Mr Robinson, chef and proprietor of The Glenwood
Restaurant, has been invited by the French Embassy (SA) to participate in a
week celebrating French cuisine. This week is an international event, organised
by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
The French, as we have all realised by now, are
unapologetic champions of their culture and central to their culture is food.
Now, it is tempting, as I have just done, to use ‘French cuisine’ in a nearly
generic sense. But this is very far from accurate. There is the north of France
and the south of France. There is haute cuisine and classical cuisine. There is
what the French eat at home and what they eat in restaurants. But what holds
true through all these distinctions is that the French took their primacy in
European cuisine to be absolute for at least 150 years until, relatively
recently, people started noting Italian and then Spanish cuisine, and so on.
And even in parts of the world which are not Europe it has been expected, for
some bizarre reason, that the French would be the judges of how others fair
with their own conceptualisation and execution – we have had Michelin
judgements since 1926.
Robinson, as we know, is a stickler for making
food he likes to eat. His leanings are also towards that part of France,
Provence, which belonged to Italy till as recent as 1486. Provence is that
incredible place so lauded and loved by Elizabeth David and her hero, Marcel
Boulestin. It is home to where France meets Italy. Provencal food is rooted in
the terrain of the produce, and these are used according to classical rules.
The French love rules; they have rules for everything. This type of food is
fresh, accessible and simple, but by no means easy to produce. There is no
chance of subterfuge – of hiding behind mousses and jellies, or under blobs and
swirls. There is no chance of baffling with things very esoteric. There is no
smoke, nor are there mirrors here.
This is the food you eat at The Glenwood
Restaurant and is what has won Robinson the invitation to participate. Over
this week we shall also have French wines available, as is required of
participants.
Here is something about the cultural week. And
then to follow is the menu (R290 per head) we are serving over this week (21 to
25 March, for us). You are welcome to book by the usual means.
GOÛT DE FRANCE (a symbol of good France)
“Cuisine - French cuisine - represents joie de
vivre, lightness, optimism and pleasure, ideas which are central to the image
of Destination France”. Alain Ducasse, event creator alongside the
Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs The spirit of Goût de France /
Good France follows this founding idea with the aim of including all categories
of restaurant throughout the world. This international event, which was first
held in 2015, follows UNESCO’s decision to put “gastronomic meal of the
French” on the intangible cultural heritage list. Thus on 21 March every
year, participating restaurants offer guests the experience of French art de
vivre and pay tribute to its capacity for innovation and the values that it
represents: sharing, pleasure, and respect for good food, good company and the
planet. In 2017, over 2,100 participating restaurants in 150
countries, 250,000 meals and 8,000 guests in 156 embassies. Vitality,
modernity, responsibility: gastronomy will be used to showcase France's
positive values, with the warmth associated with the pleasures of good food.
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On
arrival:
Olives and
Bakery bread with anchovy butter
(Et du pain
de la maison avec di beurre d’anchovois)
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Starters:
Deep fried
courgette flowers stuffed with house made ricotta
(Fleur de
courgette farci au fromage)
Or
Steamed
oysters with tomato and tarragon butter
(Huitres au
vapeur, beurre de tomate et l’estragon)
-----------------
Mains:
Impala stew
braised in red wine with mash
(Civet de
chevreuil “Grandmere”)
Or
Open
ravioli with ratatouille and basil butter
(Pate
fraîche a la ratatouille et du beurre de basalic)
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Cheeses:
Local
farmhouse cheeses with Bakery walnut and raisin sourdough bread
(Plateau de
fromage fermiers servi avec notre pain de noyer et raisin)
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Puddings:
Choux
pastry fritters with ginger ice cream and hot chocolate sauce
(Biegnets
soufflés de chocolat chaud et dela crème glacée de gingembre)
Or
Plum and
almond tart with vanilla ice cream
(Tarte aux
bruneaux et amandes avec glace a la vanille)
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Café et
petits fours
