Tokara Zondernaam and No-name Fettuccini
Greek mythology
Greek food maestro Stavros Vladislavic, comes up with a legendary match for the Tokara Zondernaam Shiraz Grenache 2007. Anna Trapido reports.
Stavros Vladislavic is a Gauteng culinary Colossus in every sense of the word. A physically large man with a powerful personality, he has previously owned several landmark Hellenic eateries in Pretoria. His latest venture, As Greek As It Gets, in the semi-rural setting of Cullinan, has his many fervent big city fans driving in and out of potholes and through innumerable road works in search of finger-licking-good chicken bourekia and sensationally sticky pistachio baklavas.
Even if you don't know the address of the restaurant when you arrive in this ye-olde 19th century diamond mining dorp, you will have no trouble finding As Greek As It Gets - because it is exactly that. Any more Greek and you would have had to endure the lost luggage and cigarette smoke of Athens airport to get there. The olive trees and oregano bushes at the eatery's entrance are in refreshing contrast to the surrounding broekie lace-lined cottages and petunia-packed window boxes.
And then there is the chef himself. Despite having a surname of Yugoslav origin, he argues that "you don't get more Greek than me" and he's not wrong. No one does assertive quite like the Greeks, and Vladislavic crashes and booms his way around the creaking floorboards and pressed ceilings of his terraced Edwardian eatery with such alimentary aplomb that he is his own dinner theatre.
Pause for a moment over the menu and the chef will order for you. Make an inappropriate wine choice and he will let you know in no uncertain terms. Kitchen quarrels are deliciously de rigueur and often augmented by the arrival of the achingly beautiful Mrs Vladislavic who specialises in generating the most seductive of domestic dramas.
Being relieved of the burden of entertaining oneself at the dinner table is blissfully relaxing. It is the kind of restaurant where superb lingering lunches invariably mooch and meander into epic epicurean evenings. So where better to settle into a wine that the chef found to be "easy-drinking, soothing summery stuff "?
In response to what he called the "take-another-sip friendliness" of the Tokara Zondernaam 2007, Vladislavic created a dish to "enhance its freshness and yet help the diner to recognise the underlying aromatic elements".
Despite not normally serving pasta in the restaurant, he argued, "The wine deserves the kind of meal that you can cook up in an instant without a lot of fuss. It's not something to get posh with - it's about spending good times with people you love, and a bowl of pasta is often the best way to do that."
The Italian starch notwithstanding, the sauce served had an unmistakable Byzantine feel. Its blend of garlic, ginger, oregano and honey enticed the wine into releasing hitherto unrecognised spicy aspects of its identity, while the chicken livers added a creamy generosity which brought out a gentle sweetness.
Everyone present had second and third helpings of both the Zondernaam and the no-name fettuccini. Savouring a final mouthful, Vladislavic remarked, "I make food like I want more." And he wasn't the only one.
No-name Fettuccini
3 T olive oil
1 T garlic, crushed
1 T ginger, finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 fresh chillies, finely chopped
180ml fresh oregano, finely chopped
90ml fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
500g chicken livers, cleaned
2 tins diced Italian tomatoes
250ml vegetable stock
500ml Tokara Zondernaam wine
1 T honey
250ml coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook the garlic, ginger, chillies and onions in olive oil over a medium heat. Add the chicken livers and cook until they are brown on both sides. Add the wine and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the herbs, tomato, stock, coconut milk and honey. Cook until the sauce has reduced by three quarters. Season to taste and serve on top of fettuccini.
