Culinary Demonstration – Sanaa – Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2012

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2012

David Njorge, Sanaa, Kidani Village, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge

September 30, 2012

Wine:  Spice Route Chenin Blanc

Charl du Plessis, Vintner, The Spice Route Winery (South Africa)

Tasting Note: Light straw colour. Complex tropical nose with spiced flavors hinting at modern oaking. Palate is full bodied with a creamy rich mouth-feel, with a lingering fresh pineapple finish.

Predominantly Chenin Blanc from a 34 year old vineyard on the Rheeboksfontein farm in Swartland. Trellised vines are planted on a south east facing slope and are dryland farmed. The soils are predominantly koffieklip.

Grapes are harvested by hand. The bunches were gently destalked and crushed and the juice was settled for 48 hours before fermentation in French oak barrels. 8% new barrels were used with the balance being 3rd and 4th fill barrels. After alcoholic fermentation, the wine underwent partial malolactic fermentation, with weekly battonage for the the 11 months that it spent in oak.

“partial malolactic fermentation” – this is when the tart tasting malic acid is converted to the softer tasting lactic acid

“weekly battonage” – weekly stirring of the “lees”

“lees” – dead yeast cells

Menu

Spicy Durban-Style Chicken, Coconut Pilaf, Cucumber Riata and Coriander Chutney

Recipes

Durban-Style Chicken (see last year here)

notes:

• use chicken thighs because “they hold up well to the long-slow cooking method” – nora begs to differ that this is a “long-slow cooking method,” all together the chicken is cooked less than 30 minutes BUT it is likely that using chicken breasts would result in a dryer, less-tasty product
• “lamb or tougher cuts of beef would work well” – agreed, but looking at the recipe again, nora would probably simmer WHATEVER meat was used longer than 30 minutes (our impression is that the protein itself didn’t really absorb a lot of flavor)
• “or shrimp can be used” – well, if you use shrimp, we certainly hope that you don’t simmer it for 30 minutes or you’ll be eating shrimp with the texture of pencil erasers!
• the chef and Pam (our hostess) both talked about scotch bonnet chilis – nora couldn’t figure out why because they aren’t on the recipe anywhere; speaking of the recipe – this one was a nightmare of editing, sure as heck hope that no-one takes it home and expects to get real food out of it…
• the dry marsala mixture can be created and stored/used for up to a month
• make sure that the dry spice mixture is cooled before you grind it, otherwise, you end up with a paste instead of a powder – when you set it aside to cool, take it out of the skillet! it will continue to cook if you don’t and is likely to get scorched

 Coconut Pilaf:

• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 medium sized Spanish onion, diced
• 12 curry leaves, roughly chopped (they talked about possible substitutes, but the jist is, there isn’t really a good substitute)
• 1 tbs mustard seeds
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 c basmati rice
• 1/4 c shredded coconut
• 2 c water
• 1 c coconut milk
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbs coarse salt

1. heat the oil in a medium sized pot; add onions and curry leaves and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes
2. add mustard and cumin seeds and continue to cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until spices begin to brown and turn fragrant
3. stir in rice and cook for 2 minutes; add shredded coconut and stir while cooking until coconut is fragrant, 3-4 minutes
4. add coconut milk, water, lime juice, and salt; bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover pot and cook rice for 15 minutes
5. turn off heat, fluff rice using a fork and serve

Cucumber Riata:

• 1.5 c plain yogurt
• 1 c cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced small
• 1/2 small jalapeño, seeds and stem removed, minced
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and freshly ground
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp coarse salt

1. stir yogurt smooth, pour into cheesecloth-lined colander or strainer; let drain for at least 2 hours
2. combine all ingredients in bowl; chill before serving

 Coriander Chutney:

• 2 c cilantro, washed & dried, large stems removed
• 1/2 c mint leaves, washed & dried
• 1/4 small jalapeño pepper, seeds and stem removed
• 2 tsp peeled minced ginger
• 2 tbs finely chopped yellow onion
• juice from 2 lemons, to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp coarse salt

combine all ingredients in food processor and puree until smooth; refrigerate and eat within 4-5 days

Our notes:

Wine:

• heat makes him feel like he’s back home in South Africa
• this is the most common grape in South Africa
• should smell & taste: apples, pears, tropical fruit
• nose (nora): a little fruity & a little acidic
• taste without food (nora): very dry & acidic, wouldn’t want to drink this on its own – sure fire recipe for acid indigestion
• taste without food (nick): too oaky
• taste with food (nora & nick): the wine is able to stand up to the spice of the durban chicken, but it doesn’t complement the chicken; the cilantro chutney (we both expected to DISLIKE, but we actually liked it) paired better with the wine

Food:

• we both felt like here was a good amount of spice in the durban sauce, but overall, it didn’t seem as flavorful as last year or when we’ve eaten the dish at Sanaa (different Chef last year)
• the coconut rice was another surprise, we both liked it quite a bit and nick thought that it had a good texture, especially considering that the food was served “convention style”
• chutney was a surprise in that we liked it, luckily nick’s plate had a very small amount of chutney (he doesn’t care for cilantro) and nora’s plate had more
• the cucumber riata was what we expected

Presentation & Service:

• The servers were very inefficient – they double-teamed the front tables and bypassed the back tables (us of course), then they had to come back and serve the back tables; it would have been more expeditious to serve differently
• The chef… honestly, he wasn’t a good presenter, looks like a good cook, but not entertaining or engaging