I therefore thought it quite appropriate to write a blog post on soul food. Especially, two of my favourite recipes - both made from the bounty of my summer garden. I know, I know; "bounty" might be taking it too far, but here we go...
Pumpkin Fritters/Pampoenkoekies
Generally we Afrikaners view vegetables as something to sweeten and fatten up like a nice juicy chicken. Sugar and butter is added in very generous portions to most cooked vegetables and we subsequently brag to our English friends about our "healthy" diets... all them vegetables you see. This is naturally far from the truth, as the vegetables could just as well be dessert! Yes, I know there has been a trend towards healthier, raw or organic food in the last decade or so, but plain old traditional "Boerekos" (Afrikaner traditional fare; literally 'Boer food') still consist of a big portions of meat, two carbs (potatoes and rice of course) and normally two veggies - which is normally cooked with sugar and butter. I rest my case.
 |
| My mother's heavenly pumpkin fritters/Mamma se hemelse pampoenkoekies |
Not that I'm anti-Boerekos! Oh no, this would be a dishonest and hugely ironic principle on my part, since "Pampoenkoekies" is my absolute favourite vegetable(-ish) dish. Let me share my aunt's easy recipe...
Pumpkin Fritter Recipe:
250ml finely mashed Butternut squash/fyngedrukte Botterskorsie
2 eggs/eiers
250ml cake flour/koekmeel
7ml baking powder/bakpoeier
15ml sugar/suiker
5ml lemon juice/suurlemoensap
1ml cinnamon/kaneel
a pinch of salt/'n knippie sout
sunflower oil/kookolie
cinnamon sugar/kaneelsuiker
Squeeze out excess water from the cooked and squashed butternut
Beat the eggs and add to the pumpkin, mixing it well
Add all remaining ingredients to the batter, except the oil or cinnamon sugar
Add spoonfuls of the batter into a pan with a bit of hot oil
Fry the fritters until bubbles appear at the top of each fritter, turn and bake on other side until golden-brown and done
Remove, place on kitchen towel and sprinkle each fritter with the cinnamon sugar.
Curried Beans/Kerriebone
One very sad thing about the current generation of younger adults (myself included) is that we are neglecting, forgetting and sometimes even losing the art of preserving. My maternal grandmother is a master at baking, cooking, making jam and preserving. I'm trying my utmost best to learn her secrets and observe her methods, but it's sometimes difficult jotting down recipes because she makes everything from memory and "... just add to taste..." How can one add Anything to taste if one has never made said thing?! Unfortunately (maybe fortunately?) the older generation simply didn't use recipes. Knowledge was passed from mother to daughter, and so the cycle was repeated.
One recipe I did manage to get out of the granny is her famous curried beans one. I've noticed that people overseas preserve their beans by pickling, but over hear in South Africa we simply adore our curried beans. Here is the recipe the granny uses:
Curried Bean Recipe:*
1kg grean beans/groenbone
2 big onions/groot uie
salt to taste/sout na smaak
Curry Sauce:
1 tbsp curry powder/eetlepel kerriepoeier
1 tbsp mild mustard powder/mosterd poeier
325ml vinegar/asyn
1 cup sugar/koppie suiker
2 tbsp corn flower/mielieblom
Mix all the sauce ingredients together well
Boil the beans until soft but still slightly crunchy, and then pour out all water
Pour sauce mix over beans and stir well
Bring the sauce and beans to a boil and remove from heat
Bottle the curry beans in sterilised glass jars when hot.
 |
| Grandma Baby's bottled curried beans/Ouma Baby se gebottelde kerriebone |
Now I'm going to love and leave you... I'm off to enjoy a plate of soul food myself :-)
 |
| A mouth-watering plate of Boerekos/Heerlike bord Boerekos |
Oh I used to make curried beans all the time - love them! Do you have a recipe for the green beans you have on the plate you pictured? I remember they were boiled for a while with I think potato and onion?. as you say probably not that healthy but very yummy.
ReplyDeleteHi there, and thanks so much for the comment! My granny - being the authority on this subject- says she uses about half an onion (medium sized), two normal-sized potatoes and around half a kilo of beans. Add salt and pepper to taste. The measurements aren't exact though; as she can't give any, even if pressed...
ReplyDeleteJust boil the whole lot together with a touch of water. You will know when the taste and consistency is just right. Hope this helps!