Celebrating South Africa, traditions and cultures

Flowers are popping up everywhere, everything is turning green and we can finally say spring is here to stay. It’s that time of year when we admire the natural beauty of our surroundings and plant some happiness for ourselves.
This week we are celebrating South African traditions and cultures. We are lighting a fire to braai liplekker roosterkoek. I was gifted a jar of nastergal/umsobo/nightshade jam a few weeks back, this is one of my favourite South African delicacies, and combining this with Camembert cheese on roosterkoek is just heaven. I am sharing flavourful fillings for your roosterkoek.

Loving The Family
A friend of mine saw this idea on social media where you once a week eat something from a different country, but she changed it up a bit and made it more fun. Here is the idea, a cultural evening at your house with the family. You pick a country; make it exciting with different foods from that country.
It could be as simple or fancy as you want it.
Have a look at the flag, discuss interesting facts about the country or what the country is famous for. The children have fun and the adults get schooled. Yes, many parents have learnt a few things from all the home schooling.
This week we are not travelling but staying right here in our colourful South Africa.

Fact Finding

King protea, national flower
Blue crane, national bird
Shweshwe is a printed dyed cotton fabric widely used for traditional Southern African clothing. Originally dyed indigo, the fabric is manufactured in a variety of colours and printing designs characterised by intricate geometric patterns. Due to its popularity, shweshwe has been described as the denim, or tartan, of South Africa.

Cuisine

Some South African favourites: biltong, bobotie, boerewors, braai, bunny chow, droëwors, melktert, koeksisters, slap tjips, malva poeding, melkkos, peppermint crisp tart, potjiekos, snoek, pap en sous, kota, vetkoek, braaibroodjies, stokbrood, braaivleis shisa/nyama, bredie, denningvleis, rooibos, amazi, Don Pedro, springbokkie, mampoer and pinotage.  Foodie slang: braai – an open fire grill with coal or wood, chow – to eat/food, padkos – food for the journey, sarmie – sandwich, shebeen – an unlicensed bar.

Digital
Quiz the children (but some parents might also need some quizzing). Go to your App Store or Play Store and check out free apps on flags and capitals.
Have You Seen It Yet? Movie night? Why not watch a South African film to celebrate our heritage.

Check It Out, South Africans are big on slang – I had to take a few words out, although we say it all the time doesn’t mean we can publish it.
Ag man! – oh man!
Aikona – not on your life
Babbelas – hangover
Bitterkoud – very cold
Boet – brother
Bra/bru – friend
Chommie/china/cuz – friend
Eina! – ouch!
Eish! – an exclamation
Fundi – expert or teacher
Gogga – bug
Hayibo! – wow!
Hoezit/Howzit – How is it going? How are you?
Ja, nee – yes, no
Jislaaik – an expression of surprise
Jol – party/to have fun
Kiff/Kief – cool
Laaitie – a young male
Laduma! – he scores!
Lekker – great/tasty
Now now – immediately/soon
Oke/ou – guy
Oom – older man of authority/uncle
Shongololo – millipede
Ubuntu – compassion, kindness, humanity
Voetsek! – go away!
Yebo – yes

South African Remedy

Aloe ferox, this is one of the best known South African plants with a long history of medicinal and cosmetic use.
Local Is Lekker. ‘Local is lekker’ is a common South African phrase meaning the things close to home are often the best. Lekker (adjective) is the Afrikaans word meaning delicious, but it is generally used to describe something as nice, cool and awesome, and more similar descriptions.

Community Star
Be a community star and reach out to your own community.

Food For Thought

I love the saying ‘happiness is an inside job’. It means only I can create happiness in my life. Life is not always perfect but it’s always what you make of it. So make it count, make it memorable and never let anyone steal your happiness.

Roosterkoek

Have a roosterkoek celebration; add all your family’s favourite South African fillings. You can use ready-made dough to make it if you are having a lazy day or ask the children to help. They can even make use of a stick, add the dough to make stokbrood. Decorate your table with a colourful shweshwe material and add flowers from your garden.
1kg bread flour
10g instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups lukewarm water
Mix all the dry ingredients together, slowly add the water, working the mixture until it forms a stiff dough that will be able to “sit” on the grill and not fall through it. Knead the dough well until it feels smooth and silky, rub with olive oil and leave in a bowl covered with a damp cloth until it has doubled in size, about and hour to two hours, depending on the room temperature. Cut the dough into 8-12 equal parts and by hand roll and then flatten into shape. (at least 2cm thick). Place the shaped dough on a flour sprinkled surface and let it rise for 30 minutes until double in size. Place on the braai grid (I prefer a clap braai grid) over medium-heat coals for 35-45 minutes. You can also bake it in the oven at 220°C on a lightly floured baking tray for 30 minutes. Your homemade roosterkoeke are perfectly baked when they make a hollow sound when tapped.

Flavourful Fillings for your Roosterkoek
Best spread with pure butter and a drizzle of honey with your topping of choice
• tomato and onion relish with boerewors
• burgers with micro leafs, meat patty, grated cheese
• cream cheese and biltong
• Wagyu medium sirloin steak strips with horseradish sauce or honey mustard
• Mozzarella slice with pesto
• Nastergal/umsobo/nightshade jam with camembert cheese
• Apricot jam with grated cheddar cheese.

Stream the Cook & Culture show with Annelette every Tuesday live from the Caxton Radio studio at Emperors Palace between noon and 1pm, at boksburgadvertiser.co.za or benonicitytimes.co.za
Cook & Culture is compiled by Annelette Bezuidenhout, a media specialist at Caxton Local Media.

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