Dry gin in a time of drought

I am always curious when it comes to the ingredients and flavours of food and drinks. I like to experiment with flavour profiles. When making liqueurs, I use vodka or gin as my base liquor, to which I add the fruit or herbs. Vodka is an easy liquor to use. Normally I can add the fruit pieces on their own. With gin, it is a bit more complex. The recipe generally calls for the addition of other spices.

Cucumber gin and cucumber tonic

If one wants to taste the true origin of gin, I suppose it will be the Dutch gin or Jenever. This is the juniper flavoured traditional liquor of the Netherlands and Belgium.

Juniper berries

According to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 of the European Parliament, the names Jenever/ Genièvre/ Genever  can only be used in Belgium, The Netherlands, France (Départements Nord (59) and Pas-de-Calais (62), Germany (German Bundesländer Nordrhein-Westfalen and Niedersachsen). Source: https://www.fsai.ie/uploadedFiles/Reg110_2008.pdf

Jenever has been produced in the Netherlands and Belgium since the 13^th century. Juniper berries were added to the distilled malt wine. Jenever was sold as medicine and could apparently treat a wide variety of ailments. I will definitely explore Jenever in the near future.

When the Dutch king, William of Orange invaded England in 1688 and became the country’s monarch, it was only to be expected that traders would import the most popular Dutch drink, Jenever. Gin then began to be distilled in England. Gin shares many qualities with jenever, including its main base, juniper berries. Jenever and gin became identified as two entirely separate drinks with the jenever having subtle, herby flavours. Something that is absent in traditional gin. Source:  https://theculturetrip.com/europe/the-netherlands/articles/a-brief-history-of-jenever-the-dutch-gin/

I would say that gin has entered a golden age, having become a preferred drink among many new followers. The flavour profiles available to the gin connoisseur are mind-blowing. With many excellent gins being made in South Africa, one does not have to look too far to enjoy some interesting combinations.

 Homemade bread with chicken liver and gin pate

Luckily, the manufacturers of tonic water too have become more experimental. One can find cucumber, hibiscus, basil, rose and many more flavoured tonic waters to enhance the gin experience.

Pienaar & Son, a small craft distillery in the centre of the City Bowl of Cape Town, have created their Empire gin with citrus and cucumber notes. They describe it as follows, “This beautifully balanced, dry English-style gin is positively brimming with flavour. From the fresh hints of citrus to the comforting earthy, pine notes of Juniper and Angelica, it is the refreshing signature cucumber that makes this gin a deliciously fruity, yet complex experience.”

From the moment I discovered the distillery, I wanted to try this beautiful bottle of gin. In February this year, they launched the drought edition of their gins. I was intrigued and decided that I must have a bottle of this innovative gin.

According to Pienaar and son, “Gin comes off the still at 80% alc. Usually diluting this gin to 43% requires about 200L of water per batch. We decided to skip this step. It saves water and gets us all thinking about water and how to save more of it in our day to day lives. Pienaar & Son Drought Edition Gin is bottled at 80% alc.”

I decided, for this gin, I have to find the right mixer. I decided to try Lamb and Watt’s cucumber tonic water made with organic agave and spring water from the Lake District, in England. I rounded off the mix of cucumber gin with cucumber tonic water, with a fresh slice of cucumber. This was a seriously refreshing gin and tonic, with cool notes of cucumber and the punch that comes with 80%.

As a cocktail snack, I served fresh homemade bread with chicken liver and gin pate, garnished with juniper berries. One can never have enough gin! The pate is my first foray into using juniper berries as a food flavourant.

Om ‘n lelie te verguld

So het my hereboontjies toe hulle siklus van saad tot saad voltooi. Daar sit ek toe met die vles vol spierwit boontjies met hul swart ogies soos vissies in ‘n glasbak.

Die penarie waarin ek my toe bevind is, hoe maak ek hulle gaar. Watter dis gaan ek maak met hierdie aristokratiese peulplante. Is ek ooit waardig genoeg om hulle te kook?

Volgens Leipoldt,” Dit sou moeilik wees om in die groentetuin iets meer eg Afrikaans teë te kom as die ouderwetse “goewerneursboontjie”, of, soos hy soms genoem word, “hereboontjie”. En dit sou ook moeilik wees om hom raak te loop in enige buitelandse kookboek.”

En met die woorde van ‘n egte Suid Afrikaanse koskenner oor ‘n egte Suid Afrikaanse boontjie in my kop, vind ek my vroeg Saterdagoggend in die Towerwater biblioteek. Ek het besluit om die kenner en skrywer oor die hereboontjie te raadpleeg.

Ek haal ‘Polfyntjies vir die Proe’ van die rak af en blaai na die eerste essay waar sy eerste instruksie oor die boontjie is. “Kry dus die ouderwetse soort – as jy kan.  Liefs van ’n plaas êrens in die suidwestelike gedeelte van die Kaap, waar dit op riviergrond gegroei en teen die suidoostewind stand gehou het. En behandel dit asseblief nie soos gewone droë boontjies nie, want dit is ’n aristokraat en het sy voorregte, ja, selfs sy grilletjies.”

Wel myne kom indirek van die suidwestelike gedeelte van die Kaap. Maar kan ek nog aanspraak maak op daardie feit nadat ek hulle in Bonnievale geplant het?

Die geweekte boontjies

Volgens Leipoldt  week ‘n mens die boontjie vir net ‘n ander halfuur en kook dit dan op met ‘n grypie sout. Waneer die boontjie gaar is, is dit gereed vir die tafel en vir eet. Op hierdie manier gaar gemaak is die boontjies op hul beste en kan die koninklike smaak die beste geniet word.

Om enigiets meer met die boontjie te doen is onnodig, en soos Leipoldt dit stel, “Ja, daar is sommige van ons wat nie tevrede is met die reine eenvoud nie. Hulle wil die lelie verguld, reukwater oor ’n reseda giet.”

So besluit ek toe maar om die “lelie te verguld” en om sousboontjies te maak. Omdat ek ‘n bykos saam met die “gammon steaks” wou maak, het ek besluit om ‘n sterker mosterd sous vir die boontjies te maak.

Towerwater Mosterdbone

2 koppies (500ml) Hereboontjies
1 koppie wit suiker
½ koppie bruin suiker
200ml bruin asyn
2 eetlepels sterk mosterd (Engelse mosterd is ook goed)
2ml sout
1 rooi rissie, opgekap
sout en peper na smaak

Metode:

Week die boontjies oornag in koue water. (Wat Leipoldt nie weet nie sal sy hart nie seer maak nie). Kook die boontjies tot net sag. Vat ‘n koppie van die kookwater uit die kastrol en meng die bruin en wit suiker, bruinasyn, sout, mosterd, rissie en ’n bietjie witpeper en sout todat die suiker opgelos is. Voeg dan die mengsel by die bone in die kastrol en kook verder totdat die sous begin dik raak. Dien warm of koud op en garneer met gekapte pietersielie.

Ek het die bone saam met gerookte "gammon steaks” bedien en plaaslike gebroude bier het dit gekomplementeer.

So nou kan ek seker sê dat die hereboontjie se Towerwater storie nou volledig vertel is. Nadat hierdie heerlike bone in ‘n ryk sous as deel van ‘n Sondag middagete onder die akkerbome  bedien is. Dit is voorwaar ‘n aristokratiese boon in smaak en voorkoms en sal beslis ‘n instelling raak in die groentetuin en kombuis by Towerwater. Miskien probeer ek hulle nog in hul reine eenvoud maar ek moet sê, so verguld, smaak hulle baie lekker.

Harvesting Hereboontjies

At last the wait is over. I can start harvesting my own Hereboontjies. The search for these illusive beans I described in the post, ‘Looking for the Goewerneursboontjie’.

The Hereboontjie

I planted two rows to maintain a stock of seeds for future planting and to have some to spare for cooking. It is always exciting to watch the cycle of development. From seed to seedling; from flower to fruit and finally to seed again. A complete cycle of life, where I can learn from my garden.

The beans in the garden

The green Hereboontjie

It was the story of the bean that first attracted me. This was followed by the search, discovering some, as well as how to prepare them. This process involved so many different people. Each person playing their part. Helping me to complete the story of the bean now growing in my garden. It is as though each of them added a chapter that now has completed full cycle.

The harvested dry beans

Everyone adds a layer to the story. The friend who piqued my interest in the bean when we were discussing C Louis Leipoldt’s description of its flavour. My sister, who found the bean on the West Coast and bought me two bags. I had the luxury of tasting them in a carefully prepared dish and planting the rest. The friends that shared special recipes for the bean after I posted the blog. My cousin finding more for me in the town of Swellendam and bringing some special beans that his mom kept. They look much like a variant of the Hereboontjie. I still need to plant them, but that will be another story. Then there are the friends, helping us to harvest the beans.

One bean has brought so many people together. This is what makes the Towerwater garden special. The special people in our lives that give freely of their support to our interests. Adding layers to a rich, but simple, life. I suppose the thing that should happen now is to have a long table, set in the garden where everyone involved in this story can join together in tasting a fare prepared from this harvest. That will be the best ending to this story.

For now, telling the story through the blog, is my gift. It is an expression of my appreciation for their involvement in our lives. For adding such richness in the search for a special bean.

Flocking to Towerwater

The drought has brought about a surprise feature at Towerwater. It comes in the form of birds visiting for a bath. We have watched this phenomena progressing over recent weeks. We first noticed the Sunbirds and Cape White Eyes bathing in the wet leaves of the oak tree at the front door.

The Fiscal Flycatcher in the wet leaves

Fiscal Flycatchers waiting their turn

We have noticed ever more birds gathering in the oaks when the lawn is being sprinkled. With Fungai in hospital, the responsibility of watering the lawn and fruit trees falls to us.

A Cape White Eye

The watering attracts a variety of birds to the lawn area. They frolic in the wet leaves, lie on the wet lawn while showering under the spray of water and wash themselves on wet garden-tables.

A Bulbul enjoying the spray on the garden table

Cape Sparrows enjoying the spray

Normally they are quite territorial over certain sections of the garden where they prefer to feed. But, while the lawn is being watered, they are quite happy to share this communal space.

A female Paradise Flycatcher

A Laughing Dove in the spray

I am unsure as to the cause and whether it could be ascribed to the drought. However, we have new additions to our resident collection of wild-bird visitors to the garden. A couple of Paradise Flycatchers and two couples of Amethyst Sunbirds have joined the growing family of Olive Thrushes that now number four. Then there are the Wagtails, the Cape Robin Chats, the Double Collared Sunbirds, the Malachite Sunbirds, the Cape White Eyes, the Fiscal Fly Catchers, the Fiscal Shrikes, the Turtle Doves, the Laughing Doves, Cape Canaries and the Bulbuls.

A Tutle Dove lying in the spray

A Cape White Eye showering

The wealth of bird-life is enhanced by visiting flocks of Swee Waxbills, Kingfishers, the not-so-welcome Mouse-birds and Cape Weavers.

The bird-life in the garden confirms that we are succeeding in creating a garden where they can find natural food and shelter without us having to artificially feed them. It is a heart-warming compliment to realise that they visit the garden because they want to be there.

A male Amethyst Sunbird

A female Amethyst Sunbird

Their symphony of birdsong becomes the soundtrack of a visually pleasing space. A garden that is both a haven to us and the birds. Once a week, a variety of birds flock to Towerwater to have a bath. There they shine like wet jewels in an enchanted garden. Even their jewel-like names conjure visions of amethyst and malachite glittering in the dappled sun.

Purposeful pears

We have an abundance of pears at the moment. That means that I am up for preparing pear-inspired dishes. What a luxury the two pear trees are. Their sun-ripened fruit tastes like the warmest late summers day.

Between weeding vegetable beds and refreshing the Mediterranean fruit fly bait stations in the orchard and quince hedge, I still had to find ways of introducing the pears into our meals. One can see their sweetness in the colour of their skins. When they become a soft yellow with rosy cheeks they can seduce you with their sun-ripened sweetness.
 

The pear originated in China and greater Asia. It is well documented in writings dating back to the 6^th century. Source:  https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/pearinhistory.pdf  On planning the garden, it was a given that I had to include two pear trees, for cross pollination purposes, in the orchard.

I found a recipe for a pear cobbler which I decided to try. Making the recipe was not enough. I needed to know why it was called a cobbler. What I found is that the word was recorded in 1859 and may be related to the archaic word cobeler, meaning “wooden bowl”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobbler_(food) That did not really make sense to me because the cobbler would have been prepared on an open fire by early settlers to America.

Fresh pear and almond cobbler

I decided nonetheless, to make a pear and almond cobbler.

Pear and almond cobbler

Ingredients:

4 large pears (sliced fresh) mixed with 1/2 cup sugar

115 grams butter

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1 large egg

5 ml almond essence

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 165 C.

Mix the pears with 1/2 cup sugar and let stand.

Put butter in a baking dish and let it melt in the oven.

Mix the dry ingredients.

Whisk together the milk, egg and almond essence, in a mixing bowl.

Mix slowly with dry ingredients to make a batter. Pour over melted butter. Do not stir.

Place pears over the batter. Do not stir.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until nicely browned and pears are tender.

Fresh pear and smoked chicken salad

With Sunday dessert baking away, I looked at the bowl of pears and decided to make a smoked chicken and pear salad with rocket, red pepper, young red onions and coriander all, excluding the chicken, freshly collected from the garden. For a local twist, I added some Royal Ashton cheese from a local dairy nestled against the Langeberg mountains.

“In 1661, Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, lawyer and botanist, responsible for the gardens of the Versailles palace, and passionate about the cultivation of pears, wrote in reports: “It must be confessed that, among all fruits in this place, nature does not show anything so beautiful nor so noble as this pear. It is pear that makes the greatest honor on the tables…” “Source:  https://www.hindawi.com/journals/aag/2014/541097/

I have to agree with Jean-Baptiste. It is a pleasure to find a delectable ‘purpose for pears’ from the Towerwater garden.