A Cultural Revolution in the Swartland

The darling of French philosophy, Alain Badiou, declared back in 1977 “there is only one great philosopher of our time: Mao Zedong.” Mao is most famous for three things: the declaration of the People’s Republic of China on 1 October 1949; the cultural revolution and as the subject of an Andy Warhol portrait (below). Mynhardt Joubert, the chef who revolutionized Swartland cuisine at Bar Bar Black Sheep has managed to wittily combine all three elements in CROC Cultural Revolution on Kasteel. This croc is a Sunday dim sum lunch in De Oude Kerk in Riebeek-Kasteel on 30 September (the day before China’s national day) along with Swartland wines carefully matched to local ingredients following a blind tasting of 80-odd Swartland W.O. terroir wines last month for our Neil Pendock’s Winelands Guide 2013.

The CROK menu in full:

Canapés
Hoisin Beans wrapped in Kudu Carpaccio
The Royal Hotels Avocado and Cucumber Wasabi Ritz
Confit of Duck Biryani with Night Shade Preserve

Cold Dim Sum
Ginger and soy marinated Darling Mushroom salad
Wild Boar terrine with crab apple and mint sauce
West Coast Snoek Fishcakes with Pineapple and coriander sambal

Steamed Dim Sum
Waterblommetjie and Springbok Dumpling
Boland pear and apple bobotie Xia Lon Bun
Pork and Cherry Sui Mai
Roasted leg of lamb and mint dumpling
Steamed black sesame and black olive rice balls
Vine roasted Skilpadjies

Sweet dim Sum
Green Tea Sponge with white chocolate and vanilla ganache
Coconut milk jelly with fresh strawberries
Dark orange chocolate cherries

Wines will include Anton Espost’s Santa Cecilia #1 2011, a favourite of the Gouda Book Club and the Painted Wolf Guillermo Pinotage 2009 which found favour with the ABSA Top Ten judges (mea culpa) as well as some jewels from the Riebeek Cellar.

Tickets cost R275 each and can be purchased from [email protected]