Nomu Fonds and Tokara Deli.
FOR a while Woolies kept a range of liquid stocks in one litre long-life containers before inconveniently discontinuing them , just as I became reliant on them. They’re back in store now, albeit at half the size. Now that I’ve tried Fonds, the new concentrated liquid stock from NoMU foods, there’s no turning back. The bottle looks rather like an old-fashioned cough mixture dispenser and the thick, glossy concentrate (200ml that dilutes to six litres), looks like cough mixture. I think of it as medicine for my food.
We often make a risotto-style dish with rice-shaped pasta and mince. When we made it using the Beef fond, the dish almost tasted like something from a restaurant. It added a depth of flavour and a sheen that wasn’t there with the stock powder we usually use. We also added a drop of the Vegetable Fond to steaming carrots with very good results. I look forward to trying the lamb and chicken Fonds and hope the chaps at NoMU, being the innovators they are, will deliver a Fish Fond soon .
I’m looking at olive oils differently now. The Deli Cat Essen at Tokara’s The Olive Shed, Stellenbosch, offers tastings of their range of oils. Some are from single groves of trees while others are blends. As the snob that I am, I reached first for the Premium bottle which is a blend of Leccino, Frantoio, Coratina and Mission olive varietals but found that I enjoyed the more run-of-the-mill multi-varietal blend best.
The Deli restaurant is new. Foodies will know about the fine-dining Tokara restaurant which remains but the Deli now delivers delicious, quality food at a fraction of the price, in a family-friendly environment. You can order a selection of platters, the antipasti for two is recommended if you want to take time and soak up the atmosphere before moving to cooked dishes; as is the cheese platter for a savoury end to the meal. We were equally impressed with the Tokara Elgin Sauvignon Blanc which we quaffed while thinking about mains.
The weigh-and-pay system is perfectly suited to those with differing appetites and I liked the option of having tasting-size portions first before returning with a front-end loader. At R18/100g I thought it extremely good value. I found the food tasty and well made, even though the selection lacked the pizzazz I associate with dining-out. Buffet food here is what you’d expect from friends who’d invited you to weekend lunch on their farm. Culinary fireworks are, after all, just a block away at The Restaurant, so it makes sense that the offering of delicious roasted chicken and lamb with a selection of salads is what you want to eat.
Not only is there a little-people friendly menu, but also a selection of wooden toys and books. The biggest appeal though will be tree houses designed like weaver-bird’s nests and organic-shaped timber climbing frames in the gardens.
The views from anywhere on the Hellshoogte road are vast but from inside the glass cube structure at the Deli, breathtaking. We began our meal outside but by the time we were ready to end it, we were too hot and headed for the air-conditioned comfort of inside. My uncle visiting from London said he knew of nowhere in Europe where good food was served in sophisticated surroundings with mountain and valley views such as we had here. I think he’s right.
www.tokara.com 021- 808-5900.
[22-Jan-10]
Brian Berkman
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