Beef Short Rib with Pearl Wheat and Clementine Gremolata
As memories serve, early each Sunday morning, we’d be piled into my dad’s Volkswagen bus to brave the 60-minute drive to church. Exchanging grumpy scowls, wiping the sleep from our eyes, we’d patiently wait for my mother to take her seat. She was always last in the car. Not because she faffed about her appearance (that would have been done to perfection hours earlier), but because she was finishing up the Sunday roast we were to have for lunch. Lamb was the usual suspect. Sometimes two hens with roast potatoes and green beans. Often, some other experiment she wanted to try out on us.

Whatever she had planned was always delicious, but when she wanted to treat my father on special occasions, the menu was braised beef short rib with stampkoring and sweet pumpkin.
Go Faster, Daddy!
Dad would call out songs, and we would break out into a choir of six, our pale-yellow kombi gleefully devouring the last bit of tarmac before the dirt road brought us to the farm gate.
After the solemn restraint of the church pews, the road back was usually an upbeat affair. Dad would call out songs, and we would break out into a choir of six, our pale-yellow kombi gleefully devouring the last bit of tarmac before the dirt road brought us to the farm gate. It was a speedy trip. Dad modified the Volkswagen engine to a V8 Ford big-block soon after we moved from the flatness of the Free State to the rolling hills and valleys of Natal. The bus was never designed for that amount of torque, but that didn’t matter much to Dad. He loved driving at speed, despite the constant self-repairs to crankshafts or drivetrains and to the great consternation of my mother (who only enjoyed going fast when she herself was behind the wheel).
Excitement would always build when we drove past the entrance to the French Club at Donnybrook, where the family had squash meets, and we got our weekly tennis lessons. Amid high-pitched pleas of “go faster, Daddy!” we four would scramble into the back seat, and the V8 would rumble into new life as we crossed the concrete river-crossing towards the Big Kloof. Executed correctly, coming out of the drift would cause the rear-end of the bus to bounce just enough to send us flying into the air, feeling weightless for a split second before landing in a giggling pile wherever we may fall.
Coming out of the drift would cause the rear-end of the bus to bounce just enough to send us flying into the air
Pure unbridled joy and elation! My brother once even made a tight somersault and landed neatly on the seat in front of us, causing Mom to vigorously bash a concerned fist into Dad’s thigh. The bouncing happened less often after that (and usually only when Mom wasn’t in the car).

The Bittersweet Torture of Ravenous Anticipation
Adrenaline spiked, we suddenly became keenly aware of our appetites, having only perhaps had a sweet mint or a shared Beechie shoved into our mouths to silence a complaining stomach during the church service.
Gloriously flavoured with a mother’s hand, and love – the kind of love you only get with time.
Walking through the back door into the kitchen around noon, there was always the bittersweet torture of ravenous anticipation. Assembled the evening before, the beef rib would have been made stand to rest, ready for the oven on Sunday morning. Low and slow, over the four hours it took us to get to church and back again, the meat was braised to perfection. Fork-tender, sliding off the bone. Gloriously flavoured with a mother’s hand, and love – the kind of love you only get with time.
A Drizzle of Brown Vinegar and a Spoonful of Apricot Jam
Peculiar-sounding words were thrown about, like “pinotage,” “cabernet
sauvignon,” and something about a guy named “Franc”
Vegetables and garden herbs. Almost a full bottle of red wine. Mushrooms, cured pork, garlic, and, as tradition would have it, a drizzle of brown vinegar and a spoonful of apricot jam. On occasions like these, even at that tender age, my father would allow us a tiny glass of Hanepoot, a fortified Muscat, far too sweet for the dish we were about to have, but it was a treat that made us feel very grown-up indeed.
Mom would enjoy her rock shandy, but Dad would have a bottle of robust red “breathing” on the sideboard. Peculiar-sounding words were thrown about, like “pinotage,” “cabernet sauvignon,” something about a guy named “Franc”, and my personal favourite, “malbec,” which, directly translated into our mother tongue, means “crazy mouth” – an apt description, I would later come to realize.
After saying grace (with a blessing on the hands that prepared the food), the first moments of our meal would always be enjoyed in silence. “Vreetsaam” – that tranquil time when we would savour our first bites, tasting the love on our forks patiently nurtured out from the bone, fat, marble and earth.
A Delectable Duel of Flavours
Deeply developed beefiness tenderly cushioned by a rich gravy. Plum and berry from the wine. The delicate spice of white pepper, bay leaf and herb. Sweetness from onion, carrot, and tomato, and savoury smoke from paprika and salted pork. At the very top-end, the delectable duel between the acidity from the vinegar and the barely discernible, fruity honey from the apricot jam. We would eat our ful, remaining seated long after the lunch. Savouring our satisfaction in celebration of our communion. Even our protectors, the giant Great Dane farm hounds Voetsek and Suzi would get their share, sharpening canines on the rib-bone jaw busters for days to come.

After I turned 13, the sweet wine was replaced by the reds my dad would enjoy every Sunday. By the age of 16, I was versed in pairing wine with food – one of the many gifts my father would bestow on me as a son – and a human being.
A memory sweeter than the Hanepoot of my childhood.
The Greatest Gift a Child Could Have
In 1984, Cyclone Domoina devastated South Africa’s eastern coastline. The concrete crossing at Big Kloof was washed away by the deluge, and rebuilt soon after. It was engineered so well that the ramp at its end no longer existed. Now, all that remains is the memory of a dad showing his kids a bit of excitement and fun on a long drive home. A memory sweeter than the Hanepoot of my childhood. The greatest gift he could possibly offer.
Thank you, Pappa. Happy Father’s Day.
Recipe: Beef Short Rib & Clementine Gremolata

Serves: 6
Prep time: 30 min | Cooking time: 3-4 hours | Total time: 4-5 hours
Ingredients:
● 1.2 kg (8-12 pieces) whole beef short ribs
● Salt and white pepper to taste
● ¼ cup or 62 ml all-purpose flour
● 100 g (6 pieces) smoked cured pork, diced. Pancetta or black forest pork belly is
recommended, but bacon cubes can also be used.
● 2 tbsp. canola oil
● 1 large onion, diced
● 3 whole carrots, diced
● 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
● 250 ml Alvi’s Drift Signature Chardonnay (or any other lightly wooded white wine)
● 250 ml chicken or vegetable stock
● Large bouquet garni – parsley, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf
Optional but recommended:
● ½ cup garden celery, diced
● 200 g portobello or brown mushrooms, halved
● 2 tbsp. tomato paste
● 1 tsp. smoked paprika
● 500 ml stout beer (enough to almost cover ribs) or 250 ml Alvi’s Drift Reserve Drift
Fusion (or any other full-bodied red wine)
● 1 tbsp. brown grape vinegar
● 1 tbsp. quality apricot jam
Method:
- Salt and pepper the short ribs to taste, then allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- Cover meat in flour and set aside.
- Over medium heat, fry the pork in a large oven-proof, heavy-based pan or cast
iron skillet until completely crispy with all the fat rendered. Remove and set aside
without discarding the fat. - Fry the halved mushrooms face down in the rendered pork fat for approximately
2.5 minutes until well browned. Remove from the pan and set aside. - Add canola oil to the pan and raise heat to high. Brown the short ribs on all sides,
about 90 seconds per side. Remove and set aside. - Turn heat down to medium, add the onions, carrots and celery to the pan and fry
for 2 minutes. Add garlic and fry for a further 60 seconds. - Create a well in the centre of the pan, pushing the vegetables to the side. Roast
the paprika for about a minute in the well. - Add the tomato paste to the paprika, stirring for another minute. Frying the
tomato paste with the paprika will improve the sweetness and flavour of the
tomato paste and draw out the oils from the smoked paprika. - Stir to mix all the ingredients in the pan together, then add the brown vinegar and
apricot jam. - Pour in the wine and bring to a gentle boil to cook for 2 minutes, scraping the
bottom of the pan to release the caramelised flavours. - Add the stock, salt, and freshly ground white pepper to taste. Add the ribs to the
liquid, bone side down. - Add the rendered pork and grilled mushrooms. Top up the pan with the stout beer
(the ribs should be almost completely submerged in the liquid). Submerge the
bouquet garni in the centre of the pan. - Cover with lid and place the dish into the oven. Cook at 150 °C for 90 minutes,
then turn up the heat to 170 °C and cook for an additional 1.5 to 2 hours,
checking the dish every once in a while, adding stock or wine as necessary.
Extend cooking time and regulate liquid levels until the meat is fork-tender and
falling off the bone. - Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to sit for at least 20 minutes with the
lid on. Just before serving, skim fat off the top. - Serve 2-3 ribs per person on a bed of steaming pearled barley, topped with
clementine gremolata.
Clementine Gremolata Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
Zest and juice of one clementine or orange
Zest and juice of one lemon
20 g parsley, finely chopped
20 g sweet basil, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
100 ml olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Finely chopped chilly (use sweet pepper if you don’t like spicy foods)
Method:
Mix all ingredients together and allow to develop for at least an hour
Sprinkle over the dish as a topping and enjoy!
Love and Thyme: My Notes

Using smoked pork lardons in this recipe is not essential, but it is well worth the
extra time and effort, as it will elevate the flavour profile of the dish. The same
goes for the mushrooms, as the grounded earthy tones they add is a joy in any
beef dish.
It might be tempting to skip browning the meat altogether, but this is a wasted opportunity to coax maximum flavour out of the meat.
Browning also seals the muscle fibres and prevents the meat from losing moisture during the cooking process.
The flour assists with browning and sealing the meat, and also helps to thicken the gravy. Do this ahead of time if you prefer, but do not skip this step.


A bouquet garni (garnish bouquet) is often used by chefs to add herb flavours to a
dish. It is not an essential step, but it saves time chopping up herbs during food
preparation and is quite effective in lending the required flavours over long and
slow cooking times.
This dish could easily be prepared in a pressure cooker, providing you regulate
the cooking times and liquid levels. I do prefer a slow-and-low cooking method, as
this simply allows time for more flavour to develop. Cooking this dish in the oven
really is the best way of getting it to taste like heaven.
A Very Important Note on the Beef!
Preparation Time: 5 years
I’m only half joking! If you really think about it, that’s about how long it takes to bring this particular dish into the realm of reality. When I phoned my butcher looking for ribs, he replied with three photos saying “This is all I’ve got” He was being sarcastic of coarse.



Jacques van der Merwe is an artist. A Magician even.
He is the purveyor of fine artisan dry aged meat from family run Kalahari Wild. His aging rooms and blocks near Swellendam, supplies produced to some of the finest restaurants, chefs and delis in the country. From conception to birth and weaning, around 16 months. Then 3.5 years or so living a free range life on multiple pasture grazing (the meat one generally buys from supermarkets and strip butchers had 18 odd months, perhaps finished off in a feed lot) and then Jacques’ carefully controlled aging process of around 8 weeks before the cut gets extracted for orders.

Dry aging requires skill, control, time and attention to detail. It calls for a careful maintenance of a balanced environment,
allowing the natural working of enzymes and micro organisms to break down the muscle tissue, naturally developing flavour and
tenderness. Apply this to the right animal: reared, finished, processed and handled in the correct manner, and what you get is
something all together magical!

Dry aging requires skill, control, time and attention to detail. It calls for a careful maintenance of a balanced environment,
allowing the natural working of enzymes and micro organisms to break down the muscle tissue, naturally developing flavour and
tenderness. Apply this to the right animal: reared, finished, processed and handled in the correct manner, and what you get is
something all together magical!
The quality of Jacques’ meat is immediately evident. The right colour, feel and texture. The natural marbling is unmistakable. And I love the aroma when opening a packet, it speaks volumes of the care and quality one is presented with. Visit www.kalahariwild.co.za to find a stockiest near you, or contact the team for deliveries.
Wine Pairing Suggestion – Albertus Viljoen BISMARCK

The name conjures up opulence and complexity, and this multi cultivar red blend from Alvi’s Drift certainly reflects that. Their Albertus Viljoen Icon range showcases the best of each year’s harvest. Full-bodied, barrel-fermented wines of outstanding character and complexity – and the Short Rib undoubtedly needs a wine of gravitas to keep up the rear with its full-on barrage of flavours and richness.
Like its namesake, the blend is a unifying force, maintaining a delicate diplomacy between no less than seven red grape varieties: Shiraz 39% | Pinotage 23% | Cabernet Sauvignon 16% | Grenache 9% | Petit Verdot 6% | Durif 4% | Viognier 3%
At its core, the dark fruit of plumb and mulberry, in perfect step with the hefty beef umami in the stew. Hints of spice and vanilla echoes the sweet earthiness of the herbs and vegetables, and the lace of white pepper brings up the air support to enhance the overall flavour of the dish. The 2018 has well-rounded, velvety tannins with a long-lingering aftertaste, perfect to accompany the robust meatiness in this recipe.
In case you were wondering, This wine takes its name from Bismarck, (not the WWII battleship nor the Prussian nobleman), but the farm’s beloved Great Dane and elf-appointed custodian of the cellar. Even though Bismarck was Emperor of his domain, who commanded respect as the undisputed alpha male and leader of the pack, he was nevertheless a friendly welcoming party to anyone visiting the farm.