Along with what seemed to be most of Cape Town, The Runner
and I travelled to the two hamlets at the foot of Kasteelberg. Riebeek-Kasteel and Riebeek-West. Last time we were here it was the height of
summer and we were mostly alone. This
time it was the height of autumn and we were definitely not alone. But with our swelled numbers also came some
benefits. The towns really put on a show
for those who came. Or the other way
round. It was the Riebeek Valley Olive
festival and lots of people visited. Spread
across the twin-towns various venues sold olives, olive-derived products, olive
oil, wine, food and to my liver’s delight: beer.
Starting at the top of the map we worked our way down from
Pulpit Rock (wine bought), through Alleverloren (wine bought) to Mullineux in
town (wine bought) all the way to Kloovenburg (wine sales closed). I did try the Wine Kollective again in search
of Maybe-Rachel, but sadly she was AWOL.
Microbrewed beers on show included Darling, Mitchells, Stellenbrau and
Everson Cider and Perry. These all
crossed my ample palate before, but Dragon, the fiery alcoholic ginger beer
made its debut
Steered towards The Secret Garden by SouthYeasters
connections for a new beer we arrived at an interesting setup. A secluded garden bar and restaurant behind a
restaurant. On tap two mysterious beers
called Marais. The pilsner fairly
ordinary, but the ale very good indeed.
A Mediterranean platter for two is on special consisting of taramasalata,
cheese, something wrapped in vine leafs, salami and some other stuff. I would be more specific if I could. I don’t know what they were and to be
truthful, had to look up taramasalata.
It also seemed a bit small for two people to share, but we figured it
out in the end. It was not nice enough
for one person to deal with single handed.
Not badly prepared, but just not my type of food. Too low in saturated fat.
On show elsewhere some cheese from Darling named “Udderly Delicious”. She called her recipe between Gouda and
Cheddar “Skattie”. Darling in Afrikaans. So for R50 I got a skattie to come home with
me. Much cheaper than usual. Whilst I am being cheesy, I also bought a
lovely Witzenberger from Kimilili . So
what if calves had to go hungry so this cheese could be made. What would they have made from the milk? Cow shit.
As opposed to what I make from the cheese.
Second best of the festival was Brenda’s glazes. The mustard came home with me and the
balsamics just missed out. I did not
taste anything else, but based on the mustard I will try anything she
makes. Except taramasalata.
The very best of the day was South American ice lollies from
Las Paletas. Describing them to their
full potential is difficult, but I’ll have a go. It is a creamy, ice like structure on a
wooden stick. The flavours are
amazing! I had the guava shortcake and
need more of it! Everyone spoke highly
of these little sticks of joy.
A great day out for epicures.
Get some pictures here from Crush Magazine
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