Taste of Cape Town 2014 | The Highlights

 

This past weekend was time to feast with Taste of Cape Town. We visited the festival on a glorious Saturday afternoon - our hit list for the day : Azure at the 12 Apostles, Beefcakes Burger Bar, Makaron at Majeka House. We also made pit stops at Daniela's Decadent Macarons, the Big Green Egg and Camissa at the Table Bay Hotel.

We tried to work systematically - and made Beefcakes our first stop for the day. Having never been to the restaurant, but hearing good things about it, we were keen to try their menu - deep fried jalapeno poppers with cream cheese and sweet chilli and a lemon mayo, followed by an ostrich burger with mature Camember, cranberry sauce, rocket and beer-battered onion rings.

Verdict - it was good. The chilli popper was actually exceptional and the burger was everything they promised it would be. They are not fine dining, nor claiming to be - and I think that's a victory. Good food. Something that set them apart? Their 'just add water' wet wipe tablets - genius.

We then wandered over to the Big Green Egg - having seen it used my numerous chefs, I was keen to find out more first hand. Firstly - this is not a braai. This is a cooking system. From making pizzas and grilling at 400º C, to smoking chicken, cheese and everything in between at a controllable 93 to 177°C this is pure genius, which also just so happens to allow you to braai. To find out more, head over here.

The Big Green Egg comes in five sizes - but, starting at R5000 for the mini. Not cheap, but well worth the investment if the thought of making authentic pizzas or smoking your own Mozzarella excites you. Should one just happen to come our way, we have the perfect green spot on our balcony for it.

We then headed on to Makaron at Majeka House who was offering a peanut butter sandwich with peanut streusel and apricot jam ice cream. I love peanut butter on anything, so this was always going to be an obvious choice. I loved the peanut element of the dish, but was sadly not a fan of the ice cream - having an ingredient as 'tart' as apricot jam with a dairy product just made my brain think of sour milk. Perhaps my palate simply isn't sophisticated enough. I'm sorry Makaron, I know you're lovely, but I think the ice cream could have been a different flavour.

Ah, Azure at the Twelve Apostles - cured blesbok, rooibos and citrus cured venison tartare, salt baked beetroot, pickled onion, apple gel, walnut crumble and labneh, followed by char sui pork Mirin-glazed belly, pork popcorn, bitterballen, smoked potato and pea puree, plum chutney and a cider jus. Easily, hands-down, the highlight of Taste of Cape Town. Exceptional in absolutely every way - from concept to flavour to plating and service, congratulations. There's really not much more to say - you were phenomenal. We're looking forward to seeing more of you.

Back to the sweets, we couldn't go past Daniela's Macarons - not only were the jewel colours mesmerizing, but we believe them to be the best we've had. Gold dusted and vibrant turquoise with Red Velvet, Macadamia and White Chocolate and almost everything else on offer, it's the perfect take-home treat from the festival.

Keeping with the sweets, it's impossible to visit Taste without stopping by the Lindt Studio. An institution, their hot chocolate alone is reason to visit. Whether you would like to indulge in Lindor by the bag, tasters of their Excellence range, or pralines made in front of you - well, good luck in resisting.

We ended our tour with a stop at Camissa, by The Table Bay Hotel. We couldn't squeeze in another meal, but feel they are worth a mention for their stand and set up alone - with a mini lounge, dining table for guests to use and a wine stand offering sommelier advice, they were the stand-out when it came to conceptualization and execution - I've also heard on good authority that their food was also exceptional. Nicely done.

Note : We attended Taste as guests. All image and views are my own.