The dish of lamb sosaties with risotto-style pumpkin ‘stampkoring’ (pearled wheat), cumin sauce and pumpkin pickle was presented to food and wine personalities and members of the Durbanville Heritage Society at a lunch hosted by the Durbanville Wine Valley Association at Diemersdal Wine Estate on 23 November 2011. The main ingredients – lamb, pearled wheat and pumpkin - act as flavourful reminders that the area has been farmed for centuries, while aromatic cinnamon, cumin, mustard and mild curry nod to the past when the Cape of Good Hope was on the Spice Route. The regional dish will be available at restaurants on the wine route will also be served during festivals and special events. “It has special significance to unveil this signature dish in the year that the Durbanville Wine Valley won the 2011 Novare Trophy for the SA Terroir Top Wine Area,” says Righard Theron, chairman of the Durbanville Wine Valley Association. “It showcases the bounty and heritage of our produce, also paying tribute to the days when Durbanville was still a farmers market town known as Pampoenkraal, a border outpost owned by the Dutch East India Company where fresh meat and other farm produce were bartered with the locals.” Michelle van Staden, marketing manager of the Durbanville Wine Valley Association explains: “The idea for a signature dish first started in 2010 when Thys Louw, 6th generation wine-farmer on Diemersdal, returned from a trip to France all inspired by cuisine du terroir. He encouraged fellow winemakers and chefs to explore a dish that would capture the Durbanville spirit.” She added that Cape cuisine is a melting pot of so many influences that the search for a dish to define the Durbanville ‘kontrei’ was a daunting, yet enriching culinary experience. “We are excited that local residents and travellers to our valley can now taste our terroir both on the plate and in the glass. With our close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and Table Bay, fish dishes made from snoek were considered, although we finally found our culinary clues on land - the rolling hills of the area. Being traditionally a sheep farming area made sosaties a natural choice.” “In the 1600s a pound of mutton cost 3 stuiwers; a luxury even today, lamb calls for a special occasion, a feast, dining out, a celebration or gathering with friends or family around the table,” quips Van Staden. “Family recipes for sosaties have been handed down for generations,” says Ladine Louw of Diemersdal, who joined the search party for the regional dish. “Elrita Blanckenberg of the farm Kaaimanskloof in the district gave me her sosatie recipe when Thys and I got married. Sharing this uncomplicated, yet delicious recipe with others gives us great joy.” Sosaties have been sought after since the Cape’s early days. In ‘Rainbow Cuisine’ Lannice Snyman wrote that taverns of the old Cape Town were known as ‘sosatie and rice houses’. While the true origin of the name sosatie is not clear, its sweet, cooked curry marinade sets it apart from the similar sounding Indonesian satay. It is possibly derived from the Malay word sesatie (meat-on-a-stick) or adapted from the Indonesian sasati, the term for minced meat. The spicy sweet sauce also points to the Persian kebab an intrepid Arabian traveller through the Middle East, North Africa before landing up in Europe, then Holland. The Durbanville area is also renowned for grain crops, especially wheat. Not typically fine-dining fare, the rustic ‘stampkoring’ (pearled wheat) carries on the tradition of country cooking. Blending well with the honest, local character of stampkoring, pumpkin has also been grown in the area for centuries. So intertwined is the humble pumpkin with the agricultural history of the district that Durbanville was once known as Pampoenkraal. (The name was changed from Pampoenkraal to D’Urban in 1836, then renamed Durbanville in 1886, to prevent confusion with the city Durban). “Our regional dish includes pumpkin in three ways: mashed pumpkin with a hint of cinnamon to add creaminess to the risotto-style stampkoring; diced oven-roasted butternut for texture and intense flavour,” says Ladine Louw. “Rounding off the pumpkin statement is the region’s new signature condiment - a sweet-sour home-made pumpkin pickle with turmeric and mustard seeds.” The regional dish will be on the menus from December 1st 2011 at R120 for a main course or R65 for a starter portion. A vegetarian option will be made available for diners preferring a meatless option. Try the Durbanville Wine Valley regional dish at any of the following restaurants: Eat@ Altydgedacht Bon Amis Cafe and Deli at Bloemendal. Poplars Restaurant, D’Aria Durbanville Hills Eatery, Durbanville Hills Hillcrest Restaurant, Hillcrest Wine Estate The Manor House Restaurant, Meerendal Cassia Restaurant, Nitida Wine Estate Tables at Nitidia, Nitida Wine Estate The regional dish will also be served during the Feast of the Grape and other wine festivals at all the member farms Nitida, Meerendal, Hillcrest, Klein Roosboom, Groot Phesantekraal, Durbanville Hills, Diemersdal, De Grendel, D’Aria, Bloemendal and Altydgedacht.