This recipe for what I’ve decided to call liver patties caused some consternation amongst my English family and friends. In Afrikaans these patties of minced liver, grated onion and a few other things are called ‘lewerkoekies’. They’re as quintessentially South African as a recipe can be. I hadn’t given these morsels any thought for a couple of decades because, to [...]
Pot bread is as South African as rugby, braai, and brandy and Coke. This recipe for sweet pot bread is so simple, it can’t really be called a recipe. It’s also not my creation, but a well-known braai favourite. If this is not yet in your traditional South African food repertoire, here it is. All you need is... [...]
I have at least five different kinds of mustard in my fridge at any given time. Good old hot English, wholegrain (great for salad dressings), Dijon (great for anything) and some gourmet ones with exotic ingredients like black truffle and Chablis. Sophisticated stuff. And then I have the other kind. The one of my childhood, the one that grandma made [...]
My friend, Eats-like-a-bird, is a darling heart. No favour is too big for her, no effort too great. She’s pretty much a 10 too, so I think it says a lot about me that I am willing to be seen in public with her. I find solace in the fact that she’s not a terribly keen cook. So when she saw [...]
Green bean bredie – of course one has to call it a bredie, for nothing this soul satisfying could possibly be called a mere stew. What makes this a true South African bredie? The addition of marvellous old-fashioned boerekos spices along with liberal lashings of lard. This is gran’s green bean bredie recipe, but I’ve given it a modern twist. [...]
Stirring memories of people, places and things long gone – for some it’s sound, for some smells. For me, it’s food. Chicken pie with feather-light pastry, flaky from the real farm butter I churned myself on gran’s back stoep, chasing the rays of a weak winter sun. ’Putu’ with real milk that just came up from the dairy, the kind [...]