Wine of The Week: Rupert & Rothschild Classique 2011

As you might be expecting, the wine of this week comes from South Africa, more precisely from western cape region. This was my first wine of this trip, at Grillhouse so it had to be the wine of this week...

Pilanesberg National Park

We had our first contact with the African Wildlife in Pilanesberg National Park. If you are on a business travel to Johanesburg and you have a couple of days or a weekend free this may be an excellent option as it is not too big (about 550 km²) and is a bit less than three hours from Johannesburg the largest city in South Africa. 

It was an excellent appetizer before our trip to Botswana. It brought us the first emotions of watching some game that, till then, we’d just seen on TV or on the zoo just a couple of meters away from the car.

These were very special moments that I’ll never forget…

Please click the photos to enlarge 

The Grillhouse, You will never forget its meat...

Maybe due to the fact that I haven't really involved myself on our last holidays planning, I left Madrid thinking almost only on wildlife and on the safari experience I was about to live... 

And then, after 18 hours travelling and just a couple of hours in Johannesburg, this mindset completely changed... and I have now to correct the first sentence and add the amazing gastronomic experience we lived...

It may be difficult to explain, but if you are a meat lover like me, in the right moment you arrive the GrillHouse you feel that this is clearly a must go in South Africa and that you are about to experience an "another planet" meal... Just one tip for the next time you go to a Steakhouse: apart from the weight of the knife pick up the knife with one finger just in the middle between the blade and the handle. If it is heavy and it stays equilibrated you are dealing with a very special top quality knife, and it may mean you are about to taste same or better quality food...

In fact I was completely right! From the starters, of which I would highlight the snails to the main courses that, to be honest, were the best ribs and rump steak I've tasted the whole holidays and, no doubt, if not the best one of the best I've ever eaten!

If you sum to this a very correct staff attention a really interesting wine list, and most important a great group of friends, you get an excellent meal like we had.

After the meal I understood why our friend Juan made the dinner reservation in advance, we could not miss it! It is really a pity that it is so far away from Madrid... 

A tip If you live around: visit the amazing shop, just in front of the restaurant and try do this amazing steaks at home!

Where?

The Grillhouse, Corner of Oxford Road and Bierman Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg (+27 11 880 3945; www.thegrillhouse.co.za)

How Much?

Aprox. 25 - 35€

My first African Experience

My first time in Africa has been a unforgettable gastronomic, photographic and, I would also say, life experience! In the next couple of weeks you can find here several posts about it! 

Beef steak with Soya sauce and Asparagous

I was looking for a different recipe to use the asparagus I had in the fridge in order to avoid avoid it to spoil during my holidays, and I found this fabulous recipe from the Portuguese Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa , beef steaks with soy sauce and asparagus.

You will need :- Asparagus (1 per steak )- 4 beef sirloin steaks
- 1 tablespoon of sugar- 75 ml light soya sauce (as I only had normal soya sauce I added about 5 ml of rice vinegar)
- Ginger ( a bit smaller than the thumb )- Chives
- Olive oil and pepper
Cut the head of the asparagus and sauté in a hot pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Cut a sheet of cling film and place on the board , put the steaks over the sheet, cover with another sheet of cling film and flatten the meat with hand. Remove the cling film and set aside. In a bowl mix together the light soya sauce , 1 tablespoon sugar and the grated ginger.Season the steaks with pepper and then brush them with the soya sauce, add the chopped chives and roll the steaks around the asparagus head . Brush again with the soya sauce and season with pepper.
Fry on a hot pan with a drizzle of olive oil, brushing the meat again with the sauce. when it is ready dredge it with chopped chives and serve it immediately.