The Christmas tree goes up, the little nativity scene is
pack out on a table, fragrant cinnamon scented candles are lit and Bony M is
playing softly in the background “pa-rampa-pa-pam”…
Aaah, I love Christmas time.
(un)fortunately I can’t remember the last time we did all
the above, as December is the one holiday that all the family member have, and
we take this holiday to go and travel the world – hence the brackets around the
(un). I absolutely love traveling and aspire to be a globe-trotter one day, if
only I had a sponsor… Never the less, decorating a tree and having family or
friends over for an exuberant Christmas lunch has a certain comforting element
to it, a feeling of belonging.
We now have Christmas lunch with the entire family, my
brothers’ wives and their parents included, a week or so before we go on
holiday – and this year we opted for Casalinga in Muldersdrift.
Sunday’s are their busiest day by far, and the serve a set
menu to help feed the masses.
A choice between 6 starters, and 8 mains, excluding any
specials that they might have for the day, and then a tempting dessert “trolley”
with a selection of treats. This always comes with a delightful freshly baked
bread basket, with a variety of deliciousness, and a generous fresh table
salad.
They are not that big on Vegetarians, but do offer one
starter and one main for us herbivores.
Homemade Gnocchi with a light gorgonzola sauce, and the green
lasagne was then obviously mine. I love their gnocchi – light and fluffy,
unlike the little rubber bullets you buy in a packet to prepare at home. The
lasagne is not bad – but I’m actually not a pasta fan at all, and this is a
solid piece of 12 -14 layers of lasagne sheets with béchamel and basil pesto in-between,
so this turns out to be extremely rich. And for a non-pasta loving vegetarian,
two pasta dishes is not my ultimate.
A lovely fragrant tomato based mussel pot was on special,
and this looked and smelled heavenly! Not one single bowls of this was left with
a drop of sauce in, all was soaked up with a piece of bread en devoured. Spicy calamari,
beef Carpaccio and chicken livers were also on display, but the mussel pot took the gold for the starters.
Kingklip and salmon, slow roasted pork, a lamb shank and
fillet with mushroom sauce all made an appearance for main course. I sat
between two of my brothers who had the fillet and lamb shank respectively, but
the clear winner was the lamb shank, literally falling off the bone in a
seductive jus (easy to spot shank cooked properly on low heat over night). All dishes
served with wilted spinach, medley of peppers and crispy roasted potatoes – all
from the luscious veggie garden. I have such bad envy on this vegetable and
herb garden, it’s not even funny.
Deciding on desserts, always results to a bargaining between
2 or 3 of us, so we can then all have a little taste of one another’s. Sometimes
you win sometimes you lose. I had the floating island, which is usually like a
slice of cloud floating on a delicate crème anglaise with a
cluster of fresh fruit to add texture, was unfortunately overly sweet, with a
crispy meringue… perhaps the pressures of having 500 - 600 guests in one
sitting got to the dessert chef, and he confused the floating island with a Pavlova?
The BarOne cheesecake, lemon meringue
pie and dark tiramisu were delightful, and the ice-cream and BarOne sauce yummy
– just a perfect end to a meal – just goes to show, sometimes less is more.
Never underestimate the simple things, as simply things done with great
ingredients are simply gorgeous.
A last little touch – coffee.
Good coffee. Great coffee.
You can’t get fresher coffee
than this – as Casalinga proudly has their own coffee roastery on the grounds.
The restaurant has a lovely warm, inviting, homey feeling, with
thick dark wooden tables, wooden floors in some parts of the house and a couple
of fireplaces burning happily away. We had the “living room” to ourselves,
which was decorated festive with a sort of rugged elegance, of wood, pine kernels,
soft fairy lights and a touch of red and
green festive ornaments. An absolute pleasure sitting on the couches sipping champagne
having a laugh about old stories of when we were little. We also chose to have coffee on the snuggly
couches, and I could have easily had a catnap right there and then.
Being so popular for lunch and functions alike, perhaps a restriction
of 400 guests should be key, to avoid running out of some desserts and serving
Pavlova meringue as a floating island?
Always offering excellent service and food of the highest
standards, Casalinga rarely disappoints.
Happy December – I’m counting the days..
Until we eat again…
