Grilled Katse Trout.
Mohalenyane Phakela
JUST in time for the festive season, the AVANI Lesotho hotel group on Monday launched a menu full of delicious treats with a Lesotho flair.
Launched at AVANI Lesotho Hotel & Casino, the exclusive menu was served to members of the press and other invited guests who tucked into the delectable range of starters, main courses and desserts.
The exclusive menu features a diverse array of creative concoctions, and is the handiwork of recently appointed chef, Jan Botha, from Pretoria, South Africa.
The menu featured such starters as Springbok Carpaccio, consisting of slices of springbok, aubergine, sweet peppers, baby marrow and sun-dried tomatoes among other ingredients, or the scrumptious Smoked Katse Trout Salad with aubergine salsa, Quail’s egg, capers and horseradish cream dressing. Last, but certainly not least, was the Marinated Chicken Salad, which is a blend of chicken, roasted vegetables, herb salad, honey and soya reduction.
For the main course, guests were spoilt for choice, with Beef Medallions with Cranberry Jus (medium rare beef medallions, potato puree, green beans, carrots and cranberry jus), Grilled Katse Trout (Katse trout, peppadew risotto asparagus, tomato, onion and coriander dressing) and Baked Chicken Supreme (wild mushroom stuffed chicken breast, garlic mash, vegetables and truffle veloute).
Baked Chicken Supreme.
Dessert aficionados were not neglected with the choice of Chocolate and Amarula Mousse, Pecan Nut Pie and Malva Pudding.
From the starters to the deserts, the cuisine was paired with various wines as per Chef Botha’s specifications.
He told the guests that infusing a Lesotho flair to the menu was a challenge he managed to rise to.
“I have created dishes such as this before, but throughout my 20-year career, I have never experimented with the Sesotho flavor which I found to be very challenging. I have only tried to fuse South African cuisine with that of the French,” Chef Botha said.
“I discovered that the Sesotho style is quite basic, and I faced the challenge of combining it with the modern South African style.
“My intention is to change the menu every season, meaning I will be coming up with a one next February. I am also looking forward to learning more flavours from Lesotho.” he said.
On his part, AVANI Lesotho area resident manager, Willem Van Heerden, said there were more changes in the offing apart from the new menu.
“The new menu was meant not only to be unique, but also exciting, hence the addition of the local flavor,” Mr Van Heerden said.
“This is just a glimpse of what our customers should expect from the AVANI Lesotho Hotel & Casino and AVANI Maseru Hotel.
“We will also be launching a sassy new coffee shop in two weeks time which will be retailing special coffees and teas as well as our own products such as biscuits and cakes.
“We will also introduce a whiskey and cigar bar (to replace Leifo Bar at AVANI Lesotho) exclusive to less than 50 subscribed members who will each have their own cabinet to store their booze.”
He said the AVANI Maseru Hotel would be closed for three months from May next year for renovations.
“We are hoping to refurbish AVANI Maseru hotel from May next year to make renovations, and we have set aside M30 million to bring the hotel up to the standards we require.”
