Springbok loin

Springbok loin on honey-roasted pumpkin, truffle mash with mushrooms and an Affinity reduction

Chef Leon Nel's Silver Orange Bistro is set amidst fever trees on the Altyd Mooi citrus farm outside Hartbeespoort. He was tasked to create a dish to complement the La Bri Affinity 2006, writes Anna Trapido.

 

He grew up on the farm and the eatery's dining room is in what was once his ouma's front parlour. The chef's alimentary attachment to the environment in which he works shows in every bite and sip of his food and wine pairing.

Asked to create a dish to complement the La Bri Affinity 2006, Leon Nel serves a sexy spin on a local culinary classic. He says, "In this setting, comfortable, seasonally specific, simple food just feels right. I don't mean some silly ye olde, backward-looking thing - we don't live in a museum and I like to mix local ingredients with international trends and tastes. But what I'm always aiming for at the Silver Orange is contemporary yet characteristic South African cuisine."

His plate of springbok loin on honey-roasted pumpkin with truffle mash and a La Bri Affinity reduction sauce was designed to "reflect the almost cigar-boxy, smoky components in the wine. I wanted to offer something to mirror and complement the rich dark fruit and the spiciness on the nose". He says, "I went with truffles and the Asian mushrooms because they offer an earthy richness that I found on the wine."

The truffles might have grown in a foreign field but he recalls, "I have stayed on this wine farm as a guest and I remember one night I woke up and walked outside looking for ghosts. I am probably imagining it, but I feel as though I can smell the oak trees and the vines in the moonlight in every sip. is wine really reflects where it comes from and I hope my food does the same."

He observes that "food and wine pairings should be a very personal act. So often wine reps or consultants draw up wine lists and they don't match the chef's food. I could never do that. So much care and so many hangovers have gone into drawing up my wine list! I hope that this pairing of food and wine is an honest reflection of where I am at and also what the winemaker was trying to achieve."

And it is. The food is simultaneously terroir-specific and world-class wonderful. In combination with the La Bri Affinity 2006, traditional tastes are reconfigured in a manner that is rooted in the environment without being folksy or contrived. Deliciously direct, classy yet uncomplicated, local is lekker at its best.

Springbok loin on honey-roasted pumpkin, truffle mash with mushrooms and an Affinity reduction
SERVES FOUR

SPRINGBOK
800g springbok loin cut into four equal portions
50ml melted butter
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a small heavy-base pan to smoking point, add the butter, place the seasoned loins in a pan and sear for four minutes a side until brown.

PUMPKIN
4 cups pumpkin, peeled and cut into 2cm blocks
100ml orange blossom honey
100g butter
1ml aniseed
salt and pepper

Toss all the ingredients together, cover with tinfoil and bake at 180ºC until the pumpkin is cooked and slightly caramelised around the edges.

TRUFFLE MASH
6 large potatoes, peeled
1 bay leaf
1ml nutmeg
100g butter
200ml milk
5ml white-truffle-infused olive oil

Boil the potatoes in salted water with a bay leaf until soft. Strain and mash with milk, butter, truffle oil and nutmeg. Season to taste.

MUSHROOMS
200g enoki mushrooms
200g shimeji mushrooms
200g king oyster mushrooms, sliced
50g butter
50ml olive oil
5ml garlic, finely chopped
Melt the butter and oil and toss in the mushrooms and
garlic. Sauté until cooked through, but still with a little bite. Season to taste.

Melt the butter and oil and toss in the mushrooms and garlic. Sauté until cooked through, but still with a little bite. Season to taste.

AFFINITY REDUCTION
750ml La Bri Affinity 2006
300ml sugar
50ml balsamic vinegar
2 star anise
2 cloves

Combine all the ingredients and simmer until reduced by three-quarters.

Silver Orange Bistro, R513, 400 metres from Mfula Junction, Hartbeespoort, North West Province. Tel 012 253 2136