A taste of culinary diversity
Creation celebrates Spring 2023 with a tasting menu launched on September 1. The menu brings together the healing power of nature, our South African heritage and a host of unique taste experiences.
“Diversity has always been our strength but in this bountiful green season, when the earth offers us such generous inspiration, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to innovation,” says Creation Creative Director Carolyn Martin. “We celebrate the balance between wellness and wine, a taste awakening designed to bring joy and new meaning to the way we dine.”
Creation changes their menus seasonally because our bodies need a different diet and lifestyle to stay balanced. “We listen to our team for their unique take on indigenous taste and tradition. We also listen to our guests and their inspiring suggestions; gifts to us from their own wide experiences and travels,” says Carolyn.
Any guest who has indulged in a Creation tasting journey knows that it is designed to stimulate the senses that one uses every day. Yet, it takes guests a step further and coaxes out a sense of inner awareness that builds on an intricate and exciting dialogue between our body, mind, and nature. Carolyn speaks about ‘experiencing serendipity’. “Every one of our menus begins with ideas and adventurous forays into ingredients and tastes. It evolves and finally, there is that moment when it all comes together in a tasting experience that celebrates the season. It’s quite magical.
“The Sanskrit word kapha (pronounced ‘kuffa’) represents spring’s emergence from the chill of winter,” says Carolyn. “We feel the increase in warmth and wellness and our bodies welcome lightness in our food. To move out of winter’s sleepy hibernation, spring practice might include more active movement and lighter foods to energise the body and mind.
“Our menu offers a beautiful and thoughtfully chosen range of dishes eaten in sequence to optimise your blood sugar levels. A meal is always more memorable when it is a multi-sensory experience, and our dishes are enhanced by aromas from nature and our terroir.
“While our menu features the freshest and finest local fish, free-range chicken and game from sustainable sources, we also offer an exquisitely flavourful, equally nutritious, entirely plant-based menu. Up to 80% of our ingredients are sourced locally. Our menus are easy to navigate and create a match between your personal taste and a wellness experience.”
Expect taste sensations from the moment you experience the introduction to the menu. Creation Rosé – described as ‘expressive and fresh as a daisy both in the heat of a mildly tropical climate as well as in the cool spring air’ – is teamed up with an umami seaweed snack and the beautifully perfumed confetti bush that encapsulates the smell of spring.
The six chapters that follow are designed to awaken, stimulate, intrigue and refresh your senses, all with an alternative plant-based dish.
Creation Sauvignon Blanc with its aromas of elderflower, papaya, cassis, passion fruit and kumquat, and Creation Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon with its invigorating salty bouquet, are served with a cucumber booster that brings a cool clean, soothing balance to the vibrant wine, and grilled zucchini, one of the heroes of spring greens.
Could spring have a better champion than the Creation Viognier? Described as ‘joyful and vivacious with pertinent peach snuggling up to the secret subtleties of ripe pear,’ the wine is paired with a pickled sosatie, sundried tomato, peppadew, and quail egg.
Creation Reserve Chardonnay is a menu highlight and a delicious match for an umami-rich dish. The delicacy and hint of richness of local trout from Bbos match the texture and distinct mineral notes of Creation Chardonnay, accentuating the subtle layers of the wine.
Pinot Noir is one of Creation’s flagship wines and its velvety texture is paired with the vibrant diversity of South African cuisine – springbok sosatie or mushroom wors, maize meal, chakalaka, and green beans.
A dish that presents roti, lamb, sorghum, waterblommetjie, and num-num, is paired with Creation Syrah, Grenache. The wine’s intense flavours of ripe plum and black pepper take your senses on a delicious culinary journey that showcases true Cape Malay heritage spices.
The finale deserves a standing ovation: Creation Fine Cape Vintage meets its match with a tipsy tart. Imagine pecan nuts served with orange sauce and guava gelato with a dash of fresh ginger and topped with orange preserve. White confetti bush flowers complete the treat.
Creation also offers an À la Carte Menu comprising a selection of savoury and sweet dishes. Among the favourites are abalone frikkadelle, ginger, spinach; chicken roulade, mushroom, peas; pea soup, Cape seed loaf; malva pudding, apricot; corn cake, popcorn gelato, sour-fig, num-num and a range of other delectable dishes including festive friands to end your meal.
In addition, the Breakfast Menu includes avocado waffles; sardines, seed loaf, tomato, lemon, capers; Swiss soufflé omelettes with a choice of fillings, and other scrumptious options.
Not forgetting the younger ones, the Kids Menu allows some creativity for building their own waffles, sweet and savoury; as well as homemade bread toasties, rustic wedges, lollies and fruit cups.
For those of you who are driving, Creation offers a truly tempting Alcohol-free Pairing Menu.
Creation’s Serendipity Spring Menu can be enjoyed at R945 pp. It is advisable to book at reservations@creationwines.com, Tel: +27 28 212 1107 and specify your dietary requirements.