Cook-with-me Demo at Makers Landing

Diner listening to the music paired with the each course on the menu.
Image credit: Dylan Louw

I had done many cook-with-me demos at Makers Landing, and twice as part of Feastival. It was challenging to run a cooking event whilst a music concert is taking place. So when I was asked to do a restaurant pop-up, I was hesitant.

But something niggled at me. I never started a restaurant because I think it would take the fun out of it for me. But I do really enjoy the challenge of designing a menu, and love cooking in front of people and sharing my passion about food and the stories behind it. I love collaborating with proudly South African small businesses, who are just as passionate about “food as a craft” as I am, like Baard and Co.

And when my wife asked me “will it bring you joy?”, and I knew the answer to that question was “yes” the decision was made. Using “does it bring you joy” as the determining factor for what we do and don’t do in life, has become an important rudder when we have different obligations and opportunities flying at us all the time. And so I started to plan my menu for an Italian Food & Wine evening.

Food, Wine and Music Pairing

Because I always like to do things a little different, I decided to pair the food and wine with music as well. Research has shown that high-pitched notes are primarily associated with sweet and sour foods, while low-pitched sounds work well with bitter and umami tastes. I was keen to find out. But first: designing the menu.

Shawn and the team (Silwood students) plating up on the pass.

Entrepreneurshop vs a Creative Outlet

I am an entrepreneur at heart. I love running profitable businesses. But food is different. Food is not about making money. It is my creative outlet. It is where I can focus on excellence, even if it economically may seem like it doesn’t make sense. You can taste the difference, so it makes sense to me. Food is a craft.

In my journey after MasterChef, designing recipes and cooking new dishes, I have become passionate about heroeing local, South African ingredients, whilst experimenting with cooking methods from across the globe. Designing the menu for the Italian Food, Wine & Music pairing at Feastival was no different.

The Menu

Oysters

The first course on the menu was oysters, to which I’d added some champagne, vinegar, red onion, a squeeze of a lemon and drizzle of olive oil. With some lemon zest on top and dill for garnish the dish was complete!

This luxurious dish was paired with a ‘poor man’s oyster’ or Weskus Oestertjie which was a shot consisting of Paternoster tequila, lemon juice and a dash of Tabasco.

The ultimate pairing included the music - Tequila Sunrise by the Eagles!

Baard and Co sourdough loaf — Baard & Co. Sourdough. Image credit: Dylan Louw

My Local Baker

For the second course, I had asked Ronel de Jager from Baard and Co. to make these awesome handcrafted sourdough to show “The Roasted Dad.” Ronel makes the best sourdough in Cape Town - by far. I served this sourdough loaf with two types of butter: a truffle & biltong butter, combining the best Italy and South Africa have to have offer, and a black garlic & squid ink butter.

This bread course was paired with a glass of Du Toitskloof Old Vine Sauvignon Blanc 2022 and the awesome song “Bread and Butter” by Four Jacks and a Jill.

Lalunga smoked yellowtail dish — Lalunga smoked yellowtail. Image credit: Dylan Louw

Cape Town’s Caprice

Up next, I served up Smoked Yellowtail which I served with a prosecco & grape gel, basil oil, prosecco infused grapes, crispy capers and fresh pea shoot.

This seafood course was paired with a glass of Du Toitskloof Old Vine Sauvignon Blanc 2022 and “The Look” by Roxette.

Mosaic Truffle Fillet

I really love a challenge. It’s perhaps why I ended up being an entrepreneur. Or won MasterChef. There is no greater pressure than the pressure I put upon myself. And so when I saw the technique of creating a mosaic out of pieces of fish or meat, I knew I had to use that on my menu. It was possibly the most labour intensive fillet steak I have ever made. After slicing and spicing the fillets, I used meat glue to get the pieces back together and create the marbled effect you see on the plate. Meat glue is an enzyme that helps proteins bind permanently together through the formation of covalent bonds. The fillets had to be wrapped tightly in cling wrap and refrigerated, then sous-vide before cutting and plating it at Feastival.

I served the mosaic truffle fillet with a Basil & Ricotta Girasoli on a Romesco sauce, with a drizzle of basil oil over the top.

This meat course was paired with a glass of Du Toitskloof Granite Pinotage 2021 and because of the Italian elements in the dish I played some dramatic Italian music by Giacomo Puccini and Andrea Boccelli. This went down particularly well with the diners!

Chocolate Dessert. Image credit: Dylan Louw

Wine and Chocolate

We ended off the evening, with a chocolate dessert: chocolate brownie, topped with Nutella-like chocolate paste and some Maldon smoked sea salt, freeze-dried yoghurt, lemon zest, candied cocoa nibs* for a crunchy texture.

* While raw cocoa nibs are already a delicious sweet treat, after coating them with a thin layer of caramelised sugar they were taken to the next level!

This dessert was paired with some South Africa’s Finest dessert wines: the Du Toitskloof Hanepoot Jerepigo (2021) and Du Toitskloof Red Muscadel (2020) and some romantic songs by Mark Ambor (“Belong Together” and “Break my Heart”), Myles Smith (“Stargazing and River”) and Noah Kahan (“Mess”).

Proudly South African Small Businesses

Because I run my own business, and food is ‘just’ a hobby, doing a pop-up restaurant and cooking a five course meal for thirty people was not something I could do alone. As mentioned before, I love collaborating with proudly South African small businesses, who are just as passionate about “food as a craft” as I am. These are some of the small businesses that I worked with Italian Food, Wine & Music Pairing at Feastival:

Baard & Co Sourdough

The mastermind behind Baard & Co is Ronel de Jager. She is well known as the talented baker of hand painted artisan sourdough loaves. She contributed to a Sourdough art installation with her bread mural at Sela Vie (Val de Vie Estate), and last year she was one of six women selected to showcase their innovation, creativity, expertise and sheer talent at the Eat Out Awards.

I tongue-in-cheek asked her if she could write “The Roasted Dad” on a sourdough loaf after seeing her “Best Dad” version for Father’s Day. And she delivered!

Du Toitskloof menu — DTK Wine Pairing. Image credit: Dylan Louw

DTK

Du Toitskloof Wines was established by 6 wine farmers as a co-operative in 1962. DTK Wines is a proudly South African wine producer of local wine brands, bringing together 22 farms belonging to 13 members with a total of 985 hectares of grapes. The winery builds on three principles; they believe in always delivering a product of utmost quality, consistently, without compromising ethically. They are a Fairtrade accredited producer.

Ed Beukes, joined me at the Italian Food, Wine & Music Pairing evening as the sommelier. Ed is the Marketing and Export Manager at DTK, but he does so much more than that. Above all, he has become a really good friend and we often partner up together for events like this one.

Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants

After watching a Chef’s Table episode on Dario Cecchini, I really wanted to cook a bistecca alla fiorentina. This is basically a T-bone steak, a fillet on one side and a sirloin steak together. As it is a three-in-one steak, it is the most expensive one and not many butchers are prepared to take the risk cutting beef in that way. Frankie did though, and that sealed the deal and I have been getting meat from Frankie Fenner ever since. Similar to the Italian butcher and chef Cecchini, FFMM believe in no-waste and using everything of the animal.

Lalunga Seafoods

A seafood company with a difference. By sourcing only hand caught tuna and yellowtail, Lalunga places emphasis on ethically sourced fish from only licensed fishers who use traditional one-at-a-time methods to catch their fish. Lalunga also prides itself in utilising every single part of the fish, and having zero wastage.

About Shawn Godfrey

Photo credit: Niki M Photography

Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.

Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.

It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.

On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (6), Olivia (4) and Harvey (2).

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Italian Food, Wine & Music Pairing at Feastival