Paternoster- A treasure within

Who would’ve ever thought that a quaint little West Coast town can hold such beauty and talent? When we drove into the town on the narrow, poorly paved gravel I did not expect much at all! I was wrong…It is the South African equivalent to Europe’s Greece. White houses with coloured shutters are lined all along the beach front and the slim roads are bustling with energetic people. School children are cheerfully running around and older people are sitting on their porches, sipping tea and looking out over the picturesque turquoise ocean.  Vendors are walking around trying to sell crayfish that they claim, ‘they just took out of the water’ and seagulls are assaulting each other for the last morsel of leftover crumbs. There was not even the hint of a breeze – very rare for the West Coast- and the sun was sitting high. It was, in truth, the perfect day.

 

We stopped in front of a little white building with a bright red wooden door. A sign on the wall said “Die Winkel Op Paternoster”.  In front of the petite shop stood an old black bicycle and a wine barrel filled with old grass brooms- the same ones the older residents still use today out of habit, although they are not very effective. On the side of the building bougainvilleas of every colour were leaping over the low white wall. We had absolutely no idea what the day would hold for us, but the excitement was beginning to rise.

We entered the shop and I was stunned by what you could buy there- literally anything from biscuits to cutlery to clothes.  The walls were filled with portraits and old bookshelves with hundreds of books. In one corner was an old fashioned typewriter and in another corner was a shelf filled with enamel pots and mugs- just like my grandmother used to have in her kitchen on the farm.

We were greeted by big, friendly faces and were then led to the back, into the courtyard where the restaurant is. It was closed due to the fact that it was a Monday, so we had the whole place to ourselves. There we met the pleasant chef/blogger, Kobus van der Merwe, who shared his views and beliefs with us…

Fynbos is local to the West Coast and because it is so widely obtainable and freely available, Kobus uses it in plenty of his dishes, if not all of them. We learned a great deal about the different types of Fynbos and what you can do with each one of them. It was mind-blowing. He also uses seafood predominantly because it is readily available and in demand. Paternoster is well known for their mussels, oysters and bokoms- which is dried fish- and thus he almost always has them on his menu. The menu is written on a black board and changes daily, depending on what he can get hold of. Like he says; “fresh is always best”.

He cooked up four different dishes for us so we could taste it and take some photos of it. The flavours were incredible together…nothing like you would ever expect!

This is one of the dishes that we tasted. It is kabeljou- farmed in Paternoster- on a fig leaf with a buchu stalk and some Darling farm butter on top of it. It is then put into a bag and cooked ‘en papilotte’ in the oven for six minutes.  It is amazing how the subtle flavour of the crispy fig leaf complements the fish and how the melted butter connects everything.

 

It was an incredible experience and I will definitely make the drive to Paternoster just to go and have a stupendous meal at “Oep Ve Koep - Die Winkel Op Paternoster”!

Afterwards, we drove down the narrow main road towards the pale, white beach to have a late lunch at the local ‘Voorstrandt ‘restaurant – seemingly the best (and only open) restaurant in town. The red wooden building is situated directly on the beach. They were jam-packed but luckily we got a table outside on the deck and could enjoy a plate of fresh hake and chips with a stunning sea view. 

This was a fantastic experience and I would definitely go to Paternoster again tomorrow if I got the chance… a place that would permanently be remembered.

 Marvellous Mareli