Trout gravid lax and strawberry salad
Tickled pink
Warm days by the pool call for food and wine that is fresh and light. Lizelle Stolze was inspired by the Delheim Pinotage Rosé 2010 to create a dish reflecting the flavours of summer.
Overlooking the Wilderness lagoon on the Garden Route, Lizelle and Rudolph Stolze’s restaurant is located within Serendipity Guesthouse, and has been the recipient of a number of awards over the past 10 years, including Wine magazine’s Dine 100. The couple work closely together, with Lizelle running the kitchen and Rudolph manning the front-of-house – and it’s a wonder everything runs so smoothly since they are the parents of a four-month-old baby boy. But they are equally energetic and enthusiastic about their business – their passion and good humour oozing into their food.
Lizelle, with a strong grounding in French cuisine from chef school Prue Leith, loves playing with South African ingredients in unconventional ways. For instance, “Why use aborio rice when you have this amazing maize rice from right here in SA?”
Tasked with the Delheim Pinotage Rosé 2010, Lizelle was inspired by a Scandinavian dish of fresh salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill called gravid lax. Lizelle’s South African twist is to use lightly smoked trout instead of the salmon, while beetroot is used in place of the dill.
“Gravid lax was out of fashion because it takes so long to make (usually 48 hours),” says Lizelle. “But because we’re using smoked trout, this particular gravid lax requires just 12 hours to prepare. Making gravid lax is both easy and rewarding but you must begin a day in advance.”
When it came to the wine, Lizelle was struck by the amazing strawberry aromas as well as the earthiness of the Rosé. “I was intrigued by a smell of freshly dug earth that reminded me of beetroot,” she says. So she decided to echo both the strawberry and earthy aromas on the palate, while the smokiness of the trout is a natural match to the light Rosé. The contrast in textures is also apparent, with the crunchy beetroot offset by the tender fish and soft beetroot purée. This dish, like the Rosé, is perfect for a summer lunch.
Trout gravid lax and strawberry salad
SERVES SIX
Trout gravid lax
1 side of lightly smoked trout,
roughly 250g
1 T Maldon salt
½ t coarse black pepper
1 t light brown sugar
1 beetroot, raw, thinly sliced
Twelve hours before serving, mix the salt, pepper and sugar together and sprinkle over the trout fillet. Lay the slices of beetroot in a single layer on top. Cover with plastic wrap and weigh it down slightly. Refrigerate for 12 hours.
Beetroot purée
2 beetroot
¼ cup verjuice
❶ Boil the beetroot in lightly salted water for 30 minutes or until tender. Reserve some of the liquid.
❷ Purée the beetroot with the verjuice until smooth. Add a little bit of the cooking liquid if necessary, but be careful not to make it too runny.
❸ Taste and adjust the seasoning with a pinch of sugar and salt if necessary.
Salad dressing
3 T light olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
1 t honey
Mix ingredients together and adjust seasoning.
Salad
trout gravid lax, about 250g
trout roe, about 50g
a handful rocket
8 ripe strawberries
beetroot sprouts to garnish
1 beetroot, raw, thinly sliced
beetroot purée
salad dressing
❶ Chop the strawberries into one-centimetre cubes. Set aside.
❷ Remove the gravid lax from topping and thinly slice the trout.
❸ Toss the rocket in the dressing.
❹ To assemble, spread some of the beetroot purée on six
plates. Scatter the strawberries cubes on the plate and arrange a few slices of the sliced beetroot in a circular shape on the plate.
❺ Top the sliced beetroot with rocket. Lay the sliced trout over the rocket and scatter some roe onto the plates.
PREPARED BY Lizelle Stolze of SERENDIPITY GUESTHOUSE AND RESTAURANT
Freesia Avenue, Wilderness TEL: 044 877 0433 www.serendipitywilderness.com
