MY FANTASY SUNDAY LUNCH
The Christodoulou family created Ambeloui, a unique wine cellar and farm in Hout Bay, Cape Town. In her recently published book, What’s for Lunch?, Ann shares her favourite recipes, tips and decorative ideas for every season and occasion at Ambeloui, wher
My fantasy Sunday lunch will be at Ambeloui, our little wine farm in Hout Bay. I will scrub the work tables from the cellar and join them up to form one long festival table among the lush green vines, laden with mature grapes.
On my guest list will be: Desmond Tutu to bless the food, laugh and set the backdrop of goodwill. Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout because every Afrikaans meisie should be able to call such a creative lady her tannie. We’ve both published cookbooks and will swap recipes. Nik Rabinowitz to take up the slack when we stop laughing. Finally we always put a glass of bubbly at the end of the table for Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and chaos.
My late mother-in-law will help in the kitchen. She taught me to cook Greek food and was an amazing hostess .
A fantasy Sunday lunch always needs music. I will invite a bouzouki player as Greek food deserves Greek music and it is my dear Greek husband’s favourite.
For drinks we will open whatever vintage of Ambeloui
MCC is in the cellar. Ambeloui, which means a small vineyard in Cypriot Greek, is the fruits of the labour of the Christodoulou family. Breaking bread is the perfect way to start a meal and we will pass my Greek olive loaf around. No surprise my fantasy meal has Greek origins: For starters fried halloumi because it is the cheese of Cyprus, the birthplace of Aphrodite and the Christodoulou greatgrandparents. Chicken with grapes as we are in a vineyard and Nick’s speciality, lamb souvlákia. Our meals are always accompanied by a big platter of a variety of freshly steamed vegetables.
Nick, my husband, will grill lamb souvlákia on the
coals and cook them to perfection while squeezing over lots of lemon juice and served with tzaziki, tomato and cucumber, pita and “slap chips”. I always choose at least one course that can be made in advance and my lemon curd dessert will go well with the meal.
We will end with a glass of Ambeloui pot still brandy and cute take-away boxes stacked with Greek baking.
There will be a washing-up station close by and I will ask Nik Rabinowitz to organise the cleaning of the dishes, as I am sure he will be able to make it a laughing matter. I always overcater. I inherited it from my late Greek mother-in-law. The biggest embarrassment for a Greek is a hungry guest at their table. Hilary Biller
Recipesand images extracted from What’s For Lunch? A Culinary Life by Ann Christodoulou. info@ambeloui.co.za
The biggest embarrassment for a Greek is a hungry guest at their table