I have always known spring onions to be basically baby onions that have not really grown fully. Well, check these out. I received them in my weekly delivery from Ganics, a company that deliver the most amazing organic fruit and vegetables.
Not only are they bigger than regular onions, they are “habanero onions”. They are the most frighteningly hot onions that I have ever eaten. Scary, but yummy!
Welmoed wines
Yesterday we took some friends winetasting and to lunch in Stellenbosch. We started off at Welmoed, an old favourite of ours. I love visiting this farm because they have a great selection of wines at great prices, and because the staff are always helpful and friendly. I have only had good experiences there, and I almost always have some of their wine in my fridge.
Hartenberg picnics
Then we went to Hartenberg for lunch. They also have some wonderful wines and a great tasting room (you actually sit down at tables and the staff come around and describe the wines and let you taste them). But Hartenberg wines are clearly of a different quality (and at over double the price of Welmoed wines) clearly in a different price range.
Hartenberg make a lovely picnic lunch which includes breads, cold meat, chicken, cheeses and dessert for R120 per person. You can sit outside the tasting room, or at one of the many tables scattered around the gardens. I have had a few picnics at Hartenberg and it is also a lovely experience.
A very civilised way to spend a Saturday.
The morning started very wet and rainy, but it cleared up into a surprisingly lovely day. The upside of this is that the beaches were almost empty, and I was able to enjoy a couple of hours in Kalk Bay.
We had lunch at an old established venue, the Brass Bell, where I have had many wonderful meals. Alas, they did not have a good start to the year. The starters were great, but after they arrived the restaurant clearly was too busy for the kitchen, and the mains were a disaster. Some did not arrive, most arrived late, some were burnt, and some were undercooked. I must note that my tuna steak and Lois’ pizza were the only good main courses. The food took over an hour to arrive, and what did arrive only did so after several complaints (note that we had booked a table).
In their defence, the manager was very good at accepting our complaint, and gave us about a 75% discount on the meal (I think we only ended up paying for the starters). If I do not remember this as such a good restaurant, I certainly would not go back, but they did try to make amends, and yes I will give it another chance, but not when they are so busy.
…in an Octopus’ garden in the shade. Or at St James Station. This eccentric little restaurant has been running since 2005. They have a small and simple menu, but the food is always good and always freshly made!
The restaurant is in part of the old station building. Although it is not a Beatles Tribute restaurant, or anything so cheesy, they unashamedly take a lot of their inspiration from the Beatles, with pictures of the Beatles making appearances all over the place, including on the wall and in the menu.
Pop in if you are in the area; you will have a wonderful experience. By the way if you are feeling poetically inspired while eating, just ask for a black marker and find a space of wall. The walls are covered with quotes and comments from the various patrons over the years.
A carrot a day keeps the doctor away. Well at least that is what I was always told as a child (ok so it should be an apple a day). But I was told that carrots are good for your eyes, and my blind wife loves carrots, and they didn’t seem to do much good for her.
Fresh Organic Carrots
However, there is nothing to beat fresh fruit and vegetables, especially organic vegetables. And what better way to enjoy organic vegetables than to have them delivered directly to your door? I have just signed for a great business in Cape Town called “Gannics”, and they deliver a fresh box of organic fruit and vegetables every week directly to your door.
Organic Vegetables, ready to be grilled
Today I received my first box and I am very impressed. We received lettuce, gem squash, patty pans, carrots, bananas, potatoes, asparagus, fresh beans and onions. I received a little bit of everything; and it should just about last a week. They are excellent quality; I am very impressed, and hope that more people support them.
By the way, they will also take away your old newspapers when they deliver a fresh box.
One of the best parts of summer in Cape Town is the availability of fresh fruit and berries. There is nothing that can beat the flavour of fresh strawberries, I can eat them by the handful. Best of all, they are for sale on almost every street corner (and even growing in some of our gardens).
I never eat them with cream or sugar; they are best simply chopped in half and eaten as is.
It is not often that you get a photo here that was not taken by me, and even less seldom that you get a photo of me! Besides, have you ever tried to do a self-portrait doing Sabrage!
Anyway, I discovered that my Tai-Chi sword is great for doing Sabrage, and the bubbly afterwards is especially good for my chi.It is a bit of a party-trick, but great fun nevertheless.
Can you see the flying cork on the far right?
Here is the before shot.
For a team end of year function, a few us went to the Cape Town Fish Market in Canal Walk for lunch. Because it was a fairly small group, we managed to arrange to have Teppanyaki, and to sit around the table while the chef cooked our food on the griddle in front of us.
Calamari tubes
If you can arrange a group of about 5-8 people, you can have a really great (and reasonably priced meal). The entire meal was about R110 per person (excluding drinks), and we had six courses:
Calamari tubes; ready to eat
The teppanyaki at the Fish Market is a little cheesy, in that the experience was more like somebody cooking a stir fry in front of me than a chef performing wizardry with his deft knife-work, however it is a very social experience. The food was great and very nicely-sized portions (except for the soup, but that was just a personal preference).
Steak, sliced into strips
This my second meal at the CTMF in a week, and it was really great! Get a group together and go out for Teppanyaki.
I only drink Champagne when I’m happy
or when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it
when I’m alone. When I have company
I consider it obligatory. I triffle with it
when I’m not hungry and drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it…unless I’m
thirsty. In victory you deserve it & in
defeat you need it! Lilly Bollinger
I spotted this on a wall in one of the bars in the German Club in Cape Town (The old Tafelberg Tavern). The club has just been bought by new owners, and some refurbishment is imminent, so this graffiti will most likely be painted over any day now. The side walls are covered in comments for the various patrons, and this particular poem took my fancy.
The quote is actually from Lilly Bollinger (as in the Bollinger Champagne family), but thanks to Shella for puting it up on the wall.
Here is another section of the wall. Don’t you love the car?
Last night I had a craving for fresh Sushi, so when Lois offered to take me out for dinner, my first choice was the Cape Town Fish Market in Tokai, which have wonderful and fresh Sushi.
Norwegian Salmon
Now, the downside is that Lois is vegetarian and does not eat fish, so there is not a huge amount for her to eat there. A couple of years ago they changed their menu, and there was almost nothing for her to eat. But they have recently brought back some of the vegetarian meals, including the yummyvegetarian spring rolls, cooked in a very thin and crispy pastry. There are three in a portion, one of which Lois gave me. It was very good.
Sushi at the Cape Town Fish Market (note this photo was not the free starter; it was one of the platters)
So I had the free mixed starter, and an extra portion of salmon, which went wonderfully with the Durbanville Hills Chardonnay that we were drinking. I followed with a piece of seared tuna (tuna is plentiful at the moment), braised on the outside, but completely raw on the insided. It was also very good.
Lois had the vege spring rolls, followed by a Greek Salad and baby potatoes with a lemon and garlic butter. She enjoyed them both.
The restaurant have a current promotion whereby if you buy any bottle of Durbanville Hills wine, you get a free mixed Sushi platter. I hope they keep the vegetarian options on the menu; it makes it a little easier for me to enjoy the fish :-)
You can find out more about the restaurant on their website.
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