 62023929378. Please do not deposit cash. When making payment please put your name as a reference on the deposit slip or EFT payment. Payment will confirm your booking.

Please let us know if you are coming and how many guests you will be bringing by Monday, November 25th.

If you are not coming but would like to buy raffle tickets or make a donation (R40 each or R100 for three) please deposit payment  into Cape Town Slow Food at FNB, Grassy Park, code 203109, account number 62023929378. When doing this please put your name as a reference on the deposit slip.

Directions to no 11 Peninsula Road:

Head south on the M5, which becomes Prince George Drive alongside Royal Cape Golf Club. After crossing the railway bridge, turn left into Victoria Road at the third traffic light where there is a big sign for Grassy Park. Continue straight down Victoria Road through Grassy Park and at the end turn right into Peninsula Road. Continue along Peninsula Road past the ZV Environmental Centre to no 11, a double story house on the left. From Plumstead followVictoria Road or from Constantia, Kendal Road to Prince George Drive.

2010 Date for your Diary:

February 20th:– A Visit to Tierhoek, a certified organic farm in the Robertson area, producing fruit, olives and vegetables.

The Real Cheese Shop supplies the best of SA Artisanal cheese, raw milk and pasteurized, made with loving care from small and medium size farms around the country. Most of the farms operate with organic principals and some are listed, nothing artificial here !!

Marian & Claudette have extensive knowledge of the cheese and will assist in creating anything from a wedding cake, fondue or cheese board.

Goat, sheep and cow cheeses, & imported buffalo mozzarella are the bases of our range, we stock yoghurt from sheep’s & goat milk, butter from goat & cow.  Our cured meats come from Cremalat a renown Italian outlet, parma ham to pancetta.

Come and taste before you decide, talk though the ideas, and then find the perfect accompaniment, Suurtjies, Maketaan, Aubergine, the list is long, or select olives from Kloovenburg. We also stock some biscuits and biscotti.

Come where the chefs shop and indulge…….

LOWER MAIN RD, OBSERVATORY

CONTACT: VALERIE ELDER
CELL: 082 321 3846

This restaurant and cheese outlet stocks many of the prize-winning local artisanal cheeses, as well as a selection of imported cheeses.

Cnr Main Road and Dean Street, Newlands.

Tel. 021 685 3631; email: bonfromage@vodamail.co.za

Sour figs:

For the unprocessed fruit:

Atlas Trading Co.

94 Wale Street, Cape Town 8000

Tel. 021 423 4361

Yellow SubmarineDistributers:

59 Bamboesvlei Road,Ottery, Cape Town

Tel.: 021 7032364 / Fax: 021 7034832

Oded’s Kitchen offers a delicious and unique range of preserves, available for both resale (260ml bottles) and wholesale (1, 2.5 & 5 litre bottles) purposes. Batches are hand produced and limited in number to ensure our exacting standards are maintained.

• Carrot & Almond Chutney - (based on an old Middle Eastern recipe for carrot jam called ‘angels hair’ this recipe is updated for the new millennium, incredibly versatile; great with cheese, cold and hot meats)
• Harrief – (a smoky roasted red pepper and chilli sauce. A pasta sauce as is; mix with yoghurt to make a marinade for chicken/meat or mix with mayonnaise to make the perfect “peri-naise” dip)
• Caramelised Onion Marmalade – (a sublime combination of flavours. Adds instant flavour to a stir fry during cooking or add a tablespoon to your pan after cooking and make a delicious gravy.)
• Onion Konfyt – (sweet, delicious and great with pretty much anything!  An original alternative to the traditional fig konfyt.)
• Quince Jelly* – (a seasonal product – it looks amazing, almost too good to eat; great with pork and game meats or smother a piece of brie and enjoy.)
• Quince Chutney* – (also seasonal – a fresh and young flavour; works great as a garnish. Just like “ouma” used to make…only better!)
• Membrillo* – (a fruit cheese/jelly – one of the crowning glories of the Spanish kitchen, excellent on your cheese platter together with some hard, strong cheeses)
• Moroccan Lemons* – (the cornerstone of any Moroccan dish or instant flavour to any dish)

VINEGAR TASTING AND FARM VISIT

PROTEA HILL FARM, STELLENBOSCH

On Saturday, 17^th October, we will be visiting Slow Food Cape Town members Erica and Martin Gruenert on their farm, to taste and learn about their award-winning range of fruit, herb and flower-infused vinegars.

Erica and Martin will explain the processes behind their range of vinegars, and offer a tasting of their range. Vinegars will be available for purchase, at farm prices (please bring cash).

After the talk, we will take a stroll through the farm, so please wear appropriate shoes and sun protection.

The visit should not last more than two hours, and members are welcome to visit the many restaurants in the area for lunch afterwards.

Erica and Martin are generously hosting this event free of charge for members and their guests, but as space is limited, please book your place by emailing Lorna van Besouw as soon as possible at Email: vbesouw@iafrica.com

DIRECTIONS: Protea Hill Farm is close to No 13 on the map (see attachment), in the Knorhoek valley but on top of a hill, neighbors to Delheim, Muratie, Quoin Rock and Knorhoek Wine Estates.

Turn off from the R44 into Knorhoek Road, go 1km straight, before the entrance of Quoin Rock Wine Estate leads a steep Private Road (signposted “private road”) to the right up the hill.

Follow the road all the way up for 1km (do not enter Hoog Eind, or Wild Peacook, neighbors), turn left at the very top, white house green roof.

The palate is a somewhat fickle medium as there are so many aspects to take into consideration – one of the main ones is that food or drink will taste very different at the start of the day from how it will taste at the end. This is because everything you consume influences and affects your taste buds. Take care when you eat garlic first thing in the morning – it may be there for the rest of the day!

In designing a cheese selection, for example, items chosen would be much lighter at lunch than at dinner when other factors such as wine matching and possibly heavier foods are to be balanced.

To taste, bring your other senses into play. Sight and smell start the process and could influence your overall impression quite decidedly even before tasting. The tongue has sensitive areas for certain tastes: sweet and salty at the front, bitter at the back and sour or sharp along the sides. Put a morsel in your mouth and allow the flavour to express itself before swallowing. The taste that will come from the follow-through after swallowing may be different to the mouth feel. Balance those flavours to achieve the overall taste. In some instances the nose will give a stronger ‘taste’ than the actual mouth response.

To keep a clean, balanced palate drink water frequently and eat stronger items after lighter ones. Smoking affects taste buds greatly and smokers and non smokers will experience different tastes.

In looking for cheese for the Slow Awards, many factors are taken into consideration over and above the taste. Texture, appearance and presentation all play a part. A farm may be just starting and show remarkable promise with no particular item specified, or an individual cheese may be seen as remarkable but not everything produced by the farm. Passion is a huge component in making quality farm cheese and cheese made without passion has no heart to share with the consumer!

Slow Food Cheese Award winners Back row, left to right: Pat Rademeyer, Sharon Ball, Marianne Hemmes, Cecily van Gend, Robert von Tobien, Norman Belcher, Alba Lamprecht. Front row, left to right: Aubrey Potgieter, Mahlamola Moso, Estalanie Marais, Rina Belcher.

The annual cheese festival was held at Bien Donne at Franschhoek from 24-26 April. A couple of weeks previously, a panel consisting of Slow committee members and Valerie Elder of the Real Cheese, tasted a selection of cheeses presented by Kobus Mulder ofAgri-Expo – the ‘Mr Cheese’ of the Western Cape. After much deliberation, a number of local cheesemakers were deemed worthy of Slow Food Cheese Awards for 2009. These awards were presented at a small ceremony held at the Festival. The following cheesemakers received awards:

For Excellence:

• Wayne Rademeyer of Buffalo Ridge, for his buffalo milk mozzarella.
• Aubrey Potgieter and Marianne Hemmes of Foxenberg Estate for their fromage de chevre.
• Lanie Marais of La Rochelle Kaas for her Roché.
• Rina and Norman Belcher of Belnori Boutique Cheesery for the cows milk gouda.
• Alba Lamprecht of Nuwehoogte Bokmelk Kaas for her goats’ milk vinicio (soaked in pertit verdot red wine).
• Robert von Tobien of Kimili Farm for his Vintner’s Hook washed rind soft cows’ milk cheese

For Innovation:

• Ulrika Christiansen of Forest Hill Cheesery for her marisch with Cajun
• Mahlamola Moso of Kimilili Farm for his cows’ milk Cape Mosonais

For her contribution to the dairy industry:

• Gay van Hasselt of Gay’s Guernsey Dairy

Kobus Mulder has provided some potted biographies of the prizewinning cheesemakers.

Rina and Norman Belcher of Belnori began their cheesemaking venture about seven years ago with two goats on their smallholding near Bapsfontein. They are innovative cheesemakers and very keen supporters of goat’s milk cheese matters. They have done very well at international competitions and have won Qualite Awards locally. Most of their cheeses are sold on morning markets in Gauteng.

Marianne Hemmes of Foxenburg Cheese sells her goat’s milk cheese on morning markets and in selected delis. She also grows oyster mushrooms and olives and produces outstanding olive oil.

Pat Rademeyer with Robert von Tobien and Mahlamola Moso of Kimilili

Ulrika Christiansen of Forest Hill Cheese trained at Camphill many years ago, and has made cheese in the Hemel en Aarde valley and at Kimilili in Tulbagh, but for the last two years she has been at Forest Hill.

Robert von Tobien of Kimilili near Tulbagh is a German who came to this country after spending time making cheese in the USA. He uses raw milk, and produces some adventurous cheeses. Two of his cheese makers have trained in France – one of whom, Mahlamola Moso, won a Slow award for his innovative cows’ milk Cape Mosonais. The name of his cheese is a pun on his surname and the French cheese that inspired it.

Alba Lamprecht of Nuwehoogte Bokmelk Kaas lives outside Robertson, where her dentist father milks the goats, while Ma and daughter make the cheeses.

Estalanie Marais of La Rochelle, is French-trained. Outgoing and innovative, she milks the goats, makes the cheese and sells it all herself.

HOW TO CONTACT THE WINNERS:

Rina & Norman Belcher of Belnori Boutique Cheesery: for their goats milk Gouda. They also make other types of goats milk cheese. ( Bapsfontein) http://www.belnori.co.za/info@belnori.co.za
Rina Belcher 082 377 5698 rina@belnori.co.za
Norman Belcher 082 330 4706 / 011 964 3405 norman@belnori.co.za

Wayne Rademeyer of Buffalo Ridge: for his buffalo milk Mozzarella (Wellington) Buffalo Ridge at Inyathi Ridge Farm, off the R44, 11km north of Wellington

Buffalo Ridge Farm isn’t generally open to the public, but does cater for visits by special arrangement. Contact Wayne Rademeyer on 082 375 0977, or email buffaloridge@iafrica.com.

Ulrika Christiansen of Forest Hill Cheesery: for her Marisch with Cajun.Anura Vineyards, Simondium Road,.Klapmuts, 7670 B92
Telephone: +27 21 875 5360, +27 21 875 5398+27

Marianne Hemmes and Aubrey Potgieter of Foxenburg Estate : for their Fromage de Chevre Foxenburg Estate, Agter-Groenberg, Wellington. Contact :Tel: +27 (0) 21 873 5617, Mobile: +27 (0) 82 600 5689
marianne@foxenburg.co.za

Gay van Hasselt of Gay’s Dairy : for all her cheeses

Gay’s Guernsey Dairy Tel: 023 5411 274 Upper Kerkstraat, Prince Albert

Dairy tours can be arranged: Please telephone Gay at  023 5411 274 or 023 5411 538

Mahlomola Moso of Kimilili Farm: for his Cape Mosonais

Robert von Tobien of Kimilili Farm: for his Vintner’s Hook cheese

KIMILILI FARM (PTY) LTD

We welcome visitors to the Farm. Second farm to the left on the Boontjiesrivier Road off the R46 between Tulbagh and Wolsely.
Open weekdays for cheese tasting & sales, by appointment only.
P.O. BOX 328, TULBAGH 6820
TEL: +27 23 231-1503
EMAIL: info@KimililiFarm.co.za

http://www.kimililifarm.co.za/

Alba Lamprecht of Nuwehoogte Bokmelk Kaas: for her goats milk Vinici

Nuwehoogte Plaas, Robertson
nuwehoogte@yahoo.com

Tel: 0722091047, 0236264165

Lanie Marais of La Rochelle Kaas : for her goats milk Roché

La Rochelle Kaas by De Doorns ( Still trying to get contact details)

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