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By PatR, March 1, 2010 5:19 am

The next Slow Food Community Market, Lansdowne, takes place on

Sat 6^th March at  Lansdowne Methodist Church, No 1 Prince Arthur Road Lansdowne.

Time: 10am to 3pm
Organic vegetables, herbs and plants will be on sale.

Handmade jams, prepared curry mixes for chicken and meat, mango pickles made from
Perveen’s traditional family recipes.

Madhuri’s range of pure vegetarian hot food and snacks.
Delectable cakes, filter coffee, handmade sweets using quality
ingredients, there will be many more!
Saving electricity? On sale will be hotboxes (cooking boxes). Bring your
meat stews up to the boil on the stove then transfer to the cooking box.
3 hours later it will be done and you won’t have to worry about burning
the meat while you do your gardening or any other creative activity!
Contact : Petrina 021 761 2373 or menngos@mweb.co.za / Sheena 021 761
5411  or Perveen 021 697 2410

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By PatR, January 23, 2010 11:03 am

Slow food Snail Trail No.75

Newsletter of the Cape Town Convivium
Number 75, January 2010

Saturday 20th February at 10h30
A visit to the Noree and Nuy valleys in the Robertson area:
To Spaarkloof/Tierhoek Organic  farm ( Noree Valley), and lunch at Toontjiesrivier farm ( Nuy Valley)
Directions to the farms are attached to this message. Please allow an hour and a half for the journey from Cape Town.
We will visit Bruce and Alison Gilson’s certified organic farm Spaarkloof/Tierhoek. Bruce will show us around, and explain his organic farming methods to us. The following crops are grown on this farm:  apricots, peaches, plums, citrus, mangoes, prickly pears, grapes, olives and vegetables. The range of Tierhoek Organic jams and dried fruit is produced on the farm. Produce will be available to taste and for sale.
At about 12h00 we will go to Toontjiesrivier farm where Bryce Steytler will serve a lunch using produce from his farm and the neighbouring area.  The swimming pool will be available to us, so bring your bathing costumes along.
MENU
STARTER:

Chilled garden pea and lettuce soup with chiffonade of mint
MAIN COURSE:
Phyllo parcel of chicken breast, green peppercorns and braised creamed spinach with cranberry jus

OR

Malay almond and lentil bobotie perfumed with cardamom & cassia, accompanied by
sambals and crispy poppadoms

DESSERT:

Decadent chocolate pot with rosemary biscuit

Coffee/Tea

Wine and other drinks included with the lunch:

Homemade lemonade chilled with mint, Nuy sparkling white grape juice, Nuy sparkling wine, Nuy Chant de Nuit [a light fruity white] and Rouge de Nuy [a delicious red ]

The cost of the lunch, including wine, will be R175 each for members and R195 for 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, as this costs us R15 per deposit. If you need to deposit cash, add R15 to the amount to be deposited. When making payment please put your name as a reference on the deposit slip or EFT payment. Payment will confirm your booking.

Please let Lorna know the number of members and guests attending the lunch by Monday, February 15th.  Also, please let her know which main course you would like, as we need to place our order before the day of the lunch.

If you would like to spend the week-end or a night in the district, there is accommodation available on both farms.  For more details go to the websites:
http://www.toontjiesrivier.co.za  www.tierhoekcottages.co.za

Provisional Date for the annual wine pressing and brunch:
Joostenberg  on Saturday March 13.

Cape Town Slow Food Convivium: Hon. Secretary: Lorna van Besouw, 3 Lutgens Road, Rondebosch, 7700.  Fax 021 685 1577.
E-mail vbesouw@iafrica.com Website www.slowfoodcapetown.co.za

DIRECTIONS TO TIERHOEK FARM:

DIRECTIONS FROM TIERHOEK TO TOONTJIESRIVIER FARM

The following directions were supplied by Bryce Steytler, owner of Toontjiesrivier.
Please chat to Adrian Rademeyer if you’d like more details of the two possible routes.

On your way back from Tierhoek  which is on the Vinkrivier road you come to a junction just before the railway line with a very good gravel road turn off to the right. It should say Agtervink road. This is a short cut through the farms and you come out at Toontjiesrivier on your  right. It is approx  9 km. from Tierhoek farm.
You also pass the lime plant on your right. It is a scenic route.

Otherwise you connect up with the Robertson /Worcester road at Rooiberg cellar. That is the R60.Travel about 15km towards Worcester. Turn right at the Nuy sign. It is 6 km up to the Nuy cellar. Turn right, and we are 4 km from the cellar on the left. It is a longer way round for anyone worried about travelling a gravel road.

The gravel road is an A grade ( good gravel road) and is a scenic drive along the base of the mountains and much shorter. If you have a map I’m sure you will see the road I have described. It was the road betweem Robertson and Worcester in the old days. We always use it to go through to Robertson.

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By admin, November 11, 2009 8:29 am

Slow Food Snail Trail

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.

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By admin, October 11, 2009 1:23 pm

SATURDAY 17^TH OCTOBER, 2009,10.00AM

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.

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By admin, September 10, 2009 1:04 pm

Lebanese evening
On February 28 Jack and Themis Lourandos threw open their beautiful Fresnaye home to Slow Food members. It proved to be a stunning setting for the occasion, on a perfect, still summer’s evening. Diners sat at tables in the garden overlooking Table Bay, and were served a superb Lebanese feast prepared by Suhela Caralis.

Inyathi Ridge
Last year’s visit to the farm proved so successful that a second visit was arranged on Saturday 11 April for those members who had missed the first event. They were accompanied by several CSA members, who continued on to Eric’s farm. Wayne took us through the process of making bufala mozzarella, and there was an opportunity to buy the cheese, as well as his superb buffalo milk yoghurt.

Grape harvest
Ntida Estate in Durbanville was the venue for our annual grape harvest on Saturday March 21. After a morning of picking and stomping grapes, members repaired to the Cassia Restaurant on the estate for an excellent brunch. Members were offered a choice of salmon rillettes with fennel and preserved lemon and harvest bread, or pork and prune terrine with pickles and toasted brioche as a starter. This was followed by a main course of Provencal fish stew with rouille, or warm duck salad of confit, smoked breast and liver parfait. The meal concluded with a plate of local cheeses, or a pinotage jelly with shortbread and custard.

Pizza evening
Conviviality was in evidence at Massimo’s Pizza Club in Hout Bay on Friday 22 May. Massimo and Tracy Orione were hosts for a communal pizza experience. Members were treated to a three-course meal, beginning with Bagna Cauda, a warm anchovy dip served with roast vegetables. This was followed by a succession of superb, thin-based pizzas with a variety of toppings, each one more delicious than the last. The feast concluded with Bunet, a traditional Piedmontese pudding, served with home-made ice cream, and limoncello.

Slow members enjoying the warmth and conviviality of Massimo’s.

Venison Feast
On Friday July 24 members were treated to a superb venison dinner prepared by Sally Dalgleish, assisted by Slow members. The meal consisted of Waterblommetjie soup, prepared by Sharon Ball, followed by Sally’s beautifully rare and tender roast saddle of venison, and Magdalen Venison, as casserole prepared by Pat Rademayer and Cecily van Gend, and accompanied by roast sweet potatoes and green beans, cooked by Lorna van Besouw. The meal concluded with malva pudding made by Kate Schrire and Ruth Suter. This took at the Zeekoevlei Yacht Club, which proved to be a warm and cosy venue

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By admin, February 12, 2009 12:19 pm

LUNCH AT SOUTH HILLS

In October, members enjoyed an extremely good lunch at The Venue on the South Hills wine estate, near Elgin. Set in a beautifully laid-out garden filled with imaginative indigenous plantings, the restaurant is situated in a converted barn, with massive doors opening onto lawns with views of the vineyards and mountains in the distance. Chef Gordon Manuel prepared his signature dish of twice-braised oxtail in prosciutto, served with a wild mushroom risotto and oregano zucchini ribbons. Gordon’s philosophy fits in well with Slow Food principles:

‘For the restaurant all we wanted to do was to create great food using local produce and wines. We want people to start enjoying good food again: food that has flavour and texture, is made with much love and does its job of filling you up! It is also our aim not only to use as much as we can of the excellent local produce the area has to offer, but also to employ as many staff as possible from the local community. We want to provide a different career option for those who have grown up in the valley. At the end of the day we have embarked on the mission to put Elgin on the Gourmet food map where the wines already are – and we are sure we can do it! Why Elgin? Why not! It is a beautiful part of the Cape and has so much to offer in the form of great produce and fine wine and it is still so untouched and natural.’

The lunch was preceded by a visit to the newly established Elgin Farmers’ Market.

VISIT TO INYATHI RIDGE FARM - Report by Jeremy Hele

Wayne Rademeyer has a passion: mozzarella cheese – that white, soft, slightly rubbery cheese that is one of Italy’s great delicacies. He deserted his law practice in Johannesburg, travelled to Italy with his wife Michelle to learn the secrets of mozzarella making and went through endless hassles to import 24 buffaloes to his farm at Inyathi Ridge.

The water buffaloes came from Australia, a country whose veterinary standards compare with our own. They are gentle and intelligent, a far cry from their distant and dangerous cousins the African Buffalo, who would be highly unlikely to allow anyone to milk them. And they are thriving in the Cape – most of the heifers are pregnant and lactating well.

A group from the Cape Slow Food Convivium visited the farm last November, and were introduced by Wayne to the delights of both the Mozzarella di Bufala and the Buffalo Milk Yoghurt, both of which have a taste all their own. They are far superior to the imported varieties, which need preservatives to cope with their transit and often other additives as well. Though higher in fat and protein than normal cheese, the mozzarella has a low cholesterol count and is suitable for people who are lactose intolerant.

Producing the milk is only part of the problem. “The difficulty with mozzarella is getting the nuances right,” says Wayne. “It is one of the stretched curd cheeses known as pasta filata, it is handmade in the traditional way and needs strong arms, serious physical effort and hands that can handle intense heat.”
He curdles the milk, with a coagulating agent, drains off the whey, puts it in hot water and keeps stretching it until it is pliable. Finally it is moulded into balls and dropped into cold water, which forms a skin that keeps in the moisture. Not an easy process, but well worth the effort.

The Inyathi Ridge mozzarella is one of only three worldwide made outside Italy, and judging by the reaction of the Slow Food group, we are privileged to have it available at selected delis.