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At the Nellie, a food and wine match made in heaven

The dear old Nellie’s portal. (Photo: Supplied)

6 Sep 2024

Savouring shared flavours with this superb South African food and wine pairing.

How can we bring out the best in South Africa’s fabulous food and wonderful wine? At the Mount Nelson, Sommelier Keegan Terry and Executive Chef Luke Barry decided to emphasise, accentuate and celebrate common tastes, textures, aromas and cultures by serving springbok tartare, smoked egg yolk emulsion and spekboom salsa with Stellenbosch Vineyard’s Credo Chenin Blanc (2021).

The combination was crazy good. As Keegan observed: “Sometimes you want to create a contrast of opposites with a food and wine pairing, but in this case it was all about the amplification of similarity. Complementarity is everywhere and everything here. The lean, umami intensity of the springbok, the luxurious creaminess and complex smokiness of the egg yolk with that hint of minerality and then the crisp acidity of the spekboom. Firm, but not too much. Just like with the wine where those same traits are modified by the gentle fruit flavours. Everything you find in the food, you find in the wine.”

The chef agreed that “the moment we tried this pairing it just clicked. By aligning like with like, everything was enhanced. The experience was intensified. The wine’s velvety texture and the rich egg yolk emulsion echoed each other, elevating the whole dining experience. That is what you want with a food and wine pairing. Everything beautiful partnered and highlighted.”

Communicating emotion and a sense of place

Sommelier Keegan Terry opening the Stellenbosch Credo Chenin Blanc. (Photos: Rutger Jan van Spaandonk)

But that’s not all, folks. The pairing also powerfully communicated emotion and a sense of place. Luke (who has been working in Asia for more than a decade and only recently returned to South Africa) said: “This really sums up how I am feeling right now. It is a reflection of how pleased I am to be home. I am heroing the unique tastes of this terroir. The magnificent produce. The great local techniques. We don’t want to overemphasise the cooking over fire, but we do want to recognise its presence. And engage with the ways in which our local wine is ideally placed to showcase the beauty of our food and cooking techniques.

“I love how the indigenous springbok and the spekboom complement each other. They exemplify the maxim that what grows together goes together. The spekboom brings a lovely acidity which runs through the tartare. The smoked emulsion creates a fattiness that the lean meat requires, but it also brings memories back to me. It gives me that Sunday braai feeling. That kiss of smoke.

“When I was a boy in Paarl, we would have these braais every weekend where the hard wood took hours to slowly burn down to just the right glowing coals, and after a while that smoky aroma infused everything. My mother would make a really great potato salad sprinkled with boiled egg, and I think that the memories that I associate with that time have found their way into this dish. Modified by my subsequent experience but definitely present. In the modern incarnation of this recipe, I have created a cured egg yolk purée (which looks like little jewels sitting on top of the springbok tartare).”

‘Suurwater’

Mount Nelson Hotel sommelier Keegan Terry and chef Luke Barry in conversation. (Photo: Rutger Jan van Spaandonk)

Keegan’s food memories went to the spekboom salsa, which “reminds me of the suurwater that our elders in Ocean View would make for us, picking it on Slangkop. That was their home remedy, energy drink. Everything. We drank it as medicine, and we took it to drink after school soccer practice. It kept you full and hydrated. At that time, we couldn’t afford lemons, but spekboom grew wild everywhere.”

The chef, who recently introduced the 2024 spring-summer menu (which includes the dish described above), reflected that: “The Mount Nelson is famous for doing the culinary classics really well, and I want to pay homage to the iconic history of the hotel. But it is important that we recognise the broader landscape and the abundant biodiversity of the Western Cape. Not only because it is environmentally sustainable to do so, but also because it is very delicious and of great interest to our guests. Many of those who stay with us want to learn about, and connect with, where they are.

“One of the best ways that we can do that is through food and wine. Even before a guest tastes this dish the gentle smoke from the egg introduces them to the smell of a South African Sunday. Wherever you go on a Sunday, that fragrance is in the air – it could be Langa or Constantia, braai will be in the air. A smokey, fatty, meaty, coriander seed infusion floating through everything. That was one of the things I really missed when I was working abroad – that culture of being around a braai. Not just the fire and the food. The culture of being with fellow South Africans around a braai.

“Obviously, the concept here on this plate has been reconfigured and modernised so that all the elements are present but elevated. It has our unique Mount Nelson twist, but I think it also retains the essence of what South Africa is. Both ancient and modern. Classic and contemporary cuisine meet on the plate and the wine glass. We are presenting our diners with a vibrant South African experience that they can only have here. An essential Cape moment, but also aware of world trends. All environmentally sustainable, because these ingredients are adapted to this land. Nothing has to be forced for them to thrive. World class, sustainable and unique. That is what we are all about.”

An intensely South African experience

The dear old Nellie’s portal. Aka Mount Nelson, a Belmond hotel. (Photo: Supplied)

For sommelier Keegan: “That commonality between the food and wine really centred this dish in its terroir. Emphasised an intensely South African experience. There was so much in common. That 18 months in the oak barrels even adds that bit of smokiness. It really brings the wine together in terms of texture and complexity. Not overpowering, just enough. That little nod to the braai. Then there are those subtle hints of cardamom in the wine that mirror the peppery notes coming from the spekboom. The springbok, the chenin, the spekboom and even our cooking-on-fire culture, they are all part of our heritage. It is just like they know each other. That’s why they complement each other so well. You have similar flavour profiles, similar textures and complexities. It’s a match made in heaven.”

Food and wine pairings work when the edible and quaffable elements combine to produce a pleasure sum greater than the component kitchen and cellar parts. This one definitely did. The match made something special and uniquely South African happen. Which was, after all, the aim of the exercise. DM

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