My computer started acting up recently so, last weekend, Robert and I put on our geek shoes and performed a few upgrades (new motherboard, processor, etc.) I also used this as an opportunity to try out a new operating system: Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft. So far, I am in love with this OS! Other linux distros that I have used in the past include Red Hat 8 and Suse 8.2 Pro. They both pale in comparison. Ubuntu lets me do cool things that I couldn’t do in linux before such as sync up my music player with my iPod. And, it’s completely free! If you’re looking for a way to save some money or just want to stick it to the man by switching to an alternative OS, give Ubuntu a try.

The word Ubuntu hails from sub-Saharan Africa and, in celebration of my new operating system, I decided to go with an African theme for this week’s winesday. My menu was pretty simple: Prawns Peri Peri, South African yellow rice and a mixed green salad. Peri Peri (or Piri Piri in Portuguese) is a name used to describe the hot African birdseye chili and also a popular sauce made from those chilies. This sauce was brought to Mozambique by Portuguese settlers in the 15th century and is now popular all over Southern Africa. The recipe that I used called for crushed garlic, chopped red chilies and lemon peel to be combined with olive oil and left overnight to allow the flavors to meld. The prawns are marinated in this mixture and then gently cooked with butter and lemon juice. The lemon flavor was nice but the dish could have easily been spicier.

My wine of choice was also from South Africa: Spice Route 2003 Chenin Blanc. The man at the wine store told me it was like Sauvignon Blanc but with a bit more palette. I think it was actually much heavier than he indicated. I don’t usually pay too much attention to “legs” when drinking wine but I couldn’t help noticing that the legs of this wine seemed to stick to the glass for an unusually long time, almost like a thin syrup. The flavor of the wine was very complex. It kept changing as I drank it making it difficult to describe but I finally decided that it had very autumnal flavors; apples, pear, toasted nuts. It had a bit more oak than I prefer but I still really liked it. Unfortunately, my prawns were too light and subtle for this wine. I think this wine would go well with spicy squash soup or even a light meat dish. I have a fuyu persimmon that’s been sitting on my counter for weeks; maybe I’ll slice it up and add it to a green salad with some toasted hazelnuts and eat that while I sip the leftover wine. That sounds like a much better match.