During a quick break at the extremely popular Pierneef a La Motte stand at the festival, the surprisingly relaxed Executive Chef outlined his selection of dishes:
Cape bokkom salad, dried apricots, almonds and wild garlic dressing
Chris Erasmus explained the interesting combination of the above flavours as a play on the traditional South African favourite snoek and apricot jam dish. Erasmus noted that the South African pallet favours the combination of either sweet and salt or sweet and sour tastes.
Lacquered pickled, smoked lamb’s rib, pickled tongue, dried pear dumplings and verjuice poached pear
Erasmus detailed this dish as a very old traditional recipe of which there are only traces of people still preparing it. The dish is similar to the Namibian Kliprib where two heated rocks are placed above and below the lamb rib to facilitate the cooking thereof.
Milk tart milkshake
Erasmus’s description of this dish was simply that it was a fun twist to a traditional recipe.
On his inspiration for the above dishes (and his menu at the restaurant) Erasmus said that he chooses to focus on simpler food which is organic, seasonal and a step back to more traditional European cuisine. Erasmus cited the 1658 book "The sensible cook" as part of the inspiration for his style of cooking. Erasmus also deems new vintages of La Motte wines as the key ingredient to his culinary creations.