This post forms part of the series of recipes I am preparing for Mediterranean Delicacies. It is a Food and the Fabulous Endorsed project and I will be remunerated for it.

I was given the challenge of preparing dishes with combinations chosen by Mediterranean Delicacies. Sun dried tomato pesto is so versatile, I often stir it into pastas, cover a slice of bread with it thickly and top with grilled veggies from dinner or slices of left-over roast chicken. It also makes a great salad dressing for a green salad with feta cheese – mix some of the pesto with olive oil and lemon juice.

This challenge paired the pesto with Medi Deli’s Basil Pesto Mayo – I combined the sun dried tomato pesto into a savoury scone (you can add some Parmesan on the top if you prefer) and served with the basil pesto mayo instead of butter. A really lovely combination and look at the colours!

Hope you enjoy this recipe.

Ingredients

Makes 8 large scones

500 ml self raising flour

1/2 t salt

100 g cold butter, cut up into small blocks

125 ml Greek yoghurt or buttermilk

1 extra large free-range egg

30 ml milk

4 T Medi Deli Sun dried Tomato Pesto

Method

Preheat oven to 200˚ Celsius. Grease a baking tray.

Sift dry ingredients in the bowl.

Mix cut up butter with flour using gentle movements with your fingers till fine bread crumbs achieved.

In a separate bowl whisk yoghurt, milk, egg and sun dried tomato pesto until just mixed.

Make a well in centre of flour, pour the liquid in.

Gently fold with spatula until incorporated, do not overmix.

On a floured surface form dough into a ball gently pat dough to 2.5 cm thickness using your hands. You can use a rolling pin, but the less you interfere with the dough, the lighter the consistency of the scone will be.

Cut into rounds or squares using a cookie cutter or free-style shapes with a knife.

Place on greased baking tray.

Bake for 12-15 minutes till golden brown.

Serve with Medi Deli Basil Pesto Mayonnaise (butter is also a good option)

*This recipe was developed for Sasko Flour, who approached me to find ways to use their products creatively. I agreed to this project as Sasko Flour products have been used in our house and my mother’s for so very many years. I’m pretty sure if you live in South Africa, you have a packet of cake flour or self raising flour from them too *

In this recipe I used the Sasko Flour Quick Treats Bran Muffin Mix in combination with grated sweet potatoes to make a rosti. I think this combination would also work well using peeled, mashed sweet potato with the mix to make a fat flap jack, also to be served with smooth, salty snoek or smoked snoek paté or even a thick dollop of creme fraiche. I served this with lemon zest which always adds such lovely lift to dishes sweet and savoury.

There are several methods to make rosti – pre-cooking works well in my kitchen. I know of some cooks who swear by frying a thin layer of raw potato combined with nothing more than salt and egg, and even those who make rosti with just seasoned potato.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Ingredients

2 cups (500 ml) grated sweet potato (washed, dried, skin on)

50 ml Sasko Quick Treats, Bran Muffin Mix

1/4 t fine salt

ground white pepper, to taste

1 large free range egg

2 T olive oil + 1 T butter —-plus extra

To serve: one tub snoek paté or creme fraiche with lemon zest.

Omit the snoek pate for a vegetarian option

Method

Leave grated sweet potato in colander over a bowl to drain for 30 minutes. Press any water out.

Pre-heat oven on middle rack to 160˚C. Spray and cook a large baking tray and spread sweet potato over.

Bake for 15 min on fan-assist setting. Remove and allow to cool in a place where the steam can evaporate.

Add cooled grated sweet potato, Quick Treats Bran mix, salt, egg and pepper to a bowl and mix with a fork to combine.

Heat a teflon coated pan. Add olive oil and butter.

On medium-high heat, spoon mixture in flat disks, pressing with a spatula.

Allow to brown and turn, cooking other side.

Add more oil and butter to pan if needed.

Serve warm with snoek pate and lemon zest, if preferred.

Budget isn’t the most exciting word. In fact it can be quite depressing and brings to mind all kinds of limits. And Angela Merkel. Yes, far from exciting. However, all of us have to reign in the spending and the world is experiencing one of the most severe economic crises of our time. I am currently in Europe and having just spoken to a range of people in Athens, it brings home more than ever, the severity of the situation felt by people all over.

When Woolworths gave me the challenge of preparing a meal for four for R150, a “budget” meal, I knew three things should into play so that the eater (and the cook) would not feel deprived in any way:

1. Flavour.  For the main meal I used pasta which is usually a cupboard staple and bacon which affords lots of flavour even if you use a little of it. Onions are browned to add depth and chilli gives you a satisfying spice-injection. Broccoli isn’t just nutritious, it also adds some crunchy texture.

2. Easily available ingredients. Everything for this meal should be available at your local supermarket. The worst thing when considering the pennies is to have to go from shop to market to deli to find the ingredients for supper. The instinct then is to opt for cheap, non- nutritious take outs. Leave the leisurely food shopping for when the wallet and the clock allows. I assumed that the cook in this instance is preparing a meal on a busy week day, so I created a quick, easy but nutritious meal.

3. A treat. Even though you’ve had to carefully consider the spend, you can still serve a refreshing drink (home made iced tea in this case) as well as dessert. What’s not to love about that?

Cooks Notes

I have assumed that reader would have salt, sugar and vegetable stock liquid or cubes in the grocery cupboard as well as a lemon and an egg in the fridge.

If you prefer, substitute the bacon with a chicken breast or piece of steak pan fried and cut into very thin strips.

If you prefer a vegetarian option, use one large aubergine, cut into slices and pan griddled instead of the bacon.

On a day that you have more time, buy one pack of beef or ostrich mince instead of bacon (relatively same price as the dry cured bacon I purchased) and brown with the onions and slow cook with the tomato, adding water as needed for a bolognaise sauce. Leave out the broccoli or add a can of barlotti or red kidney beans towards the end of cooking to bulk the dish up.

Bacon and Broccoli Chilli Pasta

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 5 min, Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

500 g penne pasta, prepared according to package instructions *

1 pack dry cured bacon

1 medium onion, finely diced

10 ml vegetable oil

300 g broccoli florets

200 ml vegetable stock

1 red chilli, finely chopped

2 x 400g cans chopped, peeled tomatoes

1/2 t sugar

salt, to taste

Method

Chop the bacon into bite sized pieces, dab dry with kitchen paper towels and fry in an extra wide pan on high heat until it crisps. If you use a teflon coated pan you do not need to use oil. Remove and set aside.

Turn heat down to medium and add oil to same pan. Fry onion until it softens. Allow to brown very slightly – this will add to the flavour of the dish.

Add broccoli to the pan (this is where using a wide pan comes in handy – all cooking done in one vessel!). Add salt and fry for 5 minutes, turning.

Add stock to pan and cook for a further 5 minutes.  Add chillis and stir.

Empty cans of tomato in and mix well. Add sugar and adjust seasoning. Cook for 3- 4 minutes. Add a little water of sauce is too thick.

Add crispy bacon to tomato sauce and serve over bowls of just cooked pasta.

* making your own pasta is inexpensive and the taste of fresh pasta is incomparable.

View the post on Woolie’s site here: http://www.woolworths.co.za/Home/Week-10/Ishay-s-Blog-The-Budget-Challenge-Feed-4-for-R150/cat596236.cat

Refreshing Iced Tea

Makes 6 glasses

Ingredients

5 rooibos or tea bags of your choice

500 ml hot water

1 l apple juice

1 lemon, cut into slices

Method

Steep tea bags in hot water in a tap pot or heat proof bowl. Allow water to cool. Remove bags.

Add tea to apple juice in a large jug and chill in the fridge.

Adjust sweetness if preferred.

Serve over ice with slices of lemon

Easy Fig Puff Pastry Squares

makes 8-10 mini pastries

Ingredients

1 egg yolk

1 x roll regular puff pastry

1 punnet figs, each sliced in three

Method

Preheat oven to 200 ˚ C. Grease a baking tray.

Use a fork to mix egg yolk in a bowl.

Unroll the puff pastry on a smooth surface. Cut into squares or rectangles – size of your choice.

Reserve pastry some to cut into 1 cm strips to add borders to each square.

Place on tray and leave in fridge for 5 minutes to chill.

Remove and brush pastry with egg yolk.

Add slices of fig to each square. Bake for 10 minutes at 200 ˚C.

Lower heat to 180 ˚ C and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Cool on wire rack. I prefer to serve these warm with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if you have.

This post forms part of the series of recipes I am preparing for Woolworths, the food sponsor for MasterChef SA. It is a Food and the Fabulous Endorsed project and I will be remunerated for it

This post forms part of the series of recipes I am preparing for Mediterranean Delicacies. It is a Food and the Fabulous Endorsed project and I will be remunerated for it.

I was given the challenge of preparing dishes with combinations chosen by Mediterranean Delicacies. For this recipe, their chicken liver pate peri-peri combined with their tzatziki. I must admit, I read the brief a few times to see if I’d made a mistake. I was stumped at first.

I knew I didn’t want to mix the two ingredients directly. Then the idea emerged: make the pate into a warm pastry wheel sprinkled with cayenne pepper and offset it with a cool, creamy dollop of tzatziki. The result: fun to serve and eat finger-food!

I am leaving Istanbul this morning, back to our base in Lisbon. It has been an incredibly rewarding, educational and delicious time spent on this side of Europe: Athens and Istanbul. I have met such warm people, tasted an incredible array of foods, some at the most authentic of locations run by the same families for generations. We have walked along ancient cobbled streets, gotten lost, satisfied our hunger with food from street carts, sat on benches absorbing the richness of architecture and contemplated the question we always ask when travelling “Could I live here?”

For the food alone, the answer is yes, probably. But, onwards we venture. I can’t wait to write about some of our experiences here in Istanbul as well as Athens and London before that.

Hope you’ve had a lovely weekend!

Ingredients

20 cm length of puff pastry

1 tub Medi Deli Chicken Liver Pate Peri Peri

1 free-range egg yolk, beaten lightly with a fork

1/2 t cayenne pepper or paprika (optional)

To serve: 1 tub Medi Deli Tzatziki

Method

Grease a baking tray and preheat oven to 200˚ Celsius.

Unroll the puff pastry and mark off and cut 20 cm length.

Spread the pate over the pastry

Roll tightly, but neatly into a mini swiss roll.

Cut into 1 cm disks with a sharp knife. Gently re-shape into cirlces.

Place on a plate and leave in fridge for 6 – 10 min to firm up.

Remove and brush with egg wash.

Bake on prepared baking tray for 10 minutes at 200 ˚Celsius and for a further 8-10 at 180 ˚ or until golden and cooked through.

Leave to cool slightly on tray, sprinkle cayenne pepper over and place on wire rack to cook completely.

Serve with Medi Deli Tzatiki.

As seen on Medi Deli FB page:http://www.facebook.com/medideli

This post forms part of the series of recipes I am preparing for Mediterranean Delicacies. It is a Food and the Fabulous Endorsed project and I will be remunerated for it.

I was given the challenge of preparing dishes with combinations chosen by Mediterranean Delicacies. In this case their Peppered Mackerel with their hummus that I spiced using cayenne pepper. I flaked the fish in a rice dish known as kedgeree and used the spiced hummus to season it, like one would with a sauce or sambal. A spicy, satisfying meal that showcases the lovely smoked peppered mackerel fillet.

Kedgeree has always been a versatile dish to use up left overs. In the Cape it is served with a fish (often smoked) like haddock, flaked and boiled eggs. The rice is spiced with a masala and fried with onions.

We called this dish kitchiri when I was growing up and it was served with rice, boiled eggs and vegetables that we had at hand. I prepared an easy snoek kedgeree previously, seasoned with cumin. You can read about that here.

If you’ve been following my travels, I am now in Istanbul and have been for the last three days. It is not only the place to enjoy doner kebap and baklava, but a bounty of fish, both fresh and pickled. I have not had the grilled mackerel sandwich yet, but can’t wait!

Ingredients

Serves 2 as a light meal or starter

1 x Mediterranean Delicacies Peppered Mackerel, skinned and flaked.

3 T finely chopped onion

1 T olive oil

1 T butter

1 t medium masala or curry powder

1/3 t turmeric

1 1/2 cup cooked basmati rice

1 small salad onion, snipped

1 T finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

2 large free range eggs, boiled – medium softness

salt, to taste

1/4 t  cayenne pepper

1 tub Mediterranean Delicacies Hummus

Method

On medium heat, add oil and butter to a medium sized frying pan and fry the onions.

When onions are soft and translucent, add masala and turmeric and stir. Cook for 30-40 seconds, turning heat down.

Add rice and mix well. Add flaked fish, spring onions and salt- mix.

Serve with wedges of boiled eggs and a scattering of parsley.

Add paprika to hummus and mix. Add extra virgin olive oil if you wish and serve with kedgeree.

This post forms part of the series of recipes I am preparing for Mediterranean Delicacies. It is a Food and the Fabulous Endorsed project and I will be remunerated for it.

Kalimera!

I was given the challenge of preparing dishes with combinations chosen by Medi Deli. In this case, their anchovies with their biltong dip.

I combined the salty anchovies with onion to make a deeply savoury beer bread and served thick slices of it with the creamy biltong dip.

It’s really fitting I think, to post these recipes right now, as Medi Deli foods have a predominately Greek origin and I am currently in Greece, enjoying not only the warm Greek hospitality but the range of foods and flavors too.

Sharing food meze or tapas style has always been a favourite; I feel particularly privileged to share the classics here in the country of origin. Of course everything must be accompanied by the anise flavoured apéritif ouzo or a strong shot of raki sipped slowly. A shot of mastic at the end of the (often long, and several course-long) meal helps aid the digestion. Opa!

Ingredients

3 cups sifted white bread flour

3 t baking powder

1 t salt

1/2  t ground white pepper

40 ml sugar

340 ml bottle beer

1/2 cup oil or melted butter (I used virgin olive oil)

125 ml onion, finely chopped plus 1 T olive oil

6 Medi Deli anchovy fillets, finely chopped

4 T parsley, finely chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Grease a standard size baking loaf tin.

Fry onions till soft and translucent, on medium heat in a pan with 1 T oil. Remove from heat.

Mix all ingredients together, until properly combined.

Pour batter into tin and bake for 1 hour or until skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 20 minutes before turning out onto wire rack.

Serve warm with Medi Deli biltong dip.

Recipe based on my Beer Bread with Lemon & Thyme

See this recipe on Medi Delis’ Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/medideli

*This recipe was developed for Sasko Flour, who approached me to find ways to use their products creatively. I agreed to this project as Sasko Flour products have been used in our house and my mother’s for so very many years. I’m pretty sure you have a packet of cake flour or self raising flour from them too *

These chocolate squares are gooey and dense and ideal to form into balls for the now popular cake-pops – coat in a thin layer of milk or white chocolate.

I love dried pomegranate arils- their sweetness increases upon dehydration and they look so darn pretty. Save some to sprinkle on top.

I am, in a matter of hours off to Athens. It will be my first visit. The economic crisis is a reality, and none more so than for Greece. The uprisings that tend to break out at any moment are reason for concern, naturally. I suppose the Greek language signs will justify me finally using the phrase “this is Greek to me”. Restaurant and food prices are really high too. I am excited but well aware that I should be alert and careful. I would give someone visiting Cape Town the same advice.

This is of course, an utterly selfish point of view. What about the Greeks living there? I hope to get some inclination, an honest and balanced view.

The problem (oh, what a burden!) of travelling like we have been for 21 days non-stop is the amount of packing, unpacking, checking, document accumulation, running for cabs and metros and planes.  You can tire and lose focus. I lost my bag with my new Nikon camera, lenses and video camera the day before yesterday. I can only blame myself. A little bit awestruck, tired and disorientated. I should know better.

But, I’ve taken a breath in and will try to apply new vigour to this leg of the journey. Nothing will be familiar. Which is wonderful, you’ll agree? And, still around two months to go.

Souvlaki Dimitri, here I come!

Ingredients

3 eggs

1/2 t vanilla extract

200 g butter, melted

250 g Sasko Quick Treats Chocolate Muffin Mix

2 T cacao powder, best quality

1/8 t salt

125 ml finely grated or pulped beetroot

2 T dried pomegranate arils

50 g white chocolate broken into bits plus extra to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 180˚ Celsius and grease a 20 x 20 cm baking pan.

Mix eggs and vanilla.

Sift Sasko Quick Treats Chocolate Muffin mix, cacao and salt into a bowl.

Add eggs and melted butter and mix through to combine.

Fold in beetroot and pomegranate arils.

Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 15- 20 minutes or intil a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.

Will reamin dense and gooey. Cool for 20 minutes.

Cut into squares and remove onto wire rack to cool completely.

Serve with shavings of white chocolate.

This post forms part of the series of recipes I am preparing for Woolworths, the food sponsor for MasterChef SA. It is a Food and the Fabulous Endorsed project and I will be remunerated for it

Desserts are more than something to look forward at the the end of the meal. They are, in my opinion, a great part of the meal and in many cases make it. Perhaps that is my sweet-tooth talking, but if you apply moderation and sensibility there is no reason why desserts (or any food group, except those on red lists) should be banned.

I won’t eat rich chocolate pudding with each meal every night of the week, as tempting as that may be, but when I do, I enjoy it. I am happy to split a dessert at a restaurant and share the deliciousness (and the calories). I do think children’s diets should be monitored and fruit and healthy snacks encouraged, so that that they can grow up to be informed adults with balanced eating behaviours. The old saying of “don’t trust a thin chef” just simply isn’t true and, as with all things, moderation and healthful habits must come first. You want to be enjoying those sweet goodies for a very long time, right?

But, I detract from the important subject of desserts. I love spending time in the kitchen and when I throw dinner parties, or even have a few friends pop by informally, I like to serve a few savoury courses or share several tapas style plates. This means I’m sometimes scrambling around by the time I need to make dessert. My go-to options (as vanilla as they may be) are a panna cotta, chocolate fondants or this semifreddo. I change the ingredients according to what I have at hand – berries, nougat, meringues, passion fruit, figs. I love this semifreddo because of the unexpected, refreshing scent of lemon and and the freshness of the zest. It goes surprisingly well with rasberries and is creamy and indulgent.

Also, a good dessert to enjoy before winter kicks in.

Semifreddo translates to Italian for ‘half -cold” or half-frozen and sets in hours. Your guests will still feel like you put as much effort into dessert as you did with the rest of the meal. Easy points for the cook!

Featured by Woolworths here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150795066073178&set=a.10150795065828178.408561.214878073177&type=1&theater

Ingredients

Serves 6

3 free-range eggs, separated

1/2 t vanilla essence (not extract) – optional

3 T castor sugar

1 x tub (250 g) mascarpone cheese

1/2 t lemon extract (or 1 t essence)

250 ml fresh cream (whipping)

1 t castor sugar

250 ml raspberries – fresh or frozen, slightly thawed if frozen (or berries of your choice), sprinkled with 1 T castor sugar

1 large lemon, zested

Method

Beat the egg yolks, vanilla essence (I don’t like the idea of raw egg, so I always add essence; extract would be over-powering in this recipe) and castor sugar till frothy.

Mix the mascarpone and lemon essence in a separate bowl till it softens. Add this to egg yolk mixture and beat well, till lumps disappear.

Whip the egg white till stiff but not dry. Gently fold into into the mascarpone/egg mixture, in two lots.

Whip the fresh cream and teaspoon of caster sugar till firm. Don’t over beat.

Fold cream gently into mascarpone mixture.

Use a fork to gently smash the macerating berries. Add berries and half the lemon zest to the mascarpone and mix gently to distribute.

Spoon into a medium-sized  greased silicone mold, or individual ramekins, also greased, or oil and cover a standard baking tin with cling film and pour mixture in.

Freeze for four hours or until set.

Remove from freezer and allow to soften very slightly (use a hot tea-towel is necessary – not necessary with greased silicone molds). Serve either in the ramekins or un-mold.

Serve with remaining lemon zest for a lovely, aromatic and unexpected twist.

Cook’s note:

• You can successfully omit the use of eggs, by using 250 ml mascarpone mixed with 175 ml condensed milk and 250 ml fresh cream folded in. Use berries, nuts and nougat of your choice as flavourings. This recipe melts faster that the others, I find.
• A traditional semifreddo recipe uses mascarpone or fresh cream and several eggs.
• Use figs (in season!) and saffron, with a splash of orange blossom water for an Middle Eastern flavour
• Meringues that are slightly crushed and not perfect to serve as is, work well when added to a semifreddo with berries or nougat.
• Passionfruit is also a good partner in frozen desserts like this one.
• Adjust the sugar to your liking.

Other SemiFreddo Recipes, I’ve enjoyed making:

Strawberry and Hazelnut Meringue

Passionfruit & Dried Fig Semifreddo with Saffron

Berry & Nougat Semifreddo

Layered Semifreddo Christmas Cake with Berries & Nuts

I received these images from Founding President Régine le Coz today. I’m not sure how she managed to get the time to sift through the hundreds and share all the pics of me, but I know she works with an incredible “dream team”- her affectionate name for the team that works tirelessly to help her put the event together each year.

As you can see from the pictures of the event the night before especially, the atmosphere was one of conviviality, celebration and encouragement. There are no inflated egos or feelings of entitlement and certainly no time for such. The women (and men, there are a good few) who attend this event do so to support women in wine and several scholarships are awarded during the year by the organisation.

Outside La Saliere Restaurant, with Régine's Dream Team

Outside the Irish Pub, after hours Monte Carlo

Dinner with the participants and the men who supported us, Le Saint-Benoit

Switching tables, dinner at Le Saint- Benoit

Régine le Coz

Audrey Domenach RHS (blogger and SM advocate) looking for something behind the yellow paper

Régine (R) handing out prizes after raffle for charity

Jelle with a winning ticket, and lovely Joana Mesquita

Régine with Marie Pascaud, winemaker

Rosé by another name - taken during tasting and competition

Monte Carlo – Hello darling!

scenes from around Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo is a city in constant preparation. It is as if the city has taken a deep breath in, and at any moment the flash bulbs of a million paparazzi are about to fire off. Bronzed models armed with handbags of the Hermès variety weather the early spring chill in short-short skirts, attached to the arms of important looking men as they step off yachts and float towards the Italian restaurants waiting for them. “Bonjour” greets the  maître d’hôtel, nodding discreetly. Monte Carlo, and Monaco may be very French, but there are a large number of excellent Italian restaurants that the rich, the famous and the star-struck hang out at – an ode to the geography of the land and the roots of the ruling Grimaldi family.

If it isn’t the wealthy with substantial taxes to avoid, it’s the allure of the Grand Casino and its numerous poker championships with millions of euros in prizes and the famous Grand Prix circuit that winds through the city centre. Monte Carlo, Monte Carlo – I feel posh just uttering your name.

This is, I realised last week, a vague generalisation of the city and an ‘outsider’s’ perception. Blame the movies and E entertainment television channel. In many ways, Monte Carlo is a city where very normal people with average jobs and cars and, surprisingly no cheetah-print speedboats of their own, live and work too.

I would call the 45 women delegates that Régine Le Coz, the founding President of Femmes et Vins du Monde Concours International, invited to her event neither celebrity nor average. Pretty awesome – yes!

Pic from Femmes et Vins

The Women and the Wine

Women from 28 different nationalities from Japan to Burkina Faso, with a quarter from France (expected, if one considers Régine’s roots and the tradition of the profession – she is an oenologist) gathered for the event where around 300 wines that were entered, were judged according to international standards and the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC).

After a jovial dinner at  Le Saint-Benoit restaurant the night before and a triple round of musical chairs so that we could meet as many of our colleagues as possible, we gathered in the conference room of the Novotel Hotel on 27 April (South Africa’s Freedom Day) to get the show on the road.

My lack of French language skills added to my novice concerns about the job at hand. As a result, I complied these scribblings and revised them with intent the night before. Naturally, I should not have worried, but I always believe in preparing as much as is possible – also would account for the serious wine drinking in the weeks before I departed Cape Town *ahem*

How the Panels are Comprised

We were divided into tables of 5, and each of us represented one of the following categories

• Panel 1: Oenologist or Winemaker (jury president);
• Panel 2 : Production
• Panel 3 : Marketing & Sales
• Panel 4: Education – Communication – Journalist, Writer, Blogger (my happy place in the picture)
• Panel 5 : General Public Representative

We were given around 2-3 minutes per wine (timed!) and in the case of large differences of opinion (and yes, there were a few) as well as wines with an average of 80% score (which would indicate a medal), we were asked by the jury president to provide reasons and opinions.

Our table (fantastic mix, of course!) comprised Marie Pascaud (our jury president and wine maker at Château de Pampelonne as well as master translator and team leader), Anne Ponce de Leon, Cecilia Ibara, Laurence Aquilina and myself.

The panel is mixed in a way that assures the fair assessment of wine from the combined perspective of the professionals and the consumers.

Cultural and geographical influences are taken into account too – I found the rosé wines that are appreciated by European palates, especially those from the Provence region are low on aroma, light in colour and slightly more acidic. A very interesting discovery and one that needs to be factored in when judging. Also, while I have been training my palate at home to discern between single grape varietals, European old world wines are rarely ever made of a single variety. I did receive a tip about the Rhone Valley Chenins though, which I scribbled greedily into my diary of dreams.

women and wines of the world International Competition 2012

Our panel tasted 30 wines (white, rosé and reds) and awarded twelve medals, including two golds. In total, 116 medals were awarded – 3 Diamond, 27 Gold and 86 Silver. Wines from twenty two countries were represented and included:

Australia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, South Africa, Chile, France, Italy, Switzerland, Croatia, Netherlands, Portugal, Lebanon, Romania, Cyprus, South Africa, Spain, Hungary, Israel, United States, Germany, Greece and China.

After the wine tasting (which was broken up half way by a short snack interval), we convened for lunch and cheery goodbyes – I was off with Joana Mesquita, multi-tasker, multi-lingual, woman of supreme talents, the P.R officer of Amorim Cork, to Marseille to catch my flight to Oporto. Sadly we missed the final group picture

It was a fantastic experience, to meet these women well-versed in wine, to chat about our lives, our experiences of wine and all the connecting factors. A highly inspirational few days in Monte Carlo – so much more than just the flash, glam and royalty I expected at first.

*I am honoured to be invited to be the ‘god -mother’ of the association for the coming year and look forward to preparing dishes in late July when I return to Cape Town using some of the wining wines, the Diamond awardees in particular.

And if you’re curious about the Diamond award winners, I can reveal that they are as follows:

•  Domaine Les Sorcieres 2008, white by CHATEAU DE RIQUEWIHR DOMAINES DOPFF IRION – France
•  Principesa Margaeta,  2010, white by SC DOMENIUL COROANEI SEGARCEA SRL – Romania
•  Vino Dalibor Muskat Moravsky, 2011, white by VINARSTVI O KAPLICKY S.R.O. Czech Republic

Note, I was invited to participate in this event by Joana Mesquita of Amorim Cork and Règine le Coz when they heard that I would be based in Lisbon, after studying my blog. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity.