Recently, we sat down with our Goathsed Chef SJ Nel, the inventor of our beloved pies, to find out more about his love for food:

Tell us a bit about your background?
I have Northern Cape roots and was fortunate to gain experience in British, Swedish and a few South African kitchens.

What is your favourite dish to eat?
Cooking all day does not create cravings for anything fancy. A simple freshly baked roll with sausage, coleslaw, mustard and a beer is what I love. I guess that’s why I particularly love making a good pie too!

What is your favourite dish to make?
I am guilty of crowd pleasing and therefore our most popular dish at The Goatshed Restaurant is Braised Fairview Lamb.

What are the most interesting things happening in food right now?
Real top notch ingredients, being prepared simply, served informally, with amazing attitudes, leaving small footprints.

What is your food philosophy?
Getting your hands dirty to bring together flavourful ingredients, from sustainable sources, taking care of the environment while helping people.

What are your guilty pleasures?
Dry aged T-bone steak with a generous piece of fat, matured cheeses and red wine.

Most bizarre thing in your fridge right now?
My wife, Lisa, is keeping me healthy with a variety of nutritious smoothies so I will have to say some of those ingredients – like coconut water, cocoa nibs and organic granadilla pulp.

What is your favourite food memory?
“Potjiekos” with my father, mastermind snack platters with my mother, traditional “padkos” roadtripping with my three sisters and mushroom risotto for my one and only Lisa.

Two flavours that shouldn’t go together but do?
Goats’ milk and caramel.

Advice you wish you were given as a young chef?
Listen to all your mentors, good and bad, you will definitely learn something.

The post Goatshed’s Favourites | Interview with Chef SJ Nel appeared first on Fairview.

This July, Fairview has teamed up with our long-time friend and favoured food blogger and chef, Nina Timm from My Easy Cooking, to bring our Fairview visitors two different cooking demos. Expect to enjoy delicious snacks and learn easy and fun recipes using Fairview’s homegrown ingredients. The concept of these events is for everyone – whether you don’t know how to boil an egg or can make a soufflé from scratch – with the main goal being to learn the value in using farm fresh, farm to fork ingredients and how to incorporate Fairview’s range of artisanal products into your everyday cooking. Check out the information below, and make sure to book your tickets!

EVENT 1:
7th July: Saturday morning Cheese Demo in our Fairview Deli

This demo is for any and all visitors to the Fairview Tasting Room!
There will be 2 sessions: 10am and 11.15pm, each 1 hour long.
4-6 recipes will be covered during each session

Recipes will include:

Mini Cheese fondues with tempura broccoli
Sushi stacks
Camembert poppers with tomato chilli jam
Greek salad with crumbed feta
Free range Boerewors
Fresh bread, olive oil and butter

Cost: Free! 
Limited Spacing: Just come early to secure a spot 

EVENT 2:
14th July: Cooking with Fairview & Nina Timm
Food demo followed by lunch at the Goatshed Restaurant 

Fairview and Nina Timm invite you to come join us in an exclusive, limited seating session aimed at showcasing various recipes using Fairview cheese, followed by a delicious Goatshed light-style harvest lunch that incorporates our freshest, wholesome ingredients. Guests will start at 11am in the Cheese Deli to learn from Nina as she creates her delicious, cheese-full creations and pairs them with our finest Fairview wines, before moving through to the Goatshed at 12pm, where tapas-style fare will be served alongside Fairview wine. This event is ideal for any foodie who is craving an informative and fun session, delicious food and wants to walk away with an inventory of ideas to make at home!

Kindly note: If you are interested in attending this event, please book tickets below. Space is limited.

Recipes will include:

Food Demonstration Menu – 11am

Tomato Tarte Tatin with goats cheese
Free range roast pork belly
Lemon posset with berry could and shortbread biscuits

Lunch Menu ( family style sharing plates ) – 12pm
Roast pork belly
Lamb shank pie
Free range Boerewors
Greek Salad
Green beans with Cheese Crumbs
Roasted vegetables with lemon, olive oil and garlic
Fresh bread

Dessert
Lemon posset with berry compote and shortbread biscuits.

Cost: R195 per person including the food demo and lunch
Limited Seating: Only twenty 20 tickets available
Tickets available via Quicket.

We look forward to seeing you there! Until then, For now, have a look at some of the tasty meals that Nina Timm has concocted using Fairview’s cheeses or check out her website here for more information:

Introducing Nina Timm

Easy Cheese Fondue with Tempura Broccoli

Spicy Lamb Goats cheese Pizza with fresh figs

Spinach Soup with Tempura Cheese

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In 2015, I met Diane de Villiers – a super smart and successful businesswoman with as much drive and passion for her business, that she reminded me of me! Her business – Daily Dish – was ingenious, offering delicious pre-packaged dinner boxes delivered straight to your door. After learning about her pioneering initiative that started in 2013, I knew I wanted to get involved and partner with her and her incredible team – and so that’s exactly what I did!

The reason I did this is because Daily Dish’s offering, just like Fairview, is centred around bringing you only the highest quality, fresh, seasonal, local, and sustainably produced food. If you’re a working mother or convenience junkie looking to find an easy way to put delicious, freshly prepared food on your table every day but simply don’t have the time to head to the grocery shops – then Daily Dish has you covered.

I’ve watched from the sidelines as Daily Dish has risen to success year-on-year, gathering a committed following of regular ‘subscribers’ that love having an answer to the sometimes dreaded question of ‘what’s for dinner?’ every night.

Diane and her team have become experts at selecting suitable recipes from their inventory of 3,500 dishes, matching and pairing them to your weekly box and ensuring that the fresh and dry produce are delivered straight to your door or office in a nifty, refrigerated box that keeps your food cold for up to 24 hours (I’ve tested it – it works!). Another reason I am proud to be collaborating with the Daily Dish team is that they endeavour to continually innovate and accommodate. For example, one can select from 6 different dinner box options depending on your dietary requirements. This includes everything from a Classic Box, to Family, Banting, Vegan, Goodie and Pork-Free Box (ideal for me!).

As Fairview works our way towards being more sustainable, we are able to offer the Daily Dish subscribers our wide variety of artisanal cheeses, olive oil, breads and deli products. Some of Fairview’s experimental wines which are not widely available to the general public will also occasionally be included in the boxes. In the coming months, we will be working with Diane and her team more closely. I recommend you head to their website – www.dailydish.co.za – and sign up to their newsletters to look out for some exciting specials, and naturally, keep up to date with our extended family.

For now – we look forward to helping you share amazing home-cooked dishes with people you care about.

– Charles Back

VISIT DISH DISH: www.dailydish.co.za

The post Our Friends at Daily Dish appeared first on Fairview.

We know that not everyone is a wine lover. But surely everyone is a cheese lover? This autumn, we’re digging into our dessert cheese range, namely our White Rock with Dried Cranberries, White Rock with Glazed Fig, White Rock with Pear and Caramel and White Rock with Mango and Ginger.

While the White Rock Dried Cranberries and Glazed Fig flavours have been available for years, we only released our Pear and Caramel and Mango and Ginger flavours two years ago – to a rocking success! So far, we’re received feedback that the cheeses taste like cheesecake (never a bad thing in our books), and are delicious served with cheeseboards, crumbed over fresh summer salads or even as dessert.

Our White Rock cheese is a full fat semi-soft cheese, made using cow’s milk. The concept behind the cheese was to complement our Blue Rock range, which is a more Roquefort-style cheese with a rich flavour and a firm yet creamy texture. Since inception, our White Rocks have been best-sellers in our busy Tasting Room, even occasionally used in our Wedding Cheese Cakes. Read more about that here.

But don’t worry, you don’t need to be planning a wedding or big event to indulge in our White Rock. Recently we dug into our archives and found this delicious Nina Timm recipe for a Fig and Cheese Tart – we highly recommend trying it. Click here to view the recipe. And remember: Our White Rock cheeses are available nationwide in selected retail stores.

View the range:

The post Our Rocking White Rock appeared first on Fairview.

There is a stranger (extraño in Spanish) in the Cape’s vineyards, named Tempranillo. Originally from Spain, Tempranillo now grows in local soils and produces grapes of exceptional quality. We’ve carefully integrated fellow Spaniards Grenache and Carignan – who add spice, fruit and freshness – to help temper this slightly rustic grape variety’s temperamental streak.

Since its release, this wine has been causing waves throughout our Tasting Room, becoming a firm best-seller thanks to its consistent taste, beautiful label and value-for-money. In fact, Extraño was one of our most awarded wines for 2017, receiving a 4.5 star Platter rating, a 2017 National Wine Challenge Top 100 award, and a 90 point score at the Winemag Signature Red Blend Report Awards 2017!

For our final Goatshed Dinner for 2018, we decided to pair a winning wine with a winning cuisine combination. Chef SJ Nel and the Goatshed team carefully curated a menu that will please all palates, while harking back to Catalan-inspired flavours. The event also marks the end of winter, and welcomes in a change of season for warmer weather and later sunsets. Come celebrate – and don’t forget your castanets!

Here is a breakdown of the menu you can expect to enjoy on the evening:

Tapas
Selection of breads, spicy dips & Salami
Paprika chicken Taco cups
Meatballs in Chorizo & tomato sauce
Mushroom Empanadas

Starter
Roasted Linefish & white bean soup

Main Course
Braised beef, potato cake & traditional Pisto

Dessert
Flan de Cafe

***

R325 per person
Wine Pairings included

Click below to purchase your tickets.

The post Extraño Spanish Evening | Our Last Goatshed Dinner for 2018! appeared first on Fairview.

As you should already know by now, Fairview and our winemakers, under the careful guidance of Charles Back, love to break with tradition. In fact, we’re all about doing things differently. This really came to the fore with our Fairview Brut Méthode Cap Classique (MCC), a re-imagined take on the classic bubbly. Traditionally, Champagne (in France) and MCC (in South Africa), is made using the grape varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. For our version, one of our talented winemakers Stephanie Wiid decided to break with tradition, and use a celebration of Mediterranean varieties – Viognier, Grenache Noir and Grenache Blanc – for her bubbly. Given Charles’s reputation as one of the SA wine industry mavericks, perhaps it’s not that surprising that he insisted on the first Fairview MCC rather being Rhône-like in its varietal mix.

For our pen-ultimate Goatshed Dinner for 2018, we will be sharing the delights of our Fairview Brut MCC and pairing it with Old World style food – meaning food from regions like France. Our chefs and winemakers thought it would be an interesting comparison to take our New World bubbly and pair it with Old World traditional fare. The combination will no doubt be delightful! Coming up on Friday 7th September 2018, come enjoy a warm environment, hearty food and a pop, clink, fizz with your friends!

In case you haven’t heard, this year, we’ve decided to introduce a strong relationship between the food and wine pairings, by complementing the Goatshed dinners to our most food-focused wine range, titled the Regional Revival Range.

The Regional Revival Range consists of the following 6 wines:
1. Fairview Homtini
2. Fairview Nurok
3. Fairview Drie Papen Fontein
4. Fairview Caldera
5. Fairview Brut MCC
6. Fairview Extrano

Here is a breakdown of the menu you can expect to enjoy on the evening:

Amuse Bouche
Blinis with smoked salmon & fish roe

First starter
Paprika chicken schnitzel with stuffed cabbage

Second starter
Mushroom and barley soup

Main course
Roast beef, potato dauphinois, roasted vegetables and rosemary jus
Goulash hot pot

Dessert
Apple pie, vanilla ice cream and custard

***

R325 per person
Wine Pairings included

Click below to purchase your tickets.

The post Brut MCC Old World Evening | Goatshed Dinner #7 appeared first on Fairview.

Off the coast of the Greek isle of Santorini lies a sea-drowned caldera, a vast crater left behind by one of the biggest volcanic eruptions in history. Once a cradle of heat and magma, today that energy is still channeled into the Mediterranean dishes cooked in cauldron-style pots by locals. To celebrate the warmth and richness of this culture, we’ve crafted our Caldera wine to masterfully match with any meal… and the Goatshed Caldera Evening is just the fit for this experience!

Our sixth Goatshed dinner is coming up on the 24th August 2018: The Caldera Greek Evening!

Caldera was so named after Charles Back’s travels to Santorini in Greece. During his stay, he enjoyed the view of the mostly submerged caldera, located in the southern Aegean Sea, 120 kilometers north of Crete. Upon his return from Greece, he was inspired to create a Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre blend that would complement Mediterranean style food, such as the Greek cuisine he has experienced. And so Caldera was born – the oldest member of our Regional Revival Range, and one of our best!

This year, we’ve decided to introduce a strong relationship between the food and wine pairings, by complementing the Goatshed dinners to our most food-focused wine range, titled the Regional Revival Range.

The Regional Revival Range consists of the following 6 wines:
1. Fairview Brut MCC
2. Fairview Drie Papen Fontein
3. Fairview Nurok
4. Fairview Homtini
5. Fairview Extrano
6. Fairview Caldera

Here is a breakdown of the menu you can expect to enjoy on the evening:

Mezze
Greek style breads, olives and hummus
Homemade Dolmades
Spinach & feta tartlets
Haloumi & sundried tomato salsa

Starter
Prawn Saganaki & zucchini fritter

Main Course
Baked lamb meatballs with crushed potatoes, baby marrow, aubergine puree and rosemary jus

Dessert
Greek Style Fresh Cheese & Yoghurt tart, apricot compote

***

R325 per person
Wine Pairings included

Click below to purchase your tickets.

The post Caldera Greek Evening| Goatshed Dinner #6 appeared first on Fairview.

After re-imagining our annual Goatshed Dinners, the Regional Revival Range Chef’s Journey will most definitely be our flagship event of the season! Coming up on the 27th July 2018, the Regional Revival Range showcase will be a culmination of our chef’s finest culinary talent and our winemakers crafted bottlings. The goal is to deliver a true farm-to-fork philosophy, offering a real taste of our homegrown produce and beautifully paired wines.

In case you’ve missed it, the Regional Revival Range consists of the following 6 wines:
1. Fairview Brut MCC
2. Fairview Drie Papen Fontein
3. Fairview Nurok
4. Fairview Homtini
5. Fairview Extrano
6. Fairview Caldera

This food-friendly showcase of unusual styles and cultivars gives our talented winemakers an exciting avenue to challenge traditional viticulture and winemaking and produce regionally-inspired, blended wines with a Cape twist. At Fairview, there is a tale to share behind everything, none more so than our wine. Our Regional Revival Range brings storytelling to the fore, blending together adventurous grape varieties with cutting-edge winemaking. Inspired by wines of the Old World, the range takes these traditional regional styles and brings them alive to local palates by integrating an unexpected Cape twist. Rising in popularity since its inception, our Regional Revival Range is beloved for each bottle’s characteristic label design and food pairing compatibility.

Here is a breakdown of the menu you can expect to enjoy on the evening:

Bread
Bread & condiments

Full circle Pork
Pâté en Croûte

Beef
Shoulder ragout & Tortellini

Lamb
Lamb neck cottage pie, lamb jus and parsnips

Dairy
Yoghurt Panna Cotta

Cheese selection

***

R375 per person
Wine Pairings included

Click below to purchase your tickets.

The post Regional Revival Range Chef’s Journey | Goatshed Dinner #5 appeared first on Fairview.

Here is a breakdown of the menu you can expect to enjoy on the evening:

First starter
Onion bhajis, spiced aubergine dip
Butternut samoosa, sweet chilli yogurt
Bobotie springroll, turmeric aioli
Mango atchar chicken Roti
Curried and pickled fish pots

Second starter
Cauliflower and potato Tarkari, lentil cake & fried paneer

Main course
Mutton curry with tomatoes, garlic and garam masala with Basmati rice, sambals & poppadum

Dessert
Saffron sabayon with roasted fruit, cardamom cake and toasted almonds

***

R325 per person
Wine Pairings included

Click below to purchase your tickets.

The post Drie Papen Fontein Curry Evening | Goatshed Dinner #4 appeared first on Fairview.

Okay, yes. So this year we have flipped the theme of our annual Goatshed Dinners on their head, with the introduction of a paired Regional Revival Range wine to each themed event. However, the one evening we would never remove from our calendar is the ever-popular Fairview Shiraz and Free-Range Lamb Shank Evening on the 15th June 2018, which also happens to be the third Goatshed Dinner in our calendar this winter. Sold out every year, we trust there will be no exception this year! It also happens to align with Shiraz SA Week, so all the more reason to celebrate this bold red variety!

There is definitely a comfort factor that revolves around bringing together a bold red and a hearty meat in the middle of winter. Add to this our underfloor heating, roaring oven fire, and cosy Goatshed interior, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a true feast of flavours and trending hygge indulgence. We invite you to come and enjoy Chef SJ Nel’s reinvention of classic dishes using pork and duck ‘shank’, and incorporating smoked Shiraz vines with his tasty spiced pumpkin soup. Shiraz is also Fairview’s flagship grape variety, used across a wide range of blends and single bottlings. This one is definitely not to be missed, so book now to avoid disappointment!

Here is a breakdown of the menu you can expect to enjoy on the evening:

Amuse-Bouche
Pickled pork “shank” & mustard slaw

First Starter
Duck “shank” & bean cassoulet

Second Starter
Spiced pumpkin soup, lightly smoked with Shiraz vines

Main Course
Shiraz braised Lamb Shank Pie, mashed potato & baby marrow

Dessert
Goatshed’s milk tart & Shiraz poached pear

***

R325 per person
Wine Pairings included

Click below to purchase your tickets:

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