Paarl · South Africa
Adara Palmiet Valley
A cauliflower patty instead of a muffin and an incredible creaminess: close to perfection.
Notebook
The Eggs Benedict
Eggs Benedict on a cauliflower patty. Perfect egg, incredible creaminess thanks to the cauliflower patty. The sauce works brilliantly, even if it has few typical hollandaise notes. Overall close to perfection.
Translated from my German notes.
Adara Palmiet Valley is a boutique hotel on a wine estate in the Cape Winelands, near Paarl. Breakfast is served at white-clothed tables in the sunshine, and the plate proves that an unconventional variation can come very close to the classic.
On the plate
The base is not a muffin but a crisp-fried cauliflower patty. What sounds like a compromise at first is the masterstroke here: the cauliflower brings an incredible creaminess that carries the whole dish. Add to that a perfectly poached egg.
The sauce has few of the typical hollandaise notes but works brilliantly. With paprika and chives on top, the whole is close to perfection. The half star to full marks is missing only because a classic hollandaise is, after all, something else.
A side note
Look closely and you will spot a sad face on the right-hand egg. My friend Richard K. would not have had the heart to eat it. I did.
Go
Worth a detour, and in the Winelands the road there is beautiful anyway.
Guide text written with AI assistance, based on my notes.