The Steak with the Most Sizzle: Carne Named Eat Out Jacobsdal Steakhouse of the Year 2013

Tuesday, 12 November, 2013
Cape Legends
Carne of Cape Town was named the 2013 Eat Out Jacobsdal Steakhouse of the Year for the second consecutive year, at the Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards in Cape Town, on Sunday 10 November.
Chef-proprietor Giorgio Nava may be Italian but he cooks steak with true South African flair. No surprise, as Italians too, love their meat, and they like it simply prepared and flavoured, which is the way it's done at Carne SA. Serious carnivores go for the 1.2kg Florentine beef steak, but the menu also has an intricately flavoured hangar steak, mixed game skewer and a meltingly tender lamb shoulder stuffed with spinach and pine nuts. The sides, like fried potatoes, are uncomplicated but great, and of course, there is pasta. Elegant and stylish simplicity in the form of wood beam ceilings and Louis Ghost chairs are the backdrop for excellent and authentic food, and a slick, professional and well-informed waitering staff.
 
Cheers to the perfect steak
 
"Few things go better together than steak and red wine, and our best steakhouses deserve an award for bringing these two pillars of the steakhouse experience together with all the other important elements that make for a great meal out," said Hannes Dumas, winemaker at Jacobsdal Wine Estate, which has sponsored the award for the first time this year. Jacobsdal is part of the Cape Legends portfolio of boutique South African wine estates.
"South Africans love their meat and our steakhouses have really evolved over the past few years," said Eat Out Editor Abigail Donnelly. "Carne exemplifies the care a steakhouse should take with its main focus – the beef -- from the fields to the butchery to the table. Knowing how to select and produce the most flavoursome steak is an artisanal skill that few master, but Giorgio has it perfected, which, together with the tasty sides on offer, an excellent wine list, and friendly and informed service, has made it this year's winner."
 
Cook Like a Steakhouse Pro
 
If you can't make it to Carne, here are some tips on how to prepare great steaks at home:
  • Buy only aged meat from a butcher you trust.
  • Allow your steaks to come to room temperature before you cook them.
  • Have your bottle of Jacobsdal Pinotage or Cabernet Sauvignon open and ready, to savour together with your steak.
  • Season simply but generously with freshly ground salt and black pepper – nothing else.
  • For something special, make up a compound butter to serve with steaks. Mix room temperature butter with salt, black pepper, chopped shallots, garlic and parsley, and spoon onto cooked steaks.
  • If you are cooking inside, use a cast-iron or other heavy-bottomed pan. Heat over medium-high heat, without oil, until very hot; then cook seasoned steaks on both sides. Never crowd steaks in a pan – they need plenty of space to caramelize properly. A 225gr sirloin or rib-eye steak will take about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare.
  • If you are braaing, always grill over a very hot fire. Rotate your steaks once on each side - from 11h00 to 13h00 - to get that steakhouse crosshatched pattern.
  • Let your steaks rest after cooking for five minutes, to ensure maximum juiciness.
Since 1920, for three generations, the Dumas family of Jacobsdal Wine Estate has been making wine in the same way. The 265 ha Jacobsdal estate lies on the extreme south-westerly edge of the Stellenbosch Wine of Origin region. The present winemaker, Cornelis Dumas, is assisted by his son, Hannes, who will eventually take over the reins. In 1993, when Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk received the Nobel Peace prize, a Jacobsdal Pinotage was one of the wines chosen for the celebratory dinner in Oslo.
 
The Jacobsdal Pinotage RSP is R90.00.

For more information about Jacobsdal email info@jacobsdal.co.za or visit their website