Friday, August 7, 2015

Wellington Quest for the Best 2015

What is Quest for the Best?
“Quest for the Best” is a competition initiated for Wellington by Wellington, celebrating the wine district’s quest to showcase the overall quality and diversity of the Wine of Origin Wellington (WOW).
Source: Wine.co.za
Top 10 wines for 2015



Our team at Au'de Hex had the privilege to cater for this amazing Awards Ceremony of 42 people.
I was beyond excited: This was my first ever food and wine pairing ... and yes I know I said that Valentine Day's five course menu was my first and propably the highlight of 2015 for me... Quest for the best came a very close second place.
 
Au'de Hex beautiful table settings
 


Growing up in this beautiful valley of  Wellington surrounded by our beautiful mountains and vineyards naturally my favorite alcholic beverage is wine. But nosing flavors in wine and pairing it with food was a challenge of epic proportions.
With the help of good friend and wine expert +Janine Eybers and +Pierre Bester I had great success in identifying flavors and tastes in the top 10 wines and successfully created a menu that made me so excited I hardly slept for three days.

District of Wellington


Here is the list of the top 10 wines in Wellington for 2015:

  • Bosman Family Vineyards – Bosman Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
  • D Retief & Seun – Welvanpas Pinotage 2012
  • Diemersfontein Wines – Diemersfontein Reserve Collection Malbec 2013
  • Diemersfontein Wines – Diemersfontein Summer’s Lease 2013
  • Diemersfontein Wines – Diemersfontein Black Berry Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
  • Dunstone Wines - Dunstone Shiraz 2013
  • Wellington Wines – La Cave MCC 2011
  • Wellington Wines – La Cave Cape Blend 2013
  • Wellington Wines – La Cave Pinotage 2014
  • Wellington Wines – La Cave Chenin Blanc 2014

  • Congratulations


    With only La Cave Chenin Blanc 2014 as a white wine and La Cave MCC 2011 as a sparkling wine I decided to serve these two exquisite wines with the Canape's.
    Pairing the MCC with the richness of salmon, a slight nuttyness from sesame seeds and a sharpness from a lemon aioli worked beautifully.
    The Chenin with a slight woody nose went well with the rich earthiness from chicken liver pate served on a crostini and a slightly sour Sundried Tomato Pesto Risotto Croquette.

    Sesame Crusted Salmon with a Lemon Aioli
     
    Chicken Liver Pate served on Crostini and Sundried Tomato Risotto Croquettes
     
     
    As Pinotage is a red wine grape with a South African signature I really wanted to make Welvanpas Pinotage 2012 and La Cave Pinotage 2014 the star of the starter.
    I decided to pair it with a mixture of white meat.
    A Pork and Chicken Terrine served with Balsamic Beetroot and a Coffee Pinotage Jus.
    While the fatiness of the bacon wrapped around the terrine will cut through the tannins in the pinotage it will compliment with the coffee jus and the earthiness from the beetroot.

    Chicken, Pork and Bacon Terrine served with Balsamic Beetroot and Coffee Jus
     
    As for the mains, I decided to go with the Bosmans Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 and Diemersfontein Cabernet Sauvignon 2013. Even before tasting the Bosmans Cabernet Sauvignon I knew it's going to be a good wine and I was not dissapointed.
    With a strong smokey and stoned fruit nose with spices like cloves and nutmeg a simple but flavorsome dish sprang to mind.
    Grilled Duck Breast served on Chinese Broccoli with a Red Wine Jus, Sweet Potato and Turnip Dauphinoise  and Traditional spiced Quince.
    The grill gave the protein a smokey taste, the broccoli created texture and freshness while the sweet potato and turnip created a tangy sweet earthiness and the quince simply tied the whole dish together.
    I have never had the opportunity to cook duck breast  for a function. I was beyond nervous. Not just for the pairing but the cooking and getting it exactly perferct...And perfect it was;-)

    Grilled Duck Breast served on Chinese Broccoli with Red Wine Jus, Sweet Potato and Turnip Dauphinoise and Traditional Spiced Quince
     


    For dessert the Dunstone Shiraz made me go back to South African roots of vanilla and spices.
    Milktart Springrolls served with an Eggnog Ice Cream.
    The cinnamon and nutmeg flavors of milktart with the cruch from the springroll worked well and to add some more spice I made an American Classic into an Ice Cream.

    Milktart Springrolls served with Eggnog Ice Cream


    One week later and as I look back at The Quest for The Best I am still proud with a tremendous feeling of achievement. And that's a feeling that will take me some time to shake off.
     
    I want to thank my awesone team and front of house for a fantastic service.  
    My awesome team: Rene, Marisha and Jennaylin

    Too Anchen for your last and best function, thanks for all you support and friendliness, I'll miss you!





    A big thank you to Maritha, our fantastic photographer from Something New Photography, whom captured special moments in and around the kitchen at Au'de Hex.

    Bon Appetit
    xxx



     



     

    Wednesday, February 25, 2015

    February

    Ah February, the second month of the year ... the month to celebrate love ... the shortest month of the year ... the month when the East Celebrates their New Year ... for me February 2015 is definitely the highlight of my cooking year.
    For the first time since being a chef, I created my own five course menu, with pallet cleansers between each course while complimenting each finished dish. Being able to cook this menu, single handed for 26 patrons was a dream come true and a proud accomplishment.

    Initially I wanted to do the same as always, make an a la carte menu, but after a brainstorming session around good food and wine with loyal friends Wilma and +Len Nowers, they helped me realize that Valentine's day should not be of choices.  People want to be taken on a gastronomic adventure of good flavors, good wine,fantastic atmosphere and good service...and at Au'de Hex Boutique Hotel and Restaurant we have all those boxes ticked:-)

    My week started off with intense planning, ordering and prepping.
    Excitement was in the air.
    My best South African/Taiwan friend, +Charl Toua  popped round for a braai on the Thursday evening and although the evening got away from me...I was back in the kitchen early Friday morning working hard to get everything ready for Valentine's Day.

    I had an early start on Saturday morning and appreciated the beautiful surroundings with a spectacular sunrise.

    Sunrise at Au'de Hex

    The Hotel was fully booked with couples taking time out to visit our beautiful town and enjoying a romantic weekend break.
    It was a busy morning in the kitchen, all 20 hotel guests had to be fed for breakfast and the small matter of 30 patrons for a kitchen tea all while still making last minute sorbets, rolling and folding puff pastry and blending up Tomato soup.

    The evening came rushing up and I was dressed, pressed and ready to impress in my Green Au'de Hex Uniform.
    All the tables was set and the waiters served all the guests pretty pink pre-drinks.

    First course was ready for serving and looked and tasted amazing.
    Cold Tomato Soup with a drizzle of basil oil and a Buffalo Mozzarella Toastie

     

    The soup was followed by a Mango Sorbet.

    Second course was my absolute favorite, it's colors just stood out on the plate and the amazing combination and balance of flavors made my knees weak.

     Chermoula-wrapped Linefish with Tequila-flamed Paw-Paw
     
    The fish course was complemented with a red grape sorbet.
     
    The third course I was excited for the opportunity to play around with Asian flavors and showcase what I have learned and enjoyed eating during my stay in Taiwan.
     
    
    Ginger Pork dumplings served with a Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce
     
    We followed up with a Litchi Sorbet, cutting gently through the spiciness of the pork course.
     
    The meat and fourth course was a very French inspired dish and I was very drawn to the name of the dish: Grillé Poussin Breasts, Pâté de foie gras.
     

    Roasted Chicken Breasts, stuffed with duck Liver Pâte, served with Oyster Mushrooms and Lime and Wholegrain Mustard Dressing
     
    The final sorbet was a gooseberry sorbet and the tartness of the sorbet worked well after a very rich meaty course.

    Sorbets from left to right: Mango, Grape, Litchi and Gooseberry

    Dessert was the final course. I was very impressed with the combinations of the whole dish and how every element complimented each other.

    Baby Apple Tartlet served with a slice of Mature Cheddar Cheese and a shot of Laborie Alambic Brandy
     
     
     
    A very happy, relieved and proud Chef
     
    Magic Moments 14 February 2015
     
    As I mentioned earlier, this will probably be my cooking highlight for 2015 and I will look back in all my years to come and be proud of how this menu and food looked and tasted.
    I want to thank the whole team at Au'de Hex from front of house to my fabulous Kitchen team. A big shout out to manager +Janine Eybers for always being calm and in control.
    A very big thank you to our very talented up and coming photographer, Marié Bester for taking all the beautiful pictures showcased in this blog post.
    Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the glimpse into the kitchen where I spend most of my waking hours doing what I love.
    Lots of cooking Love
    Mariza