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Food News

EASY PEASY CHEESY MUFFINS

My foolproof cheese muffins

My foolproof cheese muffins

This is pretty easy muffin recipe and so far the muffins have never failed to rise – and please.

I love hot cheese muffins smothered with butter. So much so that it’s often an in-between meals snack for me, and part of my campaign to reduce my intake of biscuits and cakes (my first preference). I don’t have the time to bake them daily, but I can bake them once a week and freeze them the minute they are cool, and then reheat in the oven when needed. I’ve experimented with lots of recipes and this one is pretty foolproof. I’ve fiddled with it a bit to give the muffins a little extra kick.

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Uncategorised

CHARTWELL DRIVE GETS NEW COMPETITION

14 on Chartwell's stylish interior

14 on Chartwell’s stylish interior

Despite its pretentious name, 14 on Chartwell is a viby and welcoming eatery serving good food, writes Ingrid Shevlin

14 on Chartwell
Chartwell Drive, Umhlanga
Call 031 561 1017
Open daily from 11am until late

While the daughter’s palate is a sophisticated one she retains a childhood fixation on a certain Spur meal, a 200g rump steak, served on a piping hot skillet, with chips, all of which she drenches in Spur sauces. It was on a rare visit to Spur with her, rare for me that is, that I discovered their chicken wings served with a blue cheese dipping sauce, and was immediately smitten. I’ve tried many other versions at many other restaurants but Spur’s wings, the last word in comfort food, beat them all. Until now.
14 on Chartwell serve chicken wings basted in a Sriracha honey sauce with their version of a blue cheese dipping sauce. Their chicken wings are particularly plump and succulent and the sauce sweet, but not too sweet, with a hot and spicy overtone. Delicious. Like the dipping sauce. So now they taken my no 1 chicken wings spot.
This new Umhlanga restaurant is full of surprises. Initially I never held out much hope for a new and super trendy venue designed to attract the young, restless and fickle with its wide selection of craft beers, cocktails and small batch spirits.
But clearly some careful thought has gone into the menu, sophisticated-cafe in style, and its execution to achieve a winning combination.

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Coffee Shops

TALK OF THE TOWN

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Some of the latte artwork created by the Talk House Cafe’s two baristas.

Coffee is alive and well in Westville at the Talk House Cafe

If you are looking for good coffee in Westville and a friendly  ambiance, try the Talk House Cafe. This is a stylish and spacious coffee shop inside the Westville Mall that has a small indoor section and a large terrace  open on two sides.  The decor and furnishings are charmingly eclectic.
They offer a small but interesting menu of light, cafe food, which is reasonably priced. But it’s their coffee that lifts them beyond the ordinary. With the beans and training supplied by Tribeca’s Bruce Manning their two baristas, Ndumiso Ngcobo and Thamisanqa Ndlovu, are serious about serving top quality coffee. The two have also been practicing their latte art and delighting their customers with new and innovative patterns – as their Facebook site reveals, where compliments from customers abound for coffee and service.
My cappuccino was rich and full-bodied and, thankfully, not bitter, while the foam was perfectly textured. It was also served at the correct temperature. If your coffee is too hot to drink immediately it’s served then you are likely to get a burnt taste.

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Coffee Shops

NATIONAL BARISTA COMPETITION COMES TO DURBAN – NEXT STOP IRELAND

Craig Charity, who came 15 in the World Barista Championships lat year. Craig is from Durban

Craig Charity, who came 15 in the World Barista Championships last year. Craig is from Durban

Watch the country’s best baristas in action at the National Coffee Competition at Gateway

You’ve all heard it before  – Durban is the hottest place to be –  and it is. Hot on the heels of our winning the bid to stage the next Commonwealth Games, Durban is hosting, for the first time, the SCASA National Coffee Competitions from November 19 to 22 at Gateway.
This includes the Barista Championships, Cup Tasters Championships and Latte Art Championships. In the end three National Champions will be chosen, one from each category, to represent their country.
And don’t think for a moment things don’t get hot and steamy during the competition. Having played the role of Barista Mama for the regional championships earlier this year, I know exactly how tense it can get behind the scenes and then on stage.
After all this is a test of  performance and skill under pressure. As well as being able to produce perfect coffee under the watchful eyes of  seven critical judges, each barista has to produce four espressos, four cappuccinos and four signature drinks – in under 15 minutes!

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Food News

DURBAN WELCOMES ITS FIRST ARTISANAL SPIRITS DISTILLERY

Andrew Rall demonstrating the distilling process

Andrew Rall demonstrating the distilling process

The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Durban with the establishment of an artisanal spirit distillery that captures the flavours of surf city. 

Do you know the difference between absinthe and ouzo? Probably not, but then I didn’t either. But all was revealed during the media launch of Distillery 031, Durban’s first artisanal spirits distillery. It’s the new kid on the block at The Foundary at the trendy Station Drive precinct.
During the spirit tasting demo, distillery owner Andrew Rall instructed us to put our noses over the glass of absinthe in front of us and inhale deeply to best savour its potency. And potent it was.  I nearly keeled over. Not really, but you get the point.
Basically absinthe is a potent anise-flavored liqueur that also contains wormwood, fennel and other forms of plant flavouring. In the case of Distillery 031 their version contains two forms of  wormwood, one indigenous. In contrast ouzo is largely anise-flavoured, but can also include other flavourings such as fennel, cardamom, coriander, cloves, and cinnamon.
Absinthe is one of the four products being distilled by Distillery 031. The others are 131 vodka, 031 Durban dry gin and 031 tonic, an all-natural product. I’m no expert on spirits but these seemed pretty impressive, as is the distillery. This is no moonshine operation.
I’m not sure many guests left entirely sober after the sampling but it was fun. It’s tough life being a food writer but, as they say, someone has to do it

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