Well what a wonderful year we have had with our wine club. For our December evening we decided to do something a little bit different, so we gathered our partners and made the way out to Roots Restaurant at Forum Homini for a food and wine pairing evening. We simply could not have chosen a better way to spend the evening.
Executive chef, Adriaan Maree menu was truly inspiring, using only the best of ingredients, it was fabulously light and simple and packed full of flavour. Wow!! And the best is the 6 course menu is selected for you, which for me is great, I can never make up my mind what to order.
As we settle down at our table, baskets of different types of bread are placed in the centre together with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and ducks liver pate with dukkah spices. The squid ink bread is quite fabulous! And so onto the first course.....
I'm afraid you'll have to settle for a photo of the menu as when the first course arrived, silence fell across the table. Nobody remembered to take a pic!! We were too busy savouring every mouthful. The soup was "Roast pear & chestnut soup, prawn toast, orange puree and cauliflower". No wonder the soup got the most votes as the best dish at the end of the evening. It was paired with Weltevrede "Vanilla Chardonnay" 2011 wine. Hum...fabulous!
The second course was "Roast monkfish & Octopus, Pea & mint, grilled cucumber, braised fennel, broad beans, liquorice, confit lime". First time for me to eat monkfish and it was perfect. The liquorice became a debate as it wasn't to everyone's palate, I love liquorice so no problem there. It was paired with Jordan, Riesling, 2011 wine. The grapes are hand-harvested and was awarded the Silver at the 2011 Veritas Awards as well as Top Riesling at the Novare Terroir Wine Awards in 2012.
Third course was the "Quail, crayfish & pork belly, Squid ink jellies, verjus, roast parsnip, smoked tomato, quail broth". Another first for me was quail and encase you don't know, Verjus or Verjuice is a sort of vinegar made from unripe grapes. The course was paired with Zorgvleit, Cabernet Franc, 2009. An elegant red wine with hints of cinnamon.
And yet, another first, Springbok! What a different dish this was. This was the fourth course, "Duo of springbok, Red cabbage puree, capers & anchovy, parsley, potato & mushroom mille-feuille, sauce charcuterie". Anchovy...yum! The wine with this course was Morgenhof, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009. Beatuifully smooth and spicey. I have been to Morgenhof and am particulaly fond of their Fantail range.
Who doesn't love cheese!! The fifth course was the spectacular, "Tasting of goat cheese, Brioche, salted caramel, grapes, rose" The goats chevin with the salted caramel was pure perfection! Bouchard Finlayson, San Barrique, 2010 was the wine paired to the cheese course. Bouchard Finlayson is a boutique winery, situated in a valley called Hemel-en-aarde (Heaven and Earth) and is on the southernmost point of Africa. The San Barriue has hints of kiwi fruit and guava. Sadly the 2010 vintage has sold out but the 2011 San Barriue Chardonnay is available.
The sixth and last course was the decadent "Roots chocolate plate, chocolate delice, white chocolate sorbet, mint, passion fruit, coffee pomegranate, brandy snaps". The white chocolate sorbet was outstanding. The final wine of the evening was the Cederberg, Bukettraube, 2012.
Voting for the best course and wine was interesting, with eleven people making all sorts of noises, it was finally decided as follows,
Best Course goes to the Roast pear and chestnut soup, followed by the Tasting of Goats Cheese a close second with the Roots chocolate plate third.
Best Wine goes to the Cederberg Bukettraube, followed by the Bouchard Finlayson San Barrique. And the Weltevrede Vanilla Chardonnay in third place.
Special thanks to Adriaan Maree (Executive Chef) and Leon Coetzee (Restaurant Manager and Host) for a splendid evening.
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