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IT’S A STROKE OF GENIUS TO FIND AS MANY OF THOSE LITTLE HAND-STAPLED, TYPEWRITTEN OR PRINTED RECIPE BOOKS BY LOCAL WOMEN’S AUXILIARIES, COMMUNITY OR CHURCH GROUPS WITH FAVOURITE RECIPES – INVARIABLY COLLATED TO RAISE FUNDS FOR A PURPOSE. SHARE – A CENTURY OF SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNITY RECIPES BY ERRIEDA DU TOIT PRESENTS A SNAPSHOT OF THE COUNTRY’S FAVOURITE RECIPES. HEARTFELT SHARING

“R ecipes are not solitary. They attract one another and find ways of coming together,” wrote this book’s author Errieda du Toit when describing how she stumbled across a collection of recipes in her mother’s things. “They congregate everywhere, in envelopes and old letters, in shoeboxes, scrapbooks with family favourites and glossy hardcover books.

“There’s just something about a collection of recipes compiled by a group of ladies to raise funds for the building of a church hall.” And most South African households will have at least one – and that one will invariably have one rock-solid, flop- and idiotproof recipe that you depend upon!

Errieda was gifted a collection of community cookery books by an 80-year-old acquaintance – and described them as “cultural selfies” a snapshot of food culture and an unadulterated glimpse into what ordinary people make and eat at home.

They represent bowling clubs, agricultural groups, Rotarians, church bodies, Women’s Institutes and Christian women’s organisations. In this era of the fancy and glossy, the celebrity chef culture where folks flit around the globe doing TV appearances there’s a definite hankering for the trusted, the nostalgic, the authentic and familiar to provide security and relief from the superficial.

One of the earliest books in this genre was the Paarl Cookery Book, published in 1918 in aid of the Red Cross Society.

In the foreword by Hannerie Visser, designer and founder of Studio H who was involved in the book, she wrote: “We live in a country with a rich, diverse food culture, where the food of some cultures is better recorded than that of others. I believe in writing down, collecting and taking part in as many South African food stories as possible. An easy way to make this happen is to make sure the simple yet rich culture of community recipe books lives on. “Thank you, Errieda, for your honouring and recognition of the most ‘modest’ recipes. May we see many more of these little books and in this way celebrate our collective, diverse food landscape and local food memories.”

How can you not love a recipe book which has chapters titled: “What’s for supper tonight?” or “Fool proof: believe you me...”. And then there’s “Sweet and savoury with a tender heart: butter stained recipes for the baked goods table and tea time”, “What shall I bring? Sociable food for friendly get togethers” and “From the fire to the electric frying pan: yesterday’s dishes; today’s technology”.

Even if you never cook from this book, simply leafing through its pages will make one nostalgic – but that would be sad because there’s so much love and caring behind every one of the recipes. Go on, give them a try!

WIN A COPY OF SHARE –A CENTURY OF SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNITY RECIPES To qualify, send an e-mail or a postcard clearly marked Cheers Book Giveaway and containing your name, ID number, physical address (not a PO Box please!) along with a contact telephone number to qualify for the lucky draw. ADDRESS: cheers@cheersmag.co.za or Cheers, PO Box 259, Rondebosch 7701. ENTRY DEADLINE: 15 TH FEBRUARY 2020 See T&C’s on pg 04

TUNA CHIP CASSEROLE When it comes to casseroles, crunchiness is everything. Combine this with bubbling cheese and you have a contrast that explains the cult status of this retro dish. The chips are a successor of the breadcrumb crusts that commonly appeared in the older community cookbooks. The tuna can also successfully be replaced with smoked haddock. The recipe is adapted from The Byrne Settlers Recipe Book (1979), published on behalf of the Natal Settlers Memorial Home in Durban. In this book, nostalgic recipes such as Yorkshire rarebit and tuna casserole tell the story of a community and the food they cherish.

Serves 4–6

75 g butter 230 g fresh button mushrooms, sliced 80 ml chopped onion 2 tins (170 g each) tuna in oil, drained and flaked 125 g peas Grated rind of 1 lemon 30 g cake flour 625 ml milk (or half milk, half chicken stock) Salt and black pepper

1 Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Grease a shallow casserole dish. 2 Heat half the butter over moderate heat, add the mushrooms and onion and sauté until the onion is soft. Add the flaked tuna, peas and lemon rind. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish. 3 Melt the remaining butter over moderate heat, add the flour and stir for 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk and stir until smooth and thickened. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the tuna mixture.

Topping

125 ml grated cheddar cheese 1 packet (125 g) potato chips, crumbled

1 Combine the cheese and chips and sprinkle over the tuna mixture. Bake for 25 minutes.

Bring it up to date • Replace the chips with 100 g chopped cashew nuts mixed with the crumbs of 3 slices of toast. Season the crumbs with cayenne pepper and 25 g melted butter or olive oil. • Cut 4 – 6 slices of white bread into cubes, fry in butter and use with the grated cheese as a topping for the fish. • Fry thinly sliced onion until browned and sprinkle over the tuna mixture. • Process quinoa in a food processor and mix with breadcrumbs and melted butter. • Crumble 100 g pretzels or tortilla (nachos) chips, mix with 30 g melted butter, a handful of chopped fresh herbs and 180 ml grated Parmesan cheese, and sprinkle over the casserole before baking.

PARTY CURRY I chose this recipe from 1940 for its name, because curry deserves to be celebrated with a good party. The generosity with which curry recipes are shared tells us something about this dish’s warm heart. Our country and its people have a very special relationship with curry – from the intensely hot Durban curries and the aromatic BoKaap curries and curried tripe to mild lamb curry with its abundant gravy and yellow rice from my mom’s kitchen. For fundraising, bulk recipes for bazaar curry and rice appear in church books, and vetkoek with curried mince in school books. Chicken curry, curried fish, curried frikkadels, curried eggs, curried kaiings, curried peaches, curried beans and curried chops – curry binds us together.

Serves 8–10 250 ml desiccated coconut 500 ml boiling water Oil for frying

1.8 kg lamb chops or leg of lamb (cut the leg of lamb into cubes) 3 large onions, chopped 35–40 ml medium curry powder 1 large apple, peeled and chopped 250 ml sultanas, chopped 250 ml dried apricots, chopped Juice of ½ a lemon 10 ml sugar Salt and pepper to taste 140 ml water 3 potatoes, peeled and quartered 1 Soak the desiccated coconut in the boiling water. Leave to stand for 1 hour, pour through a sieve and retain the coconut milk. 2 Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan until hot, and fry the meat in batches until browned on all sides. Add more oil if necessary. Set the meat aside. Fry the onions in the same saucepan over medium heat until soft. Add the curry powder and stir for 1 minute. Add the meat, the coconut milk and the remaining ingredients, except the potatoes, and cook over low heat for at least 1 hour. 3 Add the potatoes during the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Adjust the seasoning and serve with rice, chutney and tomato and onion sambal.

SAWAS Cookery Book, Paarl, Cape Province, 1940

BOLAND BLACKBERRY AND MOSBOLLETJIE BREAD PUDDING This version of the homely, nostalgic pudding has an oldworld feel that reminds you of lace serviettes and old silver dessertspoons. If you don’t have a blackberry bush, replace with mulberries or blueberries. Raisin bread is a good substitute for the mosbolletjies – just sprinkle with a little aniseed.

Serves 4–6 450 g blackberries (or blueberries or mulberries) 4 apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges 200 g sugar 2 egg yolks 7 ml cornflour 400 ml milk

3–4 mosbolletjies, cut into 1 cmthick slices 40 g butter, cubed

1 Grease a pudding bowl. Preheat the oven to 160 °C. 2 Cook the blackberries and apple wedges together in their own juices (or add 7.5 ml water if necessary) over moderate heat until soft. Stir in the sugar. 3 In a mixing bowl, mix the egg yolks with the cornflour to a smooth paste. Pour in the milk and stir well. 4 Place the mosbolletjie slices in the prepared bowl. Spread with the blackberry and apple mixture and pour over the egg mixture. Dot with cubes of butter. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until done. Serve with custard or ice cream.

Mosbolletjies

Makes 1 loaf pan of mosbolletjies

500 g white bread flour or cake flour 100 g sugar 1 sachet (10 g) instant yeast 5 ml salt 25 ml aniseed 100 g butter, melted 300 ml lukewarm water or milk Extra melted butter for brushing

1 Grease a loaf pan measuring 22 x 9 x 6 cm. 2 Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix in enough water or milk to form a soft dough. Knead very well until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise until doubled in volume. Divide the dough into 8 – 12 pieces and roll into balls. Arrange them in the prepared pan. Leave to rise again until they fill the pan. 3 Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 °C. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until done and the crust is nicely browned. Brush with extra melted butter.