The Foodbarn

A whitewashed barn, glowing from within, welcomed me as I surrendered to a magical evening of intoxicating food and wine at The Foodbarn in Noordhoek.

This was the start of my journey at the Food and Wine Bloggers Indaba, to be held at Monkey Valley Beach Nature Resort, the following day and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

We were greeted with smiles and were whisked up to our table in the eaves of the barn – the table elegantly set with white linen and complimented with an eloquent arrangement of flowers.

Our waitress reminded me intensely of Vanessa from Gossip Girl, which I mentioned to her and we both laughed, setting the tone for the evening – animated elegance.

The first thing that caught my eye was the fact that all the wine on the menu could be ordered in carafes – 10 points scored already!

There were three food menus to choose from, the a’la Carte, Bistro and Degustation Menu. I chose to order from the Bistro Menu and my dining companion chose the a’la Carte.

After much deliberation as everything sounded temptingly scrumptious – I settled on “Fresh tuna tartare with lemon and chives, served on avo pulp with aioli, finished with minute fried prawns and pickled ginger.”

This may seem a mouthful, but in fact it was light and buzzed with clean flavours. The prawns were melt-in-the-mouth, smokey deliciousness – I couldn’t begin to give their magnificence justice. The tuna was paper thin, with the subtle flavours of the lemon, chives, avo and aioli complimenting its freshness. The surprising finale was the little red fish balls popping in my mouth, while the ginger left a refreshing aftertaste.

My friend’s starter was a duck extravaganza entitled, “My way around a free-range duck”: Homemade duck breast ham served with ripe melon and baby mesclun (assorted young salad leaves), Duck parfait brulee, Duck confit spring roll, finished with Port and citrus vinaigrette.

This can only be described as art on the palate.

And speaking of the palate, our palate cleanser was a boozy mango drinking sorbet – a brilliant idea and delicious.

My main was “spicy pork belly and chitterling sausage, wrapped in a crispy spring roll, served with roasted plum tomato, potato fritter and finished with a cream of mustard and fresh herbs” The unusualness of this dish caught my attention and didn’t disappoint as all the flavours worked in unison. I especially enjoyed the Christmassy spice of the pork belly encased in the crunchy spring roll.

The other main was “grilled free-range Namibian beef fillet served with potato fondant with cep (a type of mushroom) tapenade and fresh rocket, finished with a cream of cep and morel”

Although I couldn’t eat another bite; the selection of cheeses proved too much of a temptation and I just had to squeeze in a few cheesey biscuits, topped with tangy preserve.

Gluttonous bliss!

It was a lovely evening, made all the more amazing by the polished and friendly service, great company and of course excellent food.

I was now ready to embrace the Indaba!

The Way You Make Me Feel

The sun twinkled laughingly off the Atlantic Ocean as the car crawled up the Chapman's Peak Pass; the unexplainable pull that Cape Town has had over me intensified and I held my breath, gazing out at the ocean and wanting nothing else, but to call this mysteriously beautiful place home... Suddenly I saw the sign for Noordhoek and Monkey Valley and I began to giggle with excitement and squirm in my seat - I was coming here for the Food and Wine Bloggers Indaba on 20th February and I couldn't wait! What a surprise to find myself here, the pull must have been even greater than I imagined...

I am so looking forward to learning, chatting, growing, absorbing as much as possible, but especially to meeting all of you, the blogger friends that I have made over the last year - who of you do I finally have the pleasure of meeting?

The last few months have been a challenging time for me; everything that has been a constant is no longer there to rely on. As I try to figure out what I want from life and to make sense of all the thoughts racing around in my head; small things keep whispering at me, tugging me, begging me not to give up on the journey that I began over a year ago, with the intention of helping myself and others.

It amazes me how answers can be found in the most unexpected of places; the place in question was Wang Thai and the answer came in the form of a "Wang Thai Tini", which was ordered by a friend...

Strange that a cocktail can give you the answers that you have been looking for, but I don't think this was an ordinary cocktail, the magical properties of taste were at play. A combination of coriander, lime, ginger, chilli and coconut begging to be tried, savoured, enjoyed...

The first reaction my friend had was one of shock as the intensity of the chilli hit, burning the lips and almost making the eyes water.

The sense of the unknown was so overwhelming; I had to try it.

My experience, however, was totally different.

My first taste was of the coriander as it hit the back of my throat with a powerful earthiness that made me smile, then the tang and zing of lime and ginger held hands as they skipped over my tongue with the chilli in hot pursuit as if it was a bad wolf getting ready to devour the two innocent children, Lime and Ginger; the coconut, sensing that the chilli was becoming overbearing swept over my tongue in a soothing layer of silk and I sat there in awe, marveling at the effect that flavour has on me.

I tried to explain my experience to my friend, wanting desperately to share this magnificent feeling and I said, "Wouldn't it be amazing if you could taste the way I could?"

And that's when I thought, whatever I decide to do and wherever this year takes me, there is one thing that I will not let go of for anything and that is the way that taste makes me feel.