Roger's View of the World, Love and Seafood Gumbo!
Seize the Day! Put no trust in the morrow! — Horace
Karen brought ol’ Dad something nice from South Africa…. “Biltong” … this is their version of what we refer to as beef Jerkey…. strips of seasoned and dried meat. Jerkey is big in our neck of the woods and in our family. We love it! Cataneo’s is our local favorite!
The yello package is of some Kudo Biltong that Karen tells me can be found any where in Capetown; however, this particular Springbok Biltong could only be found in Kruger National Park.
Marilyn Merlot and the Naked Grape by Peter F. May is a wonderful little book simply about interesting wines from around the world with… unusual names. Marilyn Merlot by Napa Wine Company is a “…leggy red offer(ing) blackberry, chocolate, and smokey toast flavors.” ‘Negociant’ David Wright’s “The Naked Grape” is a ‘collection’ of hand picked wines from various vintners. Peter’s Book is packed with interesting stories, illustrations and reviews… a great read.
The “Goats do Roam” story is an amusing one as is their ever present label here in America. However, I can see why the folks producing “Cotes du Rhone” tried to get the label banned in France. In California, we have our own local favorite, a blended star, entitled “Cotes du Robles” (38% Mourvedre, 35% Syrah & 27% Grenache) by Eberle Winery ( one snobbish reviewer said it would be ‘great with a pizza’… but then, I say, so is Margaux).
The Goats du Roam family of various wines does house a ‘red’ with a familiar blend of Shiraz (90%), Pinotage (6.5%) and Mourvedre (3.5%).
Peter’s book contains quite a few wines that I would love to serve for the shock value alone. Not much is left to the imagination with names like: Truck Stop Girl, Under the Table, Dancing Monkey, French Kiss, Big Ass Red …. and lastly d’Vine! ( stop! I have been PUN-ished enough!)
Buy the book … it’s great with Margaux and Pizza!
Roger Freberg
PS. Peter’s Book is pictured above next to my Concord Grapes — which the ‘experts’ say can’t grow in this part of the world.
In the Movie with Errol Flynn “Robin Hood”… Robin is knocked off a log by ‘little John’ with the aid of a staff… after some consolation, Robin says,” I love a man who can best me!” Words to live by.
In an earlier post, I wrote on the virtues of “Bobotie” a South African dish of Cape-Malay origin… delicious! I presented it with a Kanonkop wine… just not the recommended one and I got caught! ouch!
To be fair, I had never thought of Pinotage… it had never been in my list of highly desired varieties… but sometimes, we all need ‘grapeness’ thrust apon us… and this peeked my curious mind.
It give me the opportunity to explore my “little John’s” site called “Pinotage.Org” … which I have found interesting and helpful … so much so, I decided to buy his book entitled “Marlyn Merlot and the Naked Grape” … I just ordered it off of his site… should be a fun read.
In life, we all need our ‘little John’s’,
Roger Freberg
Well… I finally put together my South African dish called “Bobotie” and it lived up to everythnig I hoped it would… delicious!
I was worried about how all the ingredients would fit together… add 2 onions, dried apricots, white raisons ( called santanas), lemon juice and peal, garlic, apple, almonds, eggs, bread crumbs and a variety of spices including… black pepper, salt, curry, tumeric… all mixed into ground lamb. It was wonderful.
Normally, I follow someone’s recipe religiously the first time… but 2ml of crushed garlic? what’s that?? I added more. South Africa’s own ‘Balls Chutney’ was perfect with the Bobotie!
On Epicurious, Lannice Snyman author of “Rainbow Cuisine” suggested a certain brand of “Pinotage” which I procured… Kanonkop, very nice and full bodied.
Amazing what you can do with only 2 lbs of meat!
Roger Freberg
My daughter Karla remarked that everyone on the Jenny Craig diet ( that includes all but Karla) seem to walking around sizing up just about every THING as to ‘edibility.’ That’s not quite true, I never thought about eating my neighbor’s dogs…hmmm… maybe, I could just ‘wok’ their dogs? hmmmm delicious!
After listening to Karen’s ‘foodie’ experiences in South Africa, particularly, sampling the game… Karla drew up a nice little picture of Karen chasing down ‘some’ of the items on her menu! I do understand Karen’s motivation… Laura says that I am now ‘hoarding’ wine and game meats ( Pheasant.com & Ostrich Farm)…. well… it goes with my 8 frozen turkeys!
Bobotie on Sunday! hmmmm…good!
Roger Freberg
PS. So, today was a Jenny Craig weigh-in day for me and I dropped another 2 lbs to 242. Oddly enough, this was my lowest collegiate weight as an athlete…. so I am moving in the right direction now.