The history of Boschendal stretches all the way back to 1685; when the young Cape Colony was an important refreshment outpost for ships of the Dutch East India Company as they travelled the Spice Route in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Maritime trade brought all manner of interesting cultural traditions to our shores, not least of all Malaysian, Indonesian and East African recipes and spices that greatly enriched the local culinary landscape. These are the foundation of Cape Malay cooking; the flavours of which serve as inspiration for one of our favourite recipes from The Werf Restaurant: Masala Fish Dish.

Masala is a term from the Indian subcontinent for a varying blend of spices, often based on unique family recipes and handed down through generations of cooks. These spice mixes are used extensively in South Asian cuisine to add warmth and flavour, and here, the blend serves to brighten the poaching liquid in which the fish is cooked. With a base of onions, garlic and ginger, mellowed out with homemade tomato purée, Junior Sous Chef Leroy Sebybo adds his special masala blend to round out the rich flavours of this mouthwatering sauce.

As always at Boschendal, many of the ingredients are harvested fresh each morning from the Werf Food Garden. Two hectares of carefully tended vegetables, herbs and fruit are overlooked by the restaurant’s sunny terrace and provide an abundance of fresh, organic produce to the estate’s restaurants, picnic spots, farm shop and deli. The seasonal nature of these ingredients is the driving force behind Boschendal’s farm-to-table dining concept which inspires the chefs to be “guided by the garden”, creating menus that evolve with the harvest.

The fish used is farmed kabeljou, also known as kob, from a local, sustainable, SASSI-green-listed supplier. The flesh is succulent and firm, forming large flakes, which makes it the ideal fish for flash frying and then cooking through in the sauce, as the fillets continue to hold their shape. Served with a yoghurt emulsion, spring onion salsa and a handful of fresh mussels topped with crispy ginger, it’s no wonder this delicious dish is one of Chef Leroy’s favourites.

The fragrant warmth of the dish is perfectly paired with a chilled glass of Boschendal Demi Sec; a bubbly Chardonnay-Pinot Noir blend with just a hint of sweetness. Boschendal Wine Estate was, in fact, the second to produce what is now known as Méthode Cap Classique, using the traditional Champagne method of a second fermentation in the bottle. This award-winning MCC has a flourish of delicate bubbles and a well-rounded, creamy mouthfeel with appetizing minerality, good balance and a seamless finish.

It’s no wonder this delicious dish is one of Chef Leroy Sebybo’s favourites.

Boschendal proudly marked Heritage Day 2017 with the unveiling of our new Heritage Collection, two limited edition reds which could be described as the pinnacle of our premium wines. Both wines in the collection were tasted on Sunday, 24 September at the iconic Boschendal Long Table Feast on the sprawling, historic estate established over 330 years ago in the Drakenstein Valley near Franschhoek.

Boschendal has been a pioneer in South African wine-making for three centuries. We are proud of our roots as one of the country’s original estates and we are honoured to have remained relevant in local and international wine circles to this day. To celebrate all that is Boschendal and all that is premium South African wine-making, we have released some of our most exceptional wines in our journey to date.

The collection by Boschendal’s resident red winemaker Richard Duckitt, comprises a limited edition Boschendal Grande Syrah 2014 and Black Angus 2014.

The collection is the culmination of years of hard work and testimony to the farms ongoing commitment to Shiraz.

Heritage Collection: The Grande Syrah 2014

The Grande Syrah is all about style. Often called the work horse red variety in the Boschendal range, the Grande Syrah elevates the varietal to another level. With premium grapes handpicked from a unique vineyard situated on the south-facing slopes of the Helderberg Mountains, the wine was made with specially-selected Rhône-style yeast, and aged for 15 months. Each bottle of The Grande Syrah 2014 is individually numbered, with only 10 barrels of the wine produced in total.

Its brilliant dark crimson colour with enticing spice and exotic fruit notes ignite the senses from the outset. Delicious oak spice and a typical cool-climate Syrah pepper persist onto the palate, which is young and lively, combining juicy Shiraz purity of fruit with restrained Old World elegance. A seamless integration of oak spice and oak tannin adds depth and complexity to the wine, rounding off a truly impressive drinking experience.

Heritage Collection: Black Angus 2014

While the superlative Syrah emanates sophistication, the Black Angus 2014 epitomises the estate’s history. As well as its wines, Boschendal is also famed for its ethically reared Angus cattle. The Black Angus is named in homage to the cattle, and has a 66% Shiraz base, rounded off by Petit Verdot (12%), Cabernet Sauvignon (11%) and Cabernet Franc (11%). This is the original ‘estate blend’ of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon that Boschendal launched in the 1980s under the Grand Reserve label.

Duckitt added more complexity and intricacy to the blend with the addition of Petit Verdot for richness and the Cabernet Franc for style and sophistication (neither of which were available on the estate in the 1980s). This has add a rounded complexity to the wine. All four varieties were separately vinified, malolactic fermented and barrel matured for 18 months, before being blended and bottled in the new Boschendal Heritage Bottle in July 2016.

The wine, with each bottle also individually numbered, mesmerizes with a beautiful ruby colour, and first impression of berry and plum aromas layered with winter spice and roast cacao bean complexity. The entry is smooth and rich leading to sumptuous ripe mulberry, black cherry and cassis flavours etched with black pepper and oak spice on the palate. The finish is long and moreish, with tremendous texture and lingering fruit concentration. It is a taste immersion worth savouring, and returning to.

All wines can be purchased out our Werf Tasting Room and Cellar Door.

Please click here for more info on our wine tasting & tours.

When our fragrant, sweet and tangy plums come into season at Boschendal Wine Farm, summer is well under way. So, we’ve collected together 7 easy-to-follow recipes that make the best use of this sweet and juicy crop,
which is available to purchase in our Farm Shop.

With around 30 hectares under fruit, Boschendal Wine Farm is serious about plums. In fact Cherry plums are grown exclusively at BoschendalWine Farm. It’s a unique new fruit that’s a natural cross between plums and cherries. The Boschendal Plum Festival is a time to celebrate this most versatile, healthy fruit that’s rich in vitamins A, C and E and calcium, and which contains folic acid, potassium, iron and beta-carotene.

At the first bite, the cherry plum is sweet and spicy and then it rounds off with a tart and plummy finish. It originated from the Zaiger Breeding program in Modesto, California and 80 000 trees were planted at Boschendal Wine Farm. Cherry Plums are planted using an innovative trellising system with double row, high tree density and low tree-height which is ideal for Boschendal Wine Farm as we predominantly have a female workforce. This system allows for effortless pruning, thinning and picking without the use of ladders. During the first harvest, 36 tons of Cherry plums – roughly 90 000 fruits – were picked. Cherry plums are round in shape and between 35-40mm which makes them ideal for snacking and packing into lunch boxes. Gourmet chefs and home cooks alike enjoy using them in a range of recipes, some of them collected here.

Our recipes are simple and easy to follow. They showcase the versatility of this fruit, which the Romans boiled in wine to make a medicinal tea. Available in a range of varieties, each a different jewel-like colour, plums are more than a healthy addition to the fruit bowl – they’re also a versatile and healthy ingredient in the kitchen. Whether you roast, grill or bake them, pickle or preserve them, turn them into a crumble or serve them as the topping on a cake, the simple plum is highly adaptable. Plums made into jams and jellies and chutneys are always popular and they’re delicious cooked in stews and casseroles. Jam or chutney? If it’s jam, you’re after, happily plum jam is one of the simplest jams to make because they’re got so much pectin in them so plum jam always sets. For a little more flavour, just add the seeds of a vanilla pod or even some ginger.
If chutney is more to your taste and you like your meat spiced up, add cinnamon, ginger or cumin to your chutney.
Spicy plum chutney goes especially well with pork and with Gruyère or cheddar cheese.

PICKLED FRESH PLUM RELISH
Delicious with pork, venison or meat pâté.

½ jalapeno chilli, seeded and finely chopped
500g plums, pitted and cut in half and each half into quarters
200ml brown sugar
100ml cider or white wine vinegar
1 bay leaf
Julienne strips of a ¼ orange
2ml coriander seeds
1ml salt

Place a small plate in the freezer. Put all the ingredients in a pot. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Bring the mixture to the boil and cook for 45-60 minutes. Test the jam for doneness – when a teaspoon of jam gels on the frozen plate within 1-2 minutes. Transfer the relish to jars, cool at room temperature and refrigerate. It keeps for 3 months if unopened.

SPICED PLUM CHUTNEY
Delicious with pork, sausage and cheese platters.

1/3 cup sugar
½ cinnamon stick
1 star anise
6 ripe plums, pitted and chopped
Strip of orange rind
Pinch of cumin
1 tsp fresh ginger
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pour the sugar into a saucepan and add just enough water to dissolve it. Add cinnamon and star anise. Place on the stove and simmer until syrup reduces right down, the bubbles start to get bigger, and the syrup turns golden brown. Add the plums, orange zest, cumin and ginger. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature with meat or chilled with cheeses

PLUM DIPPING SAUCE
Delicious as a dipping sauce for appetizers, spring rolls, dim sum, crispy chicken wings, mini pork sausages and mini chicken or pork meatballs.

5 plums, peeled, pitted and chopped
30ml sugar
30ml rice wine vinegar
5ml soy sauce
125 ml water
15ml vegetable oil
10ml fresh garlic, crushed or finely chopped
10ml fresh ginger, finely chopped

Heat the vegetable oil, add the garlic and ginger and gently fry for 1-2 minutes. Add plums and cook for 5-6 minutes until they disintegrate. Add rest of the ingredients, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool.

TOMATO AND PLUM SALAD
A fragrant quick and easy summer salad.

The salad:
400g tomatoes, any variety or size (cut large ones into 1cm wedges, cut cherry tomatoes in half)
400g plums, pitted and cut into 1cm wedges
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1g fresh coriander
Flaked sea salt

The dressing:
10ml castor sugar
30ml rice vinegar
10ml soy sauce
30ml sesame or olive oil
5ml ginger, freshly grated
½ clove garlic, crushed
¼ tsp orange rind, finely grated

Mix the salad ingredients together and put aside. Lightly whisk together the dressing ingredients and toss into the salad. Serve immediately.

BAKED WHOLE PLUMS IN SWEET WINE
A summer dessert that will leave you begging for seconds.

Serves 6

1kg large purple plums
¼ cup soft brown sugar
Butter
½ cup sweet hanepoot wine or semi-sweet rosé

To serve, mix together
½ cup plain yoghurt
½ cup fresh cream

Rinse and dry the plums. Arrange the whole plums upright in a single layer in a buttered ovenproof dish just large enough to hold them. Sprinkle with the sugar at 180°C for 10 minutes. Pour over the wine and bake for 25 minutes, or until tender, but still holding their shape. Serve warm with the well-chilled yoghurt and cream mix.

FRESH PLUM CRUMBLE
Most people use oats in crumbles but in summer, almond flour is a light alternative. Both works equally well.
Wheat- and gluten-free.

Serves 6

The filling:
1kg ripe, firm plums
Butter, for greasing
1 orange, zested and juiced
2 tbsp muscovado sugar
Fresh nutmeg, grated
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
Thick sour cream, for serving
Fresh mint, to garnish

The topping:
150g almond flour (or oats)
60g muscovado sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Fresh nutmeg, grated
60g cold butter

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Cut eight slices from each plum. Place in a 25cm x 15cm greased pie dish. Add the orange zest and juice and sprinkle with the sugar. Grate over a little nutmeg, tuck in the cinnamon and star anise. Mix the almond flour with the sugar and spices. Cut in the butter and rub in with your fingertips until sticky. Crumble over the fruit. Bake for 30 minutes, or until brown, crisp and the fruit is tender. Serve with sour cream and garnish with the mint.

MAPLE ROAST PLUMS WITH CINNAMON MUSCOVADO YOGHURT
A rich, aromatic finale to a long slow summer dinner.

Serves 4

8 slightly under ripe red plums, pitted and halved
200g Greek yoghurt
2 x 15ml tbsp dark muscovado sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
24g unsalted butter, softened
60ml maple syrup
4-star anise

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Stir the yoghurt, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl, then leave to stand to let the sugar dissolve and the flavours deepen. In an ovenproof dish or shallow casserole, in which the halved plums will fit snugly, warm the butter, maple syrup and star anise just until the butter has melted; you can do this on the stove or in the oven. Either way, remove the dish from the heat. Place the plums in the dish, cut-side down, then turn them straight away cut-side up, transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, at which time you should baste the plums with the syrupy juices. Then give them another 10-20 minutes until they are just soft – a quick prod with a small fork should let you know – but still holding their shape. Let the dish sit out of the oven for 10 minutes before serving, with the aromatic yogurt in a bowl alongside.

Heritage Day Asian BBQ Sirloin Braai Dish

You can’t have a Heritage Day braai without a premium cut of grass-fed Black Angus sirloin on the fire.

Basted in our popular Asian BBQ sauce from the Boschendal Farm Shop, this sirloin will melt in your mouth. Chef Allistaire adds baby onions, charred on the fire to enhance the sweet and smokey flavours of this dish. Show off your skills this Heritage Day with a special braai dish and you just might find yourself hosting braai day every year. 

Our sirloin pairs perfectly with our popular Black Angus red blend. This Shiraz-led blend takes its name from the bloodline of the Black Angus cattle, roaming on our farm. The wine is full-bodied with hints of black pepper and cherry on the nose and a rich and complex palate. 

This interesting and captivating wine is Shiraz – based (59%), rounded off by Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), Merlot (11%) and Malbec (5%). This is the original ‘Estate Blend’ of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon that Boschendal Wine Farm launched in the 1980’s under the Grand Reserve label, but our winemaking team decided to introduce some complexity and intricacy to the blend. The addition of Merlot and Malbec adds the style and sophistication you’ve come to expect from our award-winning wines.

Shop our wines here.

Download our Asian BBQ Sirloin Braai Dish Recipe

CHEF ALLISTAIRE IS BRINGING THE WERF RESTAURANT RIGHT TO YOUR KITCHEN

Now there’s no need to wait for The Werf Restaurant to re-open for you to enjoy a delicious Werf-style meal. With the assistance of Executive Chef Allistaire Lawrence, you can try your hand at some of our favourite dishes.

Watch Video

Werf-style Braised Beef Shin Bobotie

As winter draws near, we can’t help but long for hearty meals that warm you up from the inside. Our chefs have put a Werf Restaurant twist on the traditional Cape Malay bobotie and you certainly can’t go wrong serving up this South African favourite.

Instead of using minced beef, we cook our Black Angus beef shin until it reaches a soft and tender “pulled beef” consistency that will melt in your mouth. A crucial step to attain this is to marinate the meat overnight with the curry spices. Served with Chef Al’s homemade chutney, there won’t be any leftovers for lunch.

We love seeing how you cook & enjoy products from Boschendal! Please use the #TASTEBOSCHENDAL hashtag when posting on social media, so we can see what you are getting up to at home

CHEF ALLISTAIRE IS BRINGING THE WERF RESTAURANT RIGHT TO YOUR KITCHEN

Now there’s no need to wait for The Werf Restaurant to re-open for you to enjoy a delicious Werf-style meal. With the assistance of Executive Chef Allistaire Lawrence, you can try your hand at some of our favourite dishes.

 Watch Video

Chef Al’s Sticky Beef Short Ribs

Who can resist the temptation of sticky ribs? We certainly can’t and that’s why we couldn’t wait to share this recipe. In this latest cooking demo, Chef Al brings you all the tricks and techniques you’ll need to make your own Sticky Beef Short Ribs, just like our Werf restaurant chefs would.

The key to delicious and extra sticky ribs is in the marinade and our chefs have created the perfect combination. Once the ribs have cooked in the marinade to lock in the flavour, we start the reduction process. Although reducing the marinade might take some time, it is well worth the wait to get that finger-licking goodness to stick to the ribs. Plate them up with some spring onion, fresh chilli and coriander and you’ll be glad no-one’s around to see you devour these ribs!

Some more good news!

If you’re not feeling so confident in the kitchen or want to take the night off, we’ve got something special for you! Our Pop-Up Farm Shop is now selling delicious ready-made Werf meals that are perfect to heat-and-eat. The list includes our farm-style pies, homemade lasagne and even a few Werf Restaurant desserts that are sure to leave you wanting more. You can download our current price list below and keep an eye on our Farm Shop page for updates and new additions to the line!

DOWNLOAD READY-MADE MEAL PRICE LIST HERE

We love seeing how you cook & enjoy products from Boschendal Wine Farm! Please use the #TASTEBOSCHENDAL hashtag when posting on social media, so we can see what you are getting up to at home

Download Sticky Short Ribs Recipe

It’s thyme for some family-style pizza on the fire!

We know it can be tough keeping the young ones entertained, so our Tree House Team is here to help! We’ve mastered the art of outdoor cooking and what better to do on a beautiful autumn day than cook a homemade pizza on the fire.

 Watch Video

To add a sense of adventure to the cooking experience, we take our young pizza makers into the garden to harvest some fresh veggies and herbs for added flavour on their creations. For our fresh toppings, we like to use basil, spring onion and thyme from the garden and wild mushrooms that we can find in the forest.

Making the dough is super fun, but can be very messy, so a table outside is the perfect place to get rolling. Making your pizza dough from scratch is a fun activity and since it requires some elbow grease, can use up plenty of excess energy. A simple mix of flour, yeast, lukewarm water and salt creates the perfect dough – just don’t forget to let it rise while you prepare your ingredients and get the fire started.

Since our pizzas will be cooked in a pan on the heat of the coals, you need to ensure your dough is rolled out nice and thin so you don’t burn the bottom of the pizza while your toppings cook. For ingredients like mushrooms, it’s a good idea to fry them with some butter before adding them on your pizza. This can also be done on the fire, just watch out for the flames!

Remember that the shape of your pizza won’t influence the taste, so don’t stress about getting them perfectly round. Lather your base with some napolitana sauce – we like to make our own – and sprinkle on your unique combo of toppings. Once the coals are ready – we don’t want any flames burning the pizza – pop a cast iron pan over the fire and cook until you start to smell the delicious flavours and can see the cheese melting.

Same as most outdoor meals, your pizza is best enjoyed straight off the fire – just let it cool to an edible temperature. What more do you want? A delicious meal for the whole family to enjoy making and a fun activity to keep the kids entertained! Download the recipe below.

 Download Family-style Pizza Recipe

Written by Boschendal

The Black Angus cows at Boschendal are free to roam and be social – as nature intended. It’s a little known fact that grazing is as important to beef as terroir is to wine, so with beef where the quality of the grazing and the personality of the farm comes through in the meat.

Boschendal’s beef is all about the subtle flavours of a pasture in perfect harmony with nature. The calves are born and raised in the fields, and all the cows have access to trees for shade and have plenty of space to lie down and chew the cud. These are social, happy cows and happy cows make for tasty beef.

Winter meat cuts like short rib and goulash are ideal for hearty family stews and slow-cooked dinners enjoyed at home. Our chefs have selected their favourite recipes using our new cuts of Black Angus beef to inspire your inner chef this winter.

Download our Angus Beef Recipes

Shop Our Butchery

Watch our Head Pastry Chef and Baker Christine De Villiers make her favourite Easter treat – Hot Cross Buns!

 Watch Video

We hope to bring the spirit of this family celebration into your home with this recipe of our handmade Hot Cross Buns. Tender, comforting and delicately spiced, they are the perfect breakfast or tea-time treat for the long weekend. Serve them in halves toasted until golden brown and slathered in soft farm butter. 

Serving Suggestion: Planning a Brunch? These Hot Cross Buns pair beautifully with our Boschendal Brut NV.
 
Download the recipe below.

All our recipes will champion fresh, seasonal produce and local, ethically sourced ingredients, mirroring the farm-to-table approach taken at all the eateries at Boschendal Wine Farm. They will be delicious and easy to make, bringing a taste of the farm into your very own kitchen. 

Stay up to date as we send out a series of videos with downloadable recipes

Download Hot Cross Bun Recipe