Springbok Alla Casseruola
Giorgio Nava, owner and executive chef at 95 Keerom Street, has no trouble pairing Belfield’s Magnifica Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 with a dish from his menu. Joanne Gibson reports.
Molto bono” is how Giorgio Nava, the owner and executive chef of Cape Town restaurant 95 Keerom Street, sums up Belfield’s Magnifica Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 which rated 3½ Stars in this month’s blind tastings (see p. 135). “I think it’s a fantastic wine – it has a lightness and freshness about it, and I particularly like the well-balanced tannins and alcohol.”
Intense black berries and an appealing herbaceousness hint at the wine’s cool-climate origins – a tiny 2.5ha property in Elgin planted entirely (and unusually, for the area) to red grape varieties. Made by Mike Kreft, whose family farms proteas commercially, this Reserve Cab is named after the elegant Protea Magnifica or Queen Protea. After tasting the wine, Nava seems eager to source some of it for his winelist: “I think it’s a very versatile food match. You could drink it with many different types of food, ranging from delicate to very rich. Not that we make anything very rich in this restaurant…”
Instead, Nava – who immigrated to South Africa in 1999 and opened 95 Keerom in 2003 – strives to give his guests a taste of authentic Milanese cuisine. His secret is to do as little as possible to the raw ingredients – ingredients which, needless to say, must be of the highest quality. For this reason, he has his own boat to ensure truly fresh fish, and his own farm near Graaff -Reinet in the Karoo for the best possible lamb, beef and game. “This way I have complete control over my ingredients, right down to ensuring the right maturation for specific cuts and dishes.”
A springbok shot by Nava himself two weeks previously (then aged in a dry room for nine days) strikes him as the perfect match for the Magnifico. “I don’t like any wine to overpower food, but springbok is quite a robust meat, so in this case neither the meat nor the wine dominates.” More specifically, he decides to make Springbok alla Casseruola, a firm favourite on his menu: “I didn’t want to do a once-off dish in case WINE magazine readers came in and asked for it!”
This casserole is made from deboned and diced leg of springbok, slow-cooked in tomato sauce with carrots, celery and onions. “After every sip of the wine, there is a nice, lingering freshness which goes well with the herbs in the casserole – particularly the bay leaves and cloves. It also matches nicely with a side dish of polenta made using 24-month-matured Parmesan. In fact, you could easily serve this wine with a cheese platter because it’s not too strong. Buono appetito!”
Serves 6
1 springbok front leg, deboned
1 springbok back leg, deboned
THE MARINADE
4 onions, chopped
5 carrots, chopped
1 bunch of celery, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
5 cloves
6 bay leaves
1½ litres good red wine
Salt and pepper
Clean the meat and cut into small
cubes, then marinade in the fridge
with all of the above ingredients for 24 hours,
turning from time to time.
THE CASSEROLE
200g butter
200g extra virgin olive oil
3 250g tins Pelati tomatoes
After 24 hours, remove the meat from
the marinade. Season and flour it lightly.
In a large pan, heat the butter and extra
virgin olive oil. Add the bay leaves and
garlic from the marinade, then seal the meat
without burning the oil and butter.
When you have finished sealing the meat,
add the Pelati (whole, skinned, canned)
tomatoes and the marinade. Cook in the pan
over low heat for 20 minutes. While simmering,
remove the meat and place in a single layer in a
baking tray. Cover with the sauce, close the tray
using aluminium foil, and bake for two hours at 200ºC.
Serve with polenta.
