09 | May | 2011 | Lavender and Lime

Morocco is the place of my dreams, a country on my bucket list and it has been there for many years. I have various reasons for wanting to visit this country and one of them is to experience the spice markets. Dave and I have a plan and it will be many years before I get to step ashore this country so until then I have to make do with cooking in my tagine. Not all the recipes I create in my tagine are traditionally Moroccan, but they are all slow cooked with love until the meat is perfectly soft. This cooking utensil is Berber in origin and has a base unit that is flat and circular with low sides, and a large dome-shaped lid. The lid is designed to allow the condensation to return to the bottom of the dish. For communal eating, the base can be taken to the table for serving.

MINT CHICKEN TAGINE

Feeds 2

ingredients:

1 tablespoon lemon infused olive oil

2 chicken thighs

2 chicken drumsticks

salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning

1 onion, quartered

2 carrots cut into large chunks

2 potatoes, quartered

1 teaspoon Sumac

1 teaspoon dried mint

½ cup white wine

1 cup vegetable stock

1 teaspoon arrow root

6 teaspoons pomegranate seeds

small handful of fresh mint, chopped

method:

heat the oil in the base of the tagine

season the chicken and brown

add the onion, carrots, potatoes, sumac, dried mint, wine and stock

cover and cook over a medium heat for 40 minutes

remove the lid and add the arrow root

allow the sauce to thicken

garnish with the pomegranate seeds and mint

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Tandy

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Even though these two parts of the Indaba took place separately, I am covering them together. They were both about wine, and between the drinking (*hic*) and the talking, I did not write many notes. What I can tell you, is that what ever you think about the glass of wine you are drinking is right! Well, that is really good news for me.

We did a blind tasting with Michael Oliver and these were my thoughts:

Jordan Winery Chenin Blanc: citrus / sharp
Neethlingshof Gewurtztraminer: fruity / smooth. This is my new found love and I have to get myself some.
Barista Pinotage: dry / acidic
Le Bonheur Prima 2007: smooth and by far my favourite of the 4

Cathy Marston led a discussion about wine and food paring. The most important consideration when paring wine with your food is to think about the weight of both the food and the wine. Then either pare with a comparable weight or a contrasting weight. Think about the herbs you use when paring wines. Try and match produce from the same region.

For the food and wine paring we had the following 6 wines all sponsored by Villiera:

Down To Earth White (unwooded smillon savignon blanc)
John Martin Reserve SB – Backsberg (wooded sauvignon blanc)
Guwertztraminer
Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc
Down To Earth Red (touriga nacional shiraz)
Cabernet Sauvignon

we then did a blind tasting of the wines with the food and here are my feelings about them:

smoked tuna: wine 1 increased the smokiness whereas wine 2 increased the citrus of the lime added to the tuna. Red wines do not work with this.
cream cheese and salmon: wine 3 was the best, but it does work with the chenin
coronation chicken: due to the sweetness of this dish, I could not do a proper tasting, but wine 3 was the best
smoky bacon wrapped around dates: this pushed my sugar intolerance way over the edge but either wine 3 or wine 1 would work
patatas bravas: I could not find a wine I liked with this dish, but if I had to serve a wine then wine 1 would have to suffice

I was given a lovely wine tasting journal from 96 Winery Road, and the list is growing as I have added all these wines to my original tasting with them of 13 wines.

Harry Reginald then ended Cathy’s wine and food paring section with a talk about Champagne, its history and why we should drink it. He is the most amazing speaker, with a great sense of humour and if ever you need an MC for an event I would recommend you call Harry. I took a video of the sabrage that Harry did to end off our day in the most spectacular way. I have embedded this into You Tube. I learnt something new – the cover on the cork of a bottle of champagne is called the crown.

Tandy

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