24/09/2026
This Heritage Day, we’re celebrating a Cape classic with a little French flair. 🇿🇦
Few dishes tell a Cape Town story quite like the Gatsby. Generous, wonderfully indulgent and made for sharing, it has become an unmistakable part of the city’s food culture.
To celebrate Heritage Day, we’re sharing Jan Hendrik’s French-inspired take on this Cape classic. Taking inspiration from boeuf bourguignon, Jan layers a crisp baguette with sirloin steak, mushrooms, bacon and a rich red w**e sauce, finished with a generous helping of thin, crispy frites.
Our pairing of choice? De Grendel Amandelboord Pinotage. 🍷 A proudly South African variety to accompany a dish rooted in the Cape, with the w**e beautifully complementing the rich beef, smoky bacon and earthy mushrooms.
JAN HENDRIK’S FRENCH-INSPIRED GATSBY
Time: 1 hour | Serves: 2
INGREDIENTS
For the red w**e sauce:
• Olive oil
• ½ medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 rashers streaky bacon, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 125 ml red w**e
• 250 ml beef stock
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the steak:
• 250 g sirloin steak
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 30 ml olive oil
For the mushrooms:
• 2 large brown mushrooms
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the crispy bacon:
• 6 rashers streaky bacon
For the chips:
• 2 large potatoes, peeled
• 500 ml canola oil
• Salt
To assemble:
• 1 medium crispy baguette
• Dijon mustard
• 10 g rocket
METHOD
For the red w**e sauce:
Drizzle a little olive oil into a saucepan. Add the onion, bacon and garlic. Fry until soft and the bacon is fully cooked. Add the w**e and stock, season with salt and pepper and cook uncovered until the sauce has reduced to half its volume. Blend the sauce with a hand blender and cook until thickened.
For the steak:
Take the steak out of the fridge ahead of time and pat dry with kitchen towel. Season well with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. When the oil is just about to smoke, place the steak in the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes. Cook for longer if you prefer your steak more well done. Remove from the pan and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
For the mushrooms:
Slice the mushrooms. Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan and add the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and fry until brown.
For the crispy bacon:
Heat the oven to 200 °C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the bacon on top. Place in the oven until crispy.
For the chips:
Slice the potatoes using a mandolin slicer, or as thinly as you can. Place the slices on top of each other and cut into long, thin chips (julienne). Use a kitchen towel to pat the potatoes dry.
Pour the oil into a large saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until a few of the chips sizzle when dropped into the oil. Fry the chips in three batches until golden and crispy. Drain on kitchen towel and season with salt.
To assemble:
Halve the baguette and spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard onto the bottom half. Arrange the rocket on top, followed by the sliced steak. Spoon the red w**e sauce over the steak, then add the mushrooms and crispy bacon. Finish with the crispy chips and close with the top half of the baguette.
Here’s to the dishes, stories and flavours that make South Africa unlike anywhere else. Happy Heritage Day! 🇿🇦
