RECENT EVENTS

Saturday 26 February 2011: Annual wine harvest, held at Vrede and Lust, Franschhoek
After members had picked the grapes and trodden them in the time-honoured manner, we sat down to a sumptuous meal in the open-air, surrounded by the towering blue Franschhoek mountains. Jeremy Hele had this to say about the day:
 
Peace, passion and Petit Verdot
A record number of 70 Slow Fooders gathered at the Vrede and Lust wine estate to create our own annual vintage. This year, on a scorching hot day, we harvested Shiraz grapes and duly stomped them with our bare feet to start the process which in two years’ time will give us the 2011 Slow Food wine. We were guided through it all by Susan Erasmus, Vrede and Lust’s handsome wine maker, and one of the owners, Etienne Buys. After our exertions, we were treated to a magnificent brunch, washed down by the Slow Food Petit Verdot, harvested at Nitida in March 2009 and bottled in November last year.

Saturday 26 March Boerbok Open day
by Erika Reynolds
 
Slow Food was invited to the Boerbok Open Day on the farm Lelieblom outside Darling in the Swartland. We came to learn more about this goat variety and had the opportunity to taste ‘gourmet goat’.
 
Michael Basson the farmer, specially constructed the outside dining venue for this day (nicknamed 'St Michael's Cathedral' by his wife, Karen) while Karen served the food and complimentary Groote Post and Cloof wines from the converted barn.
 
The Boerbok as we know it today is the result of selective breeding in South Africa since the early 1900s to improve the meat quality and to achieve the familiar colour. The white body was selected for easy visibility at a distance and the darker head to protect the animals from the sun.

 
By 1939 the Boerbok in its present form, was an established goat variety, but it is still evolving, with efforts to further improve the meat quality. Nevertheless, the goats owned and consumed today in the largest part of the world still look like the early 1900 South African goats. South Africa started exporting embryos to the USA in the 1990s in order to boost the meat quality of the goats in North America. Our Boer goats are widely recognised as the yardstick against which goats across the world are measured.
 
But why take the trouble with this usually shunned animal? Most people I invited along to the Open Day responded with a single ‘Yuck’ due to the outdated belief that goat meat smells bad. In reality, the advantages of goat farming and goat’s meat are impressive.
 
Jackie Jordaan who managed goat farms in Australia shared with us that goats are very fertile and have twins quite regularly; the young ones grow quickly to 40 kg which is the ideal weight to sell. Farmers simply load them live on trucks destined for Kwa-Zulu Natal which is the largest market and where the demand by some ethnic groups are based on religion. As demand and supply are both stable, there is little price fluctuation and no complicated paperwork is involved in live informal sales compared with selling packed meat in the retail market. This way of paperless trading, however, contributes to a dearth of knowledge regarding the numbers of goats sold ‘off the truck’ in South Africa.

 
Being highly adaptable to climate and terrain, goats can access grazing areas inaccessible to other stock and they are complementary browsers – eating the vegetation other grazers decline. For this reason, explained Kokkie Coetzee, most farmers keep goats as a third or fourth stock option in order to make optimum use of land and terrain not favoured by other animals. Kokkie has a herd of Boerbok to graze in the mountain kloofs of his farm near Piketberg. Due to their omnivorous nature and hardiness, poorer communities all over the world also regard them as ‘insurance’ in the event of crop failures.
 
The humble goat is usually associated with poor communities but these groups are inadvertently choosing the most healthy meat source available. Goat’s meat comes out tops in terms of total fat percentage, calories and cholesterol. Lamb contains six times more fat and double the calories per 100 mg. The closest rival in the health stakes is ostrich which has 0.2% less fat and two fewer calories.
 
Not surprisingly then that goat, as a drier meat variety, has to be cooked in a similar way to venison. Carmen Niehaus, food editor for You/Huisgenoot, suggested a buttermilk or simple olive oil, lemon and garlic marinade for a day or so. When grilled, it should not be overcooked – a medium or medium-rare state will retain moisture. Goat meat is also very suitable for carpaccio, stroganoff and kebabs, the latter perhaps in a coconut milk marinade. ‘Fynvleis’ can be used in boboties and pies.

   
Karen Basson our hostess, prepared a goat curry and a roast and she shared her ‘recipe’ with us:
 
“I don't have recipes I cook with what I have from my heart, but will give guidelines - no exact measures because I just gooi it all together and hope it works out! It usually does!
 
The roast was done exactly like a leg of lamb, rub with oil and add herbs of choice, I added sea salt, garlic and rosemary and put it in the oven (covered) slow heat till meat drops off bone. No marinades and nonsense. Simple recipe. Always the best.
 
For more information on Boerbokke visit www.boergoats.co.za and  www.boergoatshome.com. For those interested in sampling the meat, contact Gogo's in Newlands (see article below).

SHOPPING NEWS

GOGO’S IN NEWLANDS
A new meat supplier has opened in the Cardiff Place shopping complex, alongside Cassis and Wine Concepts.
 
Gogo’s was established in Simonstown in June 2006, but in December 2010 they decided to re-locate to Newlands. They specialise in biltong ranging from lean and fat beef, kudu and beef wors, very hot and mild chilli sticks, barbeque and beef sticks and game biltong. Also available: Game meat, game carpaccio, whole duck, duck breasts, duck leg confit, petit poussin, whole quails, rabbit, farm fresh chickens. Kalahari grass-fed free-range beef fillet, sirloin and rump, and free-range pork and bacon. They also have a selection of Rudi’s sausages from Gordons Bay, Karoo lamb from Pofadder and Mozambican prawns. The meat is slightly more expensive than you would pay in the supermarket, but well worth it. They also stock wonderful free-range eggs, available on Fridays.

Opening times:
Monday to Friday - 10h00 to 18h00
Saturday - 10h00 to 16h00
Sunday - 10h00 to 13h00
Recipes are available on request. If you need something, we’ll do our best to get it for you.

GOGO’S, 6 Cardiff Castle, Cnr Main Street and Kildare Road, Newlands
Tel : 021 671 0573

HOUT BAY MARKET
There is a food market in Hout Bay on Saturday mornings, underneath La Cuccina (turn right at the circle as though going to the World of Birds, and continue until you see La Cuccina on your left). There are stalls selling fruit and vegetables, cheeses, charcuterie, Karoo lamb, breads and pastries. There are also a number of stalls selling food to eat on the spot – breakfast pizzas, pies, as well as more glamorous fare, including oysters and champagne, prawns and crayfish tails. Everything on the market is very reasonably priced.

DEAN STREET ARCADE
On Wednesday mornings there is a small market in the Dean Street Arcade. Main Ingredient has a stall, and there are baked goods, as well as charcuterie, smoked fish and pates, spring rolls and much else.