On Saturday I woke up and was craving biltong. It was then that I remembered that my mother had received a gift of a "Mellerware Biltong King" biltong maker a few years back that had never been used. I believe these to be fairly scarce of late. I remember a friend of mine was hunting high and low for one and could not find it anywhere.
Lightbulb sold seperately
So a little trip down to Fruit & Veg City for some of their pieces of 'Biltong Strips' (literally strips of silverside beef) would be my first task. I managed to pick up around 1.5kg for a little over R100. The trick then was to obtain my spices. I picked up some coriander and black pepper from the local spice shop, but I was keen to do something different as well. I decided I'd do a chilli piece (with some really hot chilli powder and peppadew salt) as well as a paprika/nutmeg piece.
Spicy
After a soak in vinegar, I applied the various spice mixes and left the meat in the fridge to draw in some of the flavours (about 2 hours). I decided to spend the time watching my beloved Province beat the Sharks in the Currie Cup Final (YES PLEASE!!)
That's a lot of coriander
The Biltong King (the machine, not me) comes in pieces, so some minor assembly had to take place. Once this was up and running (checked that the lightbulb and fan were working) it was time to hang some meat.
The recipes all suggested leaving the meat to hang for 3 - 5 days to ensure that it is thoroughly dry. I'm not a big fan of wet biltong, so I bargained on sampling my goods on Thursday. I checked my handiwork daily, just to be sure everything was going according to plan.
Day 1 - Decided to make some Droë Wors too
Looking good
By Monday evening, the biltong was starting to look good. I decided by Tuesday, that it was time to sample the goods. And it was good. Ready to come out.
Not a bad haul
I'm pretty happy with the end result. The Biltong tastes good and the droë wors is not too bad either. The chilli biltong definitely needs to be cut thin and you should have a beer handy. It starts with great flavour and then, when you least expect it, the chilli klaps you. I took a sample of the regular biltong to work today and got good reviews from my colleagues. I had to show them the pictures as they didn't believe that I had made the biltong. Pretty chuffed with my first attempt at biltong making.
Well, as far as Wednesdays go, this has been a pretty good one.
Even though I'm busy trying to recover from a bloody flu/cold thing, I was up early and off to work bright eyed and bushy tailed. (had the wet nose too..)
I've really been missing Rebecca lately. There's just something about your own car that feels like home. And I wanted my baby back.
And then I got a call from the panel beaters to say that my car was ready for collection! Fantastic! (except for the part where I had to shell out just shy of R3k for my excess. Outsurance claims they can't find the bugger who caused the accident.)
So Rebecca is back, looking sexy as ever. I am a very happy guy right now.
Before
After
And so, what with it being Wednesday and time for the 3rd installment in our Starfinder Astronomy Course at the Iziko Planetarium, we decided that we would have a little picnic in the Company Gardens. The last few days in Cape Town have been super windy, but today was just awesome.
No wind, nice and warm...A perfect precursor to summer.
A short detour to Woolworths (I believe everyone has stopped, or never started, boycotting them now..) for some snack and it was off to the gardens.
Picturesque
What a spot for a picnic
This dude was just watching us...#freaky
Turns out he was just finishing his Streetwise Two
The New Vanilla Steri Stumpie..yummy
We had some munchies, with the squirrels looking on. Spotted this random little dude in the pics above. Apparently he was winning the staring contest. At first I thought he was chewing on a stick, but it was actually a chicken bone. All in all, another fantastic impromptu outing in Cape Town. I love this city.
The Starfinder Astronomy Course was interesting as usual. We actually went outside this evening to spot two satellites one of which was the Hubble Telescope. Very cool. One of the guys asked the lecturer why stars seem to twinkle. Apparently the answer is not "Because that's how the song goes..." My bad.
And that was Wednesday.. Oh, Arsenal and Manchester City lost in the Champions League this evening. Can this day get any better? haha
Late last night I decided that today I would try something new. The weather in Cape Town is stunning, so I was not up to being stuck in doors. I knew I wanted to go for a drive, so I finally settled on Stellenbosch as my destination. More specifically, the Blaauwklippen Family Market.
Stunning Weather in Stellenbosch
Happening every Sunday at Blaauwklippen Wine Estate, it is a great way to spend the mid part of your Sunday. Parking is plentiful, they even let the older folk park quite close, which I thought was quite nice.
Specialized Parking
I did a few circuits of the market to take in all the stalls. You've got your usual craft stalls, pet items, jewellery, etc., but it was the food that I came for. And I was not disappointed. A taste exploration as many different ready to eat food stuffs were available. From Argentinian Steak rolls to Bitter Ballen, there was something for every taste, including Thai, Indian and freshly baked pastries and pancakes.
Vendors showing their wares
I'll have mine medium rare, please
Bitter Ballen with mustard..I'll take two.
Belgian Waffles anyone?
I also managed to pick up some fresh deli meats as well as some pucker Cornish Pasties. (although, I was a tad disappointed with the pasties. Bit on the dry side, pastry and filling). On the fresh pastry front, I picked up a delicious Parmesan Twist, which was like a giant Croissant in loaf form.
Parmesan Twist
There is plenty place to sit, either under the umbrellas in the courtyard or on the many grass areas, where your kids (if you have them) can go mad after a sugar rush. Bring a blanket or some camping chairs and you're sorted.
Craft Beer and Wine Tasting are also available but, as I was driving, I only looked on and drooled.
Plenty seating space
But for me, the stand out stall was Cold Gold Ice Cream. What could be better than some Ice Cream on a warm spring day? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I was rather intrigued by the different flavours that Janine van Zyl had available, but eventually settled on Liquorice. (They even have a selection of Vegan Ice Cream...)
Loads of flavours to choose from
WOW. It was delicious. If you like liquorice (which you should) you must try this out. I tweeted about it while I was savouring it under a tree and got a response almost immediately. The beauty of Social Media and the importance of ORM (Online Reputation Management). This prompted me to go back and buy one for the road. I got the 66% Chocolate Ice Cream (last one that they had!). A little pot of chocolate gold. I swear, this had a halo around it when I opened it. Absolutely heavenly.
Chocolate Gold
Gabrielle over at www.deepfriedbananas.com is going to be doing a piece on Janine soon, so keep an eye out for it. I'm glad to say that I now have a reason other than wine to go to Stellenbosch. And with summer on it's way, you should definitely give this a try.
I am a huge fan of the Neighbourgoods market at the Old Biscuit Mill.
On Saturday mornings you will find it bustling with activity, people browsing, eating, 'kuiering'.
Fresh Veg, Beer on Tap, COFFEE! and generally an eclectic mix of personalities.
What better way to start your Saturday, right?
Now I know there are a number of more than decent markets out there and I am open to education.
My request to you, dear reader, is for you to take part in my poll (hopefully the first of many).
Please tell me what your favourite Cape Town Food Market is and maybe it will be the topic of a future post..
