When it’s really hot outside, no-one wants piping hot food for lunch! This simple, classy, cold salmon/trout salad is the perfect way to enjoy the summer heat while sipping on a fabulous glass of chilled sauvignon blanc. You can also use hot smoked trout (cooled, flaked) for this salad - find it in the fish deli section of most good supermarkets.
(serves 4, prep/cooking time: 10 minutes)
• 1 bunch watercress leaves, rinsed
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled into ribbons with a peeler
• 1 fennel bulb, finely cut/shaved
• 200 g cold smoked salmon or trout ribbons
• 100 g ricotta cheese, crumbled
• a handful capers
• fresh lemon juice
• extra virgin olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste
On a large salad platter (or on 4 individual plates), assemble the watercress leaves, then top with cucumber, fennel, salmon/trout, ricotta and capers. Drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil, then season to taste with salt & pepper.
Serve immediately with a glass of Spier 21 Gables Sauvignon Blanc.
About the wine
The first impression of the 21 Gables Sauvignon Blanc of a fresh grassiness. Those herbaceous pyrazine flavour compounds are what make Sauvignon Blanc so compelling - flavours like bell pepper, grass, jalapeno, green fig leaves and gooseberry. The uplifting levity of taste gains in complexity as the riper, more tropical influences rise up through the layers, offering a longer and more vibrant presence on the palate. Some Sauvignon Blanc vintages are stellar half a decade after harvest. Give it time.
(Recipe: Ilse van der Merwe, Photography: Tasha Seccombe)