What’s my
favourite winter colour? It’s brown. Not white, as in the snow I see on the
mountain tops in the Winelands or as in the hail which covered the ground last
weekend – but brown in all its shades and all its glory.
I always
thing of brown food when it comes to winter because it is such a comforting,
earthy and warming colour – think of the kinds of food that are brown and
you’ll get what I’m on about. Rich brown casseroles and stews – lamb shanks,
bredies, potjies and pot-roasts – packed to the brim with hearty warmth and
goodness.
Shiny, crispy, golden-brown pie crusts, cracking open to reveal
steamy chunks of chicken or mouthwatering shreds of springbok. And is there
anything – anything! – to beat the best winter soup in the world – a bowl of
sweet French Onion Soup with a tangy-sweet Gruyere cheese crouton? No, I didn’t
think so.
So that’s
brown food – how about brown drinks?
I’ve fallen in love with brandy recently
(I had a cold and it was a good excuse) – favourites have included
Blaauwklippen, Klipdrift Gold, Van Ryn’s 20 Year Old and Laborie (Incidentally,
if you wanted to learn more about spirits, I’ve got courses running all this
winter – click here for details).
But if you want something a bit softer and sweeter,
now is the time for one of the greatest categories of South African wines and
one which we ignore at our peril – the fortified wine.
We make
some of the finest fortified wines in the world and somewhere in the last 20
years, this has been forgotten and ignored. The ultimate brown winter drink is
a Tawny Port, now labelled as a Cape Tawny, such as the sublime Boplaas version
or the dreamy KWV one.
If you’d rather have a tinge of red with your brown this
winter, then the 2011 Jerepigo from Badsberg will warm you from the inside out,
and even sherry is improving – try the Monis Pale Dry with your soup and see
how great it goes. Nutty, toffee, caramel flavours which make you snuggle up
and call out for more.
And finally
– of course – the ultimate brown food. Chocolate!
The best thing I know about
winter is hiding my bulges under big sweaters so bring on the choccie desserts
– fondants, puddings, fondues and cake, all washed down with a big glass of a
golden-brown dessert wine.
Dark brown, golden brown, tawny brown – whatever
shade you go for, brown is the ‘in colour’ for food and drink this season
dahlings.
Don’t you agree??