Cape Town - One question foreign tourists often ask locals in Riebeek Kasteel is, “where’s the castle?”
Actually, there isn’t one.
The Riebeek Valley, situated in the heart of the Western Cape Swartland is a place of anomalies, quirks and contradictions – one of these being that its spelling differs from that of the man after whom it is named, Jan van Riebeeck.
The valley was “discovered” in 1661 by Pieter Cruythoff, head of a party sent by the Dutch East India Company to explore the hinterland.
It was afternoon when they crested what is now known as the Bothma’s Kloof Pass and camped on the slopes of a mountain which, in the gathering dusk, reminded Cruythoff of the Cape’s star castle.
He called it Kasteelberg and the hotly shimmering area below him Riebeek Valley.
History records the party was attacked by lions that night.
That campsite, says Pieter du Toit, is now an olive grove.
Du Toit, 49, is owner, winemaker and cellarmaster of Kloovenburg – the grape, olive and fig-growing farm on which he was born and grew up.
He took it over from his father while still a student.
Du Toit had played a part in extending the 360 hectare farm long before that, he recalls.
“When I was about 11 years old, I wrote to one of our neighbours asking him if he would sell me his farm. I got a letter back saying he was not interested in selling.
“However, he said, should he change his mind, he would give me first option on the purchase. I didn’t know what an ‘option’ was and had to ask my mother… without telling her why I was asking, of course!
“Then, when I was in matric, I received a letter from the neighbour who said he was selling the farm and reminding me of his promise. I told him: ‘Oom, I haven’t got the money but I’ll ask my dad’.”
Today, says Du Toit, it’s one of the most productive sections of Kloovenburg.
While Kloovenburg is best known for its wines – sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, shiraz, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and a crisp bubbly made from shiraz – it is acquiring a separate reputation for its olives.
The first trees were planted to provide income for women living on the farm. The scope of the initiative, however, has snowballed under the stewardship of Pieter’s wife, Annalene: there are 25ha under cultivation and production has expanded to include not only culinary but also branded skincare products.
“For years, everything was done out of my kitchen,” she says.
“The first olives were bottled in baby-food jars because that was all I had at hand.”
Annalene is mother to four boys; the oldest is Pieter-Steph, lock for The Sharks and member of the 2012 Under-21 World Cup-winning Junior Springbok rugby side, while the youngest grew up at her side in the kitchen and tasting-room.
She describes him as her “official taster”.
The emergence of Riebeek Kasteel as an enclave of art, cuisine and even pink culture, coincides amazingly with the growth of the local olive industry and the annual commemorative festival in early May. The first Olive Festival was staged 13 years ago.
Older members of local community initially resisted the influx of townspeople, who were drawn by the tranquillity of the lush valley.
But the flow of people to the town accelerated as the Olive Festival grew in popularity and the area of Riebeek Kasteel is now home to about 3 000 people.
“When I grew up, this area was a farming community and the local school was exclusively Afrikaans-speaking,” recalls Pieter du Toit.
“It’s now dual-medium … split evenly between Afrikaans and English.”
Younger members of the established families have welcomed the growth, saying Riebeek Kasteel could not have survived without the injection of new blood and vigour.
With the town less than an hour from Cape Town (turn right off the N7 at Malmesbury and continue along the R45 for 20km), it is a popular tourist destination.
Restaurants and accommodation facilities abound.
Most prominent of the latter is the 150-year-old Royal Hotel which is older than Cape Town’s Mount Nelson.
“The Royal is a landmark in this town and should be the flagship of our tourist accommodation,” says Malcolm Bushell, owner of the Felix Café restaurant as well as two four-star guesthouses, Old Oak Manor and Shiraz Estate.
Bushell, a retired banker from the UK, moved to Riebeek Kasteel in 2009 after first attending the Olive Festival five years previously.
“I came over the pass and thought ‘WOW!’ I want to live here.’”
Felix Café is one of the most popular restaurants in the town because of food quality and slickness of service. Chef Bernie Esau is, says Bushell, “a remarkable woman”.
“We change the menu three times a year but there are dishes customers won’t allow us to change: a tom yum prawn salad starter, chicken livers in winter, rack of lamb, pork belly and beef fillet.”While Wednesday is curry night at Café Felix, Tuesdays are given over to pizza at Mama Cucina.
The place is run by Coenie Kruger and Johan Hurter, who bought it five years ago.
“It used to be a pub,” says Kruger, “but we got tired of kicking drunk people out at 2am. We turned it into a restaurant a year ago.”
The place has been heaving all evening. In keeping with a small, tolerant country restaurant, kids are playing before returning to their respective tables to hoover up slices of crisp and imaginatively topped pizza.
One of them is Megan, daughter of one of my friends from Cape Town, Elize Botha. She and her fiancé, Juan de Klerk, have been in Riebeek Kasteel less than two months and cannot imagine moving away.
Both work for Juan’s brother-in-law, Thomas Jamneck, at the busy Beans About Coffee roastery and coffee shop.
Jamneck’s life is spent in pursuit of really good coffee.
“Don’t drink coffee at 150ºC; you’ll only scald your mouth.
“Drink it at 62ºC to get full flavour,” he says.
“For the first fortnight after opening here, coffees were constantly being sent back with the complaint ‘It’s cold’.
Not anymore.
“It’s been tough but we’re winning.”
Annalene du Toit’s fig and cheese phyllo pocket
8 Sheets phyllo pastry
Kloovenburg extra virgin olive oil
2 Wedges Brie
1 Small wedge Gorgonzola
8 Medium preserved green figs
Line a large oven tray with baking paper. Place first pastry sheet in the middle and smear with olive oil (5ml). Arrange other sheets overlapping in a large circle (50cm), spreading each with oil.
Cut brie and gorgonzola in large chunks, quarter figs and arrange all evenly in middle of circle. Bring edges of pastry loosely together to form a pocket and tie with a piece of string.
Spread more olive oil over outside of pocket.
Bake at 180°C in a pre-heated oven till golden (about 30 minutes).
Serve with fresh rocket or green salad. - Saturday Star