Varswater Baai

Located 5 km from the quaint fishing village of Paternoster on the West Coast, is a private beach called Varswater Bay. It is the perfect spot for a romantic getaway, long summer holidays or an escape for friends to reacquaint. The houses are situated a mere two minute walk down to the beach. 

A few of us went to Liezani's beach house and enjoyed the roaring fire place in the living area during the chilly Saturday evening. On Sunday we lounged around in the blazing winter sun while devouring fresh crayfish from the Atlantic Ocean. 

The West Coast provides an abundance of seafood including crayfish, snoek, geelbek, galjoen, white steenbras, hottentot, kingklip, and white and black mussels. White mussels are plentiful in the shallows but tend to move about slightly, so if you're looking for them, watch the Oystercatcher bird for sound advice on where they are easily collected. You will find the locals with fresh crayfish in season.

 

Fresh West Coast Crayfish served on a grilled panini topped with home-made aioli.

We boiled the crayfish in fresh seawater for 5 minutes, removed the shells and quickly grilled over the coals for 2 minutes. Each one grabbed a panini from the "rooster" and topped with the Green salad, crayfish tail and home-made aioli. It was the perfect fisherman's lunch!

Home-made Aioli

Aioli is a lovely fragrant and pungent type of mayonnaise – and the great thing is that you can take the flavour in any direction by adding basil pesto, chili jam or pounded nuts. You might wonder why I suggest using two types of olive oil to make this. By blending a strong peppery one with a mellower one, you can achieve a lovely rounded flavour.

1 clove of garlic, peeled

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large egg yolk, preferably free-range or organic
5 ml Dijon mustard
280ml extra virgin olive oil
280ml olive oil
1 lemon juice and zest, to taste

Smash up the garlic with 1 teaspoon of salt in a pestle and mortar. Place the egg yolk and mustard in a bowl and whisk together, then start to add your oils bit by bit. Once you’ve blended in a quarter of the oil, you can start to add the rest in larger amounts. When it’s all gone in, add the garlic and lemon juice and zest. To finish off, season to taste with salt, pepper and a bit more lemon juice, if needed.