A few weeks ago I went on a wine tasting road trip with Nico of  ‘Wine-Spit’. He will pick guests up at their accommodation establishment. For bookings contact him at e-mail: winespit@gmail.com,but I will gladly make arrangements for you.

I loved the fact that Nico took us right into the vineyards to explain about cultivar and terroir, before the official wine tasting. And of course , the advantage of having a tour guide is that we did not have to ‘wine-spit’ all the time!

The first stop is  Herold Wines .

My favourite is a white that turned out pink by accident and was duly named:

.	Skaam Skaap ♦ Dry, fresh acidity of 42% Sauvignon blanc, strawberry cream tartlet & vanilla undertones from wood fermented 26% Chardonnay and 32% Pinot noir. An unusual and exciting blend. ♦ Alcohol 13% ♦Total acidity 6.8g/liter; pH 3.27 ♦ Total production 2400 bottles ♦ John Platter 31/2*

Appropriately the next stop was Karusa Wines. But not only do they make wine – Karusa is the first and only full grain Micro Craft Brewery in the Klein Karoo. Using locally grown hops (from Waboomskraal), malted barley from Caledon and the sweet water from the great Swartberg, Karusa produces complex aromatic styled ale. The climate of Oudtshoorn lends itself to the crisp refreshing style of ale produced at Karusa.

We had a leisurely lunch on the stoep overlooking the dam.

The mature female flower is pressed into pellets and used in the brewing process of beer. These cones contain a substance called Lupulin which gives the characteristic bitter and aromatic taste to beer.

After lunch we had one more wine farm on the list. Just outside Oudtshoorn, on the road from Calitzdorp, lies the vineyards of Sandkoppies, home of Grundheim Wines. Here six generations of the Grundling family have been farming for over a century. Renowned for its witblits made in a traditional brandy still, Grundheim launched its maiden potstill brandy in 2002. Grundheim’s family recipes have ensured that their homemade liqueurs and witblits preserves have walked away with numerous awards. I bought a number of bottles of delicious white Jerepico – in summer I serve this on crushed ice, garnished with a sprig of lemon zest.

And then for dessert!

La Chocolaterie Rococo, 86 Langenhoven Road
Oudtshoorn.

At La Chocolaterie Rococo we were treated to a chocolate appreciation class. And then of course we had to buy some chocolates and pralines to take home : each piece of sensual decadence made from the freshest ingredients and  finest imported raw-materials from Belgium.

Last weekend we hiked from the Old Tolhuis up Montagu Pass and then back to the Tolhuis via the historic Cradock Pass. The river was not too high and we managed to come through with dry feet.

Marion Whitehead is author to a delightful  book called Passes & Poorts: Getaway’s top 30 scenic mountain routes in the Western Cape

“This is one of the few places in the country where you can see very old and new passes side by side in a nature reserve. Cradock Pass is the oldest and is now a one-day hike marked with white-painted beacons visible from the modern Outeniqua Pass on the opposite mountainside.

Montagu Pass is the oldest unaltered pass still in use in South Africa and is a scenic trip back in time – you can almost hear the oxwagon drivers cracking their whips to warn oncoming traffic of their position on the winding pass. Near the top, the road runs parallel to the Railway Pass for a short while and it’s always a thrill if you’re lucky enough to encounter a train on the route.”

The old toll house(dating back to 1840′s) stands sad and neglected, the windows and doors secured with steel shutters, but a group, consisting of concerned George residents,  historici and architects  calling themselves Vriende van die Tolhuis tasked themselves with the restoration project under leadership of Gerda Stols.

The turn-off to the Cradock Pass was quite overgrown and I actually think it is safer to start by crossing the river below the Toll House as the starting point from that side is well marked.

It is also very popular with the mountain bikers and we had to keep Juno on a tight leash all the way to the start of the section on the railroad line that joins up with Cradock Pass. When you reach the top (3km further) you’ll find Herold Wines

‘These learners benefit more from concrete learning programs where they learn by doing.  In most cases they will eventually find employment in practically orientated professions;  therefore more emphasis is placed on the skills or vocational learning programs in our school where learners can acquire skills such as panel beating, spray painting, motor vehicle repairing, woodworking, welding, building and maintenance, hospitality studies, educare, office administration and hairdressing. ‘

Our beautiful screens and arches that transforms our rose garden into the spectacular, bears testimony to Mr Myburgh and his metal work learners. Because we are situated close to  the school, Mr Myburgh could walk across with his pupils and they could take ownership of the project -  from  taking the initial  measurements to the final product. We are as proud as they are of their craftsmanship.

When our daughter moved into her first flat the two of us went to the factory shop in York Street to find a few  basic items  in their little ‘reject’ room. She was sitting flat on the floor, sorting  the Wonki Ware into little piles of four. Di Marshall happened to walk in and gave her an amused smile at which the 18 year old, not knowing she was speaking to THE Di Marshall, started telling her what amazing crockery this was, pointing out  the artistic designs, beautiful colours and delicate, yet  durable quality of the items.  Di graciously told her that it was her name on the bottom of every plate and kindly started helping her find 4 of everything. Today the shop is much better organized than those days and  all the pottery is neatly stacked by colour and design. I still feel like a kid in a candy store when I walk in there though – can’t make up my mind!

One of their bestsellers is called the lace design. They make this plate by pressing real lace into the soft clay before the plate is fired in the oven. Then, as it is placed in the oven, the lace design burns off, leaving behind a ghostly pattern. They are manufactured from non porous clay and the glazes are non toxic and lead free ; chip proof, oven, microwave and dishwasher friendly.

Wonki Ware is  handmade by local skilled and trained craftspeople. She now employs more than 35 people and exports worldwide. And  counts Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver  amongst her fans – I often spot one of her large purple platters on Jamie Oliver’s food shows.

Her tableware is also used by the Swedish and British Royal families. The business also have outlets in UK, Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Switzerland and Ireland . So there you are all the South Africans in London -  go and look at the Wonki Ware in Harrods when you get homesick! You can also go to their website and order your items prior to coming to George.

At the breakfast table I will often have guests express appreciation at the good coffee I serve. We buy our coffee, freshly ground, on a weekly basis from a local roaster. Which also means that I can order coarser ground coffee to go with the plungers that I put out in the rooms and finely ground for my Bialetti pots – my preferred method of serving the coffee at breakfast.

The latest coffee buzz word is of course ‘nespresso’. High on my wish list… We stayed at a small boutique hotel in Cape town and they had a Nesspresso machine in their foyer where you could buy the Nespresso capsules – for the discerning guest who frowns upon the instant coffee sachets that they offered in the rooms – I thought that was quite clever – what do you think?

But why the hype? Well, it comes down to top quality coffee , always fresh because the capsules are sealed in aluminium cases, perfectly protected from oxidation and light. A perfect cup with a perfect crema every time  as the worry about milk,steam,temperature, grind fineness or quantity is taken care of– with Nespresso, everyone’s a top notch barista.

My hot tips for a hot cuppa if you do not have a Nespresso machine:

• Coffee should be served as warm as possible, but never at boiling point.
• Do not make coffee with boiling water as this produces a burnt flavor, let the kettle stand for 1 minute after boiling.
• Coffee should not be reheated as it effects the flavor (which is why percolated coffee standing on the heating pad taste so vile after as short a time as 15 minutes from peculating) Keep it in a warm vacuum flask instead of on a hot plate.
• Peculated coffee should be consumed within 30 minutes
• A rougher ground is necessary for plunger coffee. ‘grind’ refers the the coarseness of the grounded bean ; ‘medium’,'strong’ etc. refers to the the length of the roasting process
• A good medium coffee suitable is French or continental blends.
• Java and Costa Rica coffee has a fuller flavor and therefore suitable for a stronger coffee.

In Europe coffee is often served in a glass

 
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Alex and Desmond

RECIPE  for  Snoek Spread:  Saute 1 medium sized onion in 30ml butter until soft and transparent . Add about 200 gram flaked and deboned snoek, juice of a small lemon, 125ml creme fresh (or  cottage cheese) salt and pepper to taste as well as a shake of Worcestershire sauce. Add fresh herbs to taste (we like dill and/or parsley) Blend and refrigerate until required. Delicious on wholewheat bread.

It is no wonder our two sons love the sea – they were brought up in Walvis Bay, Namibia, and were taken on fishing trips when they were still in diapers.

Today I would like to share the following, written by our son Alex:

We headed out from a launch near the Cape Town Waterfront to hunt for snoek, those nasty looking wolves of the sea – to most people the quintessential South African fish. We must have looked rather comic as we chugged out of the launch site, four big guys perched on a tiny, pink rubber duck. After cruising about for a while we spotted a group of boats floating together about two kilometers off shore and we immediately knew they were into the snoek. The adrenalin was pumping, but we had to keep to a pretty moderate speed as the small boat climbed up and down the swells. Eventually we joined up with the other boats and rushed to get our lines in the water.

Snoek are vicious fish that will take just about any bait or artificial lure, but the traditional way to catch them is a thick handline, a heavily weighted lure and a large hook. The heavy duty tackle is used to haul the snoek out of the water as fast as possible…no arching rods and running drags here. The commercial guys use the handlines so that they can catch as many snoek as possible in a short time, but also so that the fish don’t tangle all the other lines hanging from the boat. Then of course there are the seals. They drift around the boats and rip into the snoek as they are being pulled up. Unless you get your fish out of the water quickly you can end up losing a significant part of your catch to the seals.

When you cook your snoek you occasionally find one that has a course, mealy texture. This is referred to as a ‘pap’ snoek (the word translates as soft/squishy). No one is sure why the occasional snoek goes ‘pap’, but I have heard a theory that if you fight them too long lactic acid builds up in the flesh, which spoils the fish. I’m not too sure I believe that theory, as there are plenty of recreational anglers who do catch snoek on relatively light tackle, but why risk it? (By the way, if there are any other theories on why snoek go ‘pap’, please post them in a comment to this article.

The snoek weren’t in a concentrated school, but rather seemed to be moving about in small groups. The boats were spread out in an area the size of maybe six rugby fields, and from time to time the fishermen on a particular boat would hook into two or three fish as the small schools moved around in this area. We had a frustrating few minutes watching the guys in the other boats pulling up fish, but suddenly my brother and I hooked up almost simultaneously. As my brother brought his fish to the surface a large seal grabbed it by the tail. The seal surfaced with the snoek in its mouth and a classic tug of war ensued, with the fish stretched between my brother and the seal, both equally determined. Eventually my brother pulled the snoek free, but now my fish was just approaching the surface and I watched helplessly as the seal dived toward it and ripped it from the line. Soon my brother had more fish on the boat, but I wasn’t having any luck and was still sulking about my stolen snoek.

The worst thing about fishing with my brother is not that he usually catches the most and biggest fish (although that is pretty irritating too), it’s the way he starts dispensing advice after he’s brought a few fish on board. I grumbled under my breath as my brother offered tips on retrieval speed, depth and other snippets of wisdom.Eventually I did get my snoek and we had an incredible day on the water, ending up with nine large snoek between the four of us. It was delicious braaied over the coals basted with a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice and apricot jam.subscribe to posts

Eckart, the fish whisperer

Witsand – Desmond showing off his cob (‘kabeljou’)

Our son Eckart is a spear-fisherman of note. His dad and brothers are not too shabby as sea-hunters either.

When the Benkenstein men bring home  fish we eat fish for three days in a row. This is one  recipe that I can honestly claim as my own and it works perfectly with frozen fish too.  I’ve even substituted fresh fish for tinned tuna and it is still fool-proof – let’s face it: every fish brought home represents 3 that ‘got away’! This is just one of those recipes you are going to write and thank me for sharing…

Alex with a shad caught on the Breede River

Crust:500 ml cake flour

20 ml baking powder

2 ml salt

125gram butter

150 ml milk

Sieve the dry ingredients together in a bowl, then crumb the butter into the flour  with your fingers. Add the milk and use a metal spoon to mix it to  dough consistency. Cover with cling-wrap and leave to rest in the fridge.

Michael with his small cob

About 2 cups of stir fried vegetables: I fry  a sliced onion, about half a cup of celery, half a cup of carrots that are cut in thin circles. Then I add baby marrow, green-pepper,pineapple – whatever I find in my vegetable basket …

Add about 2 cups of flaked fish. Any fish will do – I have even used tinned tuna and still managed to turn out a pretty decent fish pie.

Half a cup of coarsely grated cheese (Cheddar, but hey – whatever you find in your fridge) and half a cup (125 ml) Creme Fresh, 7ml hot English mustard.

Mix together, but do not over mix. Add some seasoning to taste and because we love dill  with fish , I add a good 80ml of finely chopped fresh herbs. (For a variation you can add lemon zest and parsley) Chill in the fridge.

About 2 hours before your guests arrive you roll out the dough on a flour dusted surface  into a big rectangle. Put your filling down the center and fold over the sides. Roll it onto a baking tray with the sealed edge to the bottom, cover with cling and refrigerate.

Half an hour before you would like your guests to sit down for dinner you preheat the oven to 200ºC. Cut 2 cm slices through the pie, brush with milk or egg white and bake for about 25 minutes. Do not over bake!

Serve with green salad and crispy white wine.
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This December I’ve had a guest make the booking and then mention as an afterthought that she had a little Yorkie and surely I would not have a problem with that? My reply : ” If your little Yorkie can handle my big Bull Mastiff then we do not have a problem… “. I’ve had guests threatening to sneak our one year old Bull Mastiff into the bedroom and I’ve had guests reeling back in horror at the sight of a dog.

Bull Mastiffs turned out to be perfect guest house dogs : they are non territorial , not unnaturally aggressive and hardly ever bark.

Our Fawn colored Misty (registered name Madame Mistique) would greet guests with her exuberantly wagging tail – I would always say one would swear the only attention she ever gets were from guests. When we got her as a puppy we also got a small Ginger cat (called Garfield, what else) and the two had a very special relationship. They slept together , would groom each other and the favourite party trick was for Misty to carry the cat by her head in her mouth ! When I heard a guest frantically shouting for me I’d know – they’re at it again! Of course Garfield only had to give Misty a gentle whack with her nails out to be let go of. She died shortly after her 12th birthday – a good age for a big breed.

When Misty turned ten our daughter, Nelleke, brought a new Bull Mastiff puppy home. I took one look at this ugly brindle pup and Eveline commented  in Xhosa “Inja m’bi” (ugly dog).  She was promptly named Umbi , but she grew in our hearts and turned out to be the most beautiful dog anyone could ever wish for. So sweet natured, intelligent, sensitive and incredibly loving. We were heartbroken when she died of cancer in June 2009, not even 3 years old.

Our daughter Nelleke was also the one who arrived from school one day with a little abandoned kitten – curled up in herhands it looked exactly like a giant mushroom! At the ripe age of 15 Mushroom is still around – half blind, but still – a beautiful cat.

 The latest addition to the Fairview yard is Juno…

Yesterday I asked him to move his activities to the front garden as we had two sets of guests arriving and I wanted him to let them in as I just quickly wanted to go to the grocery store. My instructions  that it was a couple for Room 1 and a family for Room 3 was met with:  ” which one is Room 3 again?”. So I patiently (or not…) explained for the millionth time: Room 1 is the yellow room to the right as you enter, as it has been since the restoration 17 years ago. Room 3 has been Room 3 since the boys left home more than 12 years ago…

When they arrived he told them he was not sure which rooms I had allocated and that it was best to wait for my return. The one guest told him that they were in Room 1, on which he asked if they knew whether that was a yellow room? In his defense I must add that he invited them into the lounge and offered tea and chocolate cookies! Our guest  came up with a super solution: why not ask him to name the rooms after flowers – the yellow room could be Sunflower Room, the orange room could be the Pincushion Room etc.

The incident  reminded me of another occasion when he was working in the front as guest arrived.  It was pouring with rain – not that the rain has ever  prevented Desmond from gardening. When I opened the front door it was to find Desmond and the guests  in a fit of laughter ; as he explained later -  he did not notice the guests initially and wearing  his bright yellow rain suit he must have looked quite a sight – they rang the front door bell and then asked him if the proprietor was in? He answered: ” She’ll be  down presently. I’m just the gardener, but I do sleep with the proprietor”. subscribe to posts