Yes, it might sound too early, but traditionally September is the month to bake your Christmas or fruit-cakes. These indulgent cakes perform best after a rest of about two months during which the flavours integrate with each other and the cake ripens into the moist wonder often written about. Pierneef à La Motte’s Culinary Consultant...

If you are short on time, grill a fillet but if you would like to spend some time in the kitchen, try this traditional Cape recipe for King’s Bread Soup. It is rich and hearty, but makes for an elegant combination with most red wines. Pick your favourite here. KING’S BREAD SOUP Ingredients 700 g beef shin...

What better way to warm up a wintery day in the Winelands, than a traditional Cape Brandy Tart? This recipe is part of the collection of well-researched recipes in our Cape Winelands Cuisine Cookbook, sharing the history of food and the traditional ways of cooking with beautiful photography and recipes adjusted for the modern day...

The oldest known bobotie (curried minced meal) recipe originated with Apicius, who cooked for the wealthy during the reign of the Roman Empire. This sweet-and-sour dish was baked with the characteristic egg custard on the top and meat, fish, vegetables, nuts, herbs and spices were added to the recipe. The first bobotie made at the...

With a focus on sourcing local and sustainable ingredients, foraging or “hunting” for ingredients has become increasingly popular under chefs and their culinary following and with winter in the Cape Winelands, it is now the time to collect wild mushrooms. Today, harvesting wild mushrooms is not a well-known concept in South Africa. We have all...

Try this recipe for a savoury cheese tart from our Cape Winelands Cuisine cookbook. (P. 213) Cheese tart Recipe Serves: 4 This recipe doesn’t contain sugar, but the cheesecake can be served with preserved maketane, green figs or a liberal drizzling of honey on top. Even berries will be a good accompaniment. Ingredients Butter, for...

On 1 August we are presenting an evening of Vintage Wine & Venison with La Motte Cellar Master Edmund Terblanche and Pierneef à La Motte’s Chef Chris Erasmus. Edmund will give insights into the maturation of wine, as well as how and why they pair with the specific dishes, while Chef Chris will explain his...

This is an old soup recipe, but it certainly would not seem out of place in any modern cookbook. The original recipe doesn’t specify the herbs to be used and only refers to a ‘bunch of herbs’. In this recipe we prefer to use basil, but you can replace it with herbs of your choice....

In some of the old cookbooks, the terms ‘curried fish’ and ‘pickled fish’ were used indiscriminately, causing confusing as to the ingredients used. Generally, however, pickled fish referred to a recipe where the fish was cooked in flavoured vinegar, without the addition of saffron or turmeric. In this mouthwatering recipe, raisins and a boiled vinegar-and-spice...

Chef Chris Erasmus of Pierneef à La Motte Restaurant shares a green recipe for summer from the Cape Winelands Cuisine recipe book (page 165). In Van Riebeeck’s time, artichokes were in abundance at the Cape and used in many recipes, adapted for the modern-day kitchen and palate. This recipe for Steamed Artichokes with fennel is...