Bastille Day, Franschhoek

 - JUST LOVE HOW THE WHOLE TOWN COMES TOGETHER IN BLUE, RED & WHITE!

 


Apologies for the slight delay in recapping the festivities, I had some minor technical difficulties, but all is good now and below is a little sum up of the activities... 

Unfortunately for us the weather decided not to play along on the Saturday, but Sunday was perfect for those who went through.

 
Next year we will definitely NOT be going to the food and wine tent.  Although the tent was very festive and the live band was fantastic, the value for money was poor.  R150 per person as entry into the tent for which we received a wine glass and 5 coupons.  One would expect, being a food & wine tent, that at least one coupon would be for food if not a number of them.  At most festivals each restaurant or stand has a similar priced sample dish for which one or two coupons are used.  

There were no food coupons, and while there were some great restaurants and dishes, eating was an added expense.  The coupons which were therefore wine tasting coupons were valued at one coupon per tasting - not per wine farm tasting, per individual wine tasting.  I sort of understand, given the crowd, but I was pretty disappointed after I had made a list of the specific farms I wanted to check out.  So for R150 I got a glass and to taste 5 wines, which might I add were mostly second tier wines as I am sure the farms were not interested in offering their most prestigious at what appeared to be more of a drunken student party than an actual food & wine festival.

 Out in the town however, the French culture was much more present and the festivities were much more enjoyable.  We had a blast watching the barrel rolling competition.  And even got a Porcupine Ridge umbrella for our support in the rain - kudos to Porcupine Ridge, we will definitely buy their wine in the future!  The markets were great, one more of a curio/African nature and one more of a farmer's market, with great food (delicious samoosas!).  I was disappointed to have missed the Minstrel Parade, but we'll have to catch that next year.  I was also a little scared of the trail run, next year I will train a bit harder.  The Franschhoek Hospice was out in full force with pancakes, berets, scarves and rosettes for purchase and loads of people added a French flair to their outfits for the day.  All the shops and restaurants streamed in the French colours and bubbling onto the sidewalks with their food and wine.

So, all in all, a great day out in the beautiful town of Franschhoek!  Check the weather and go through when the sun is shining and rather enjoy the town festivities than trying to the fight the crowds in the food and wine tent.  (Unless of course you are a student and ALL your friends are going and you're in for the KUIER, then you will have a blast in the tent!)

I think next year we'll check out the festivities in town and then head to one of the surrounding farms.  Perhaps it might be a good idea for the farms to actually have activities going on as well, that might aleve/stagger some of the traffic and add a whole nother dynamic to the weekend... just saying!

Until next year...

FRANSCHHOEK TOWN
Off the N1 along R45

Mother's Day Food & Wine Pairing

 - WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA AND AMAZING EVENING!!


In order to fit all the moms, grandmoms, mom-in-laws and their schedules in we ended up with one of the Mother's Day celebrations being on the Friday night.  My sister-in-law came up with the brilliant idea of having a food & wine pairing.  Brilliant, I thought, until I received the e-mail listing 11 different pairings highlighting 5 of which were my responsibility!!  Never to back down from a cooking and wine challenge I researched all the recipes I needed, sent my other half to get those wines that we couldn't find on our rack, donned my apron and got stuck in under masterchef time restrictions (after traffic and the shops, to be ready by 7pm)!

 

Everything turned out very impressive, we even had individual plates/tiles to serve each canape on, the table was beautifully decorated, the food was all delicious and quite gourmet if I do say, the wines were most appropriately paired and the time seemed to just disappear before we realised it was well past 1am and we should probably get some shut eye.



No wine notes tonight (that would be rude), but a snippet of the pairing menu below and a few photos of the canapes we were most proud of.




MOTHER'S DAY PAIRING MENU
 
1. Bruchetta with goats cheese and roasted aubergine paired with Windmeul Sauvignon Blanc.

 

2. Chicken Curry on a sweetcorn blini paired with Tulbagh Winery Colombard.



  3. Avocado Ritz on Choux Pastry paired with Creation Chardonnay.

4. Salmon roulade with potato crisps and apple mousse with Darling Reserve Chenin blanc.


5. Wild mushroom and pesto tart with Tulbagh Winery Pinotage/Shiraz.

6. Butternut soup with Barefoot Merlot.

  7. Thinly sliced beef with Balsamic reduction and beetrootmicroleaves with Windmeul Cabarnet Sauvignon


   8. Lamb Riblette with Tamato Chilli Jam and   Porcupine Ridge Syrah.

   9. Pear & Chocolate Cake dessert (Tart Belle Helene - http://tuis.co.za/nuus/bon-appetit/) with Windmeul white muscadel.



 

 10. Chocolate truffles and rose nougat with with Laborie Rose MCC.

11. and last but not least 15 year old KWV served with ginger nougat.





Honestly, the food was amazing and so well paired with each of the wines. It seemed like a bit of an effort, but what a fantastic idea and evening. We will definitely be doing this again,perhaps next time with not as many pairings.







Truffles and MCC



Chocolate and Pear Tart