Writer, food stylist, and photographer, Georgia East (aka East After Noon), spoiled us with a delicious West Coast Mussels with Wild Rosemary recipe, paired with our award-winning Sauvignon Blanc.
Reminiscent of holidays spent at the seaside, mussels are an iconic West Coast ingredient – sustainably farmed in the cool, nutrient-rich waters of Saldanha Bay. Plump, tender mussels swimming in a cream-based flavoured with wild rosemary (kapokbos) make the ideal summertime dish full of West Coast flavour!
Prep time: 15 mins /Cook time: 15 mins /Serves: 4
• 3 kilograms of fresh Mediterranean mussels, cleaned
• 250ml fresh cream
• 150ml Lutzville Sauvignon Blanc
• 1 brown onion, peeled and finely diced
• 30ml olive oil, for frying
• 2 sprigs of fresh wild rosemary (kapokbos)
• Half a lemon, juiced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
• Coarse ground sea salt and black pepper
Use a large stove-proof casserole with a lid for this recipe, as it makes steaming the mussels in the sauce an easier task.
Place the casserole dish over medium heat and sauté the onion in the olive oil until soft. Strip the kapokbos leaves from the woody stalks and add to the dish. Simmer the mixture for another minute then deglaze the dish with the white wine. Reduce by half and then add the cream and the chopped garlic. Season to taste, going easy on the salt. Once the sauce has thickened, you can add in the mussels, as their liquid will loosen up the sauce again. Turn the heat to medium and place all the mussels into the sauce. Cover the dish with its lid and steam for about 6 to 8 minutes, or until all the mussels have opened – being sure to discard any that haven’t unless you’re sure of the origin and freshness of the mussels. If they’re very fresh and have opened a crack, simply work the shell wider with the tip of a butter knife.
Stir the mussels through the sauce and divide between four warmed bowls. Serve the mussels immediately with lemon wedges to squeeze over the top, fresh crusty bread or vetkoek to mop up the sauce and chilled glasses of Lutzville Sauvignon Blanc.
The Wine:
The Lutzville Vineyards Classic Collection Sauvignon Blanc shows a medley of herbaceous- and tropical flavours that lingers on the palate. Well balanced, medium-bodied, with a crisp, refreshing finish.
Food Pairing
Oysters, Mussels, “Galjoen” or any other grilled fish, or white meat like duck breast, asparagus, pea shoots, olives, feta or avocado on the side.
Wine Style
Dry, medium-bodied white
Recent Awards:
- Gold at the 2021 Michelangelo Awards
- Gold at the 2021 Women’s Wine & Spirits Awards
- Best Value at the 2021 Gilbert & Gaillard Awards
- National Winner at the 2020 Novare SA Terroir
- Gold at the 2020 Gilbert Gaillard awards
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ABOUT EAST AFTER NOON
I’m Georgia East – a writer, food stylist and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa. Although I studied to be a wordsmith and am a self-confessed Shakespeare groupie, I have a love for food so strong that by rights I might have been better off with the haute cuisine crowd. However, since I can do simple far better than complicated, I began my blog – East After Noon – in order to better document the creations I make in my kitchen.
Achievements for the East After Noon blog so far have included being named as one of House & Leisure Online’s Ten Foodies to Follow , Food & Home Entertaining’s 7 South African Foodie Accounts to Follow and Culture Trip’s 10 South African Food Bloggers You Should Follow. As of 2019, I’m the published author of my very first cookbook – West Coast Wander – that details the food and the people of the Cape West Coast.
Visit her website: http://www.eastafternoon.com/ or follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eastafternoon/