TWO SIMPLY PERFECT RECIPES SPECIALLY DEVELOPED FOR KRONE MCC BY GEORGIA EAST TO SERVE WITH KRONE BOREALIS CUVÉE BRUT

Krone MCC team asked well-known foodie Georgia East to dream up some recipes for simply perfect dishes that seamlessly pair with Krone Borealis Vintage-Only-MCC 2019 which evokes a sense of discovery in dining, in a pure and simple way, elevating the oceanic.

SALT-RUBBED HARDERS WITH A WILD GREENS PESTO

Served with Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut

The sardines of the West Coast, harders are small silvery fish from the mullet family. Like other oily fish, harders hold up particularly well to being cooked over the coals, especially when rubbed with coarse salt and served with a verdantly green pesto made from indigenous herbs. An extra bouquet of the dune sage and wild rosemary tossed over the fire flavours the harders as they cook, while a bright squeeze of lemon juice over the top of the fish ensures they stay juicy.

Complimenting the harders’ delicate flavour, the saline complexity of Krone’s Borealis Cuvée Brut makes the ideal pairing for this simplest of seafoods, while the MCC’s bright acidity of kumquat and naartjie lend zest to the earthy aromatics of wild rosemary and sage.

Prep time: 20 mins /Cook time: 10 mins /Serves: 4

You will need:

• 8-12 fresh harders or sardines, scaled and gutted

• 500g coarse West Coast sea salt

• large sprigs of dune sage or flat leaf parsley, finely chopped 

• large sprigs of wild rosemary or regular rosemary, finely chopped

• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• The zest and juice of a large lemon plus an extra lemon for squeezing over the fish

• Olive oil

• Coarse ground sea salt

Combine a tablespoon of the dune sage with the coarse sea salt. Rub the salt all over the harders, taking care to not get any into the belly cavity. Set the fish aside.

Combine the chopped herbs, garlic, lemon zest and juice with a few generous glugs of olive oil. Season the pesto with a pinch of salt and combine to the desired consistency. 

Shake the excess salt from the harders and braai the fish over hot to medium coals for 3-5 minutes per side, squeezing over fresh lemon juice. The harders are ready once the skin is golden and the flesh pulls away easily from the bones. 

Serve the harders with the wild greens pesto, lemon wedges, crusty bread and a chilled bottle of Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut.

MUSSELS WITH SAMPHIRE AND SEAWATER PASTA

Served with Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut

Farmed in the nutrient-rich waters of Saldanha Bay on the West Coast, mussels are a low carbon-footprint food that taste delicious in almost any flavour combination. Here, these briny molluscs are steamed with samphire – a succulently salty water plant – and served atop spaghetti cooked in seawater. Although undeniably redolent of the ocean, steaming the mussels with shallots and a splash of Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut lends the dish notes of green apple, white blossom and citrus offset by the MCC’s distinctive oyster shell minerality. 

You will need:

• 4kg of fresh mussels, cleaned

• 2-3 shallots, finely chopped

• Olive oil

• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 250ml Krone Borealis Cuvée Brut

• A handful of samphire, thoroughly rinsed

• The zest and juice of a large lemon

• Fresh fennel fronds, finely chopped

• 500g spaghetti

In a large casserole over medium heat, sauté the shallots in a little olive oil until soft and golden. Add in the garlic and fry for a minute before deglazing the pot with the MCC. Add the mussels and the samphire and steam for 8-10 minutes or until all of the mussels have opened. Discard any mussels that don’t open.

Set a pot of seawater or salted water to boil. Once boiling, pour in a glug of olive oil and add the pasta. Cook the spaghetti until al dente. Without removing the pasta from the pot, drain out the seawater and add in the steamed mussels and samphire. Zest and juice the lemon over the mussels and scatter over the chopped fennel. Gently combine the pasta with the mussels and serve on a heated dish with an extra drizzle of olive oil over the top.