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Photos By:: Adil Arora
 The most popular story doing the rounds at the dinner was about Nelson Mandela once being in London and craving for his favourite South African maize dish called Umphokoqu. Those were the days of sanctions and reportedly no food was allowed in England if sent from South Africa. Xoliswa was ingenious enough to prepare it and pack it as a wrapped present and Mr. Mandela had it in the next flight. She had herself people surrounding her and asking her for other stories about Nelson Mandela.
We also relived a few of those moments during the evening as we received a similar ‘present’ at the table as the dinner was served. ‘Garnale’- a Colonial Prawn and Avocado cocktail, which was made individually in a plastic cup and packed in an attractive square gift box with South African motif was the first course.. Great start for the dinner after the signature Amuse Bouche- Karak Roti, the gentle rolling spices of which made me crave for a yogurt or avocado based dip. I could have sworn I also tasted a water chestnut which was in the smoked maaskaas, the cottage cheese and water chestnut substitute for vegetarians. The Ayala Pinotage 2012, made from the signature grape of South Africa, was a good substitute as wine-it was simple, fruity and spicy, the tannins accentuating the chilies of the Karak Roti, notwithstanding.
 Pot-braised chicken stew, carrot and mango rice (the South African would be more familiar with the name-Hoender Potjiekos) was a sweet reminder that either Mr. Nelson Mandela had impeccable taste or this innovation of the Chef addressed his apparent craving for mangoes. She had been able to craft the perfect dish not only for him but us mortals too-certainly the best dish of the evening, as it turned out. Perhaps the Wine Company would consider adding the dish in the Menu and name it after Nelson Mandela, not only immortalizing the evening and earning the goodwill of the African community but making several regular clients happier!
It was paired with Nelson Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2003. This was a beautifully balanced, elegant spicy and still fresh tasting wine with good length and persistent taste. Surprisingly, it was served at a decent temperature of18-20 deg C. Earlier in the evening, Tasting red wines had been a total disaster with the barman picking up the bottles lying outside and opening and serving out of them. As I requested him to cool them a bit as they tasted like medicine at 25+ deg C temperature, he apologized and said he had strict instructions from Mr Nelson to serve all red wines at the room temperature. I made a mental note to talk to Nelson later and discontinued the red wine tasting. Fortunately a Sauvignon Blanc saved the evening for me.
 Later, when I did meet Alan Nelson at the dinner, he was even more dogmatic than I had imagined- red wines are served in his country at the room temperature and that’s the way it was going to be here too!l. But when I made a polite protest about their being medicinal at the 25+degtemperature, he simply shrugged his shoulders and simply walked of to meet dozens of potential consumers waiting to chat with him. I have a nagging feeling he shall face bit of a difficult time in the Indian market even though I found his $24 wine (Price-Wine-Searcher) very palatable while it reminded me about Rupert & Rothschild Classique red.
 Food and wine pairing can be a constraint and is individualistic-in this case the Lam Gebraii- Roast leg of lamb with ugali was the main course. Ugali is a maize flour dish cooked with water to a potato puree-like texture. In fact, it looked like mashed potato and even tasted like the puree, except it was slightly grainy in the mouth, weightier and more flavourful. Ayama Shiraz 2012 was a rather pedestrian wine with rough edges that ought to have been matched with the previous dish. One should have stuck to the delicious, smooth Nelson Cab-Merlot with lamb. After drinking a couple of glasses of ‘Nelson’, it was laborious to go through the charade of matching Shiraz with the lamb.
 One could be shooed away on the pairing part since matching is the prerogative of the Sommelier or whosoever is conducting the symphony. But the Mariamme Rose 2012 was a complete misfit with the dessert- ‘Malva pudding and stewed fruits’ which was too sweet full bodied for the limp and listless wine with not enough sweetness to match. This is not the kind of wine one would showcase South African Rose wines some of them are simply delicious but for a Tasting, any wine is fine so long as it is not thrusted with the fine food that had a bit of ‘Nelson’ in it.
As I headed out, it was encouraging to observe groups of young people holding wine glasses and sipping only wine (ok- beer too!) inside the restaurant and outside, making the area lively and vivacious with inane and loud conversation made easy with imbibing of each sip or a glass of the South African wine. One almost forgot that it was the part of Indo-South African week celebration and a delegation had been inside, headed by Mr. Senzeni Zokwana the Minister of, Agriculture and Forestry and fisheries.
Subhash Arora
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