Makaron at Majeka House celebrates simplicity and honesty

Published Sep 13, 2018

Share

Makaron at Majeka House in Stellenbosch has introduced an exciting new menu inspired by simplicity and honesty.

Chef Lucas Carstens recently returned from a culinary exploration of the city of Lisbon, Portugal. Inspired by the Mediterranean, seafood is strongly featured on the new menu:

5-Day aged linefish with pickled potato, juicy green olives couched in dune spinach that is locally harvested from the wild; line fish cooked in leeks and served in a delicate fish-bone broth with tjokka (a colloquial name for squid) and fire roasted octopus cloaked in kohlrabi and apple slithers.

Fire roasted octopus cloaked in kohlrabi and apple slithers.

The Staanrib (Afrikaans for standing rib) features lamb roasted crispy and plated with pickled waterblommetjies and whole lemon.

Crispy roasted lamb plated with pickled waterblommetjies and whole lemon.

The complementary farm egg-and-hereboontjie uses a South African heirloom bean cultivated in the Sandveld and is served with a snoek-tertjie (snoek tartlet) and avocado wrapped in nasturtium leaf. 

Farm egg-and-hereboontjie served with a snoek-tertjie (snoek tartlet) and avocado wrapped in nasturtium leaf.

Two-day whole-wheat sourdough is provided with house-made amasi (the Zulu and Xhosa word for fermented milk) butter.

Supporting local fishermen

Makaron has started using the digital seafood platform Abalobi - a local initiative that empowers small-scale fishers and provides greater seafood traceability.

Diners can access information about the fish by scanning QR codes offered along with information about the non-profit Streetsmart that Makaron supports. The same theme applies to the restaurant's lamb, which is supplied with a code certifying its origin.

" This is the best to have happened for those communities," says Lucas . "We get the freshest fish while the living standards of artisanal fisher communities have been positively affected."

Supporting local farmers

Most of Makaron's ingredients are sourced within 20 kilometres of the restaurant. This allows Lucas to build long-term relationships with suppliers and farmers. Produce like figs, plums, peaches, citrus, almonds and herbs are often supplemented from the hotel's own gardens.

Guava served with turmeric and melon.

The South African-ness of his cooking is also important.

 " We want to retain a connection with older cooking techniques that may have fallen out of fashion," he says.

Miniature toffee-apples from the hotel's gardens.

Makaron Restaurant is open daily for dinner, with first seating from 18h30 and the second from 20h30.

Diners can choose four/five/six courses from the small plates menu for R390/R490/R590 respectively. 

An optional wine pairing is also available, at a cost of R645/R830/R1015 for both food and wine.

To book a table, call 021 880 1549 or email [email protected] 

Find out more at www.majekahouse.co.za 

Related Topics: