Dedicated to South Africans living abroad...and all lovers of Traditional South African food

Hope you are all keeping well! We all love our sarmies, some "normal" and some really weird and wacky! So here is a page just for you, email me what you consider to be your fav sarmie and I will add it to the rest of the suggestions on my Wacky Sarmies page! I even grade the wacky ones for degrees of wackiness! Let's see if your sarmie can get the max of 10 for wackiness!

Who can tell me why the lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and buffalo are referred to as the Big 5? I always thought it was because of size, but that's not it! Email me if you think you know! The correct answer will be in the next newsletter!

No specific theme for this Newsletter, I just selected a few of my favourite traditional recipes at random for you to enjoy!

The first is brawn, another of those recipes brought to South Africa by the early settlers. Brawn was part of Christmas fare in Europe during the middle ages.

I personally have never tried Buttermilk Pudding. This was popular with the farming community where butter was made and the buttermilk was available after butter was churned. Nowadays buttermilk can be purchased from your local supermarket, so no reason not to try out this pudding!

One thing that South Africans no longer living in SA seem to miss a lot is mebos, a traditional Cape delicacy. So here is the recipe for those of you who would like to give it a try!

And, now, the best for last, Orange Preserve! My mother-in-law used to make this and halved the oranges. I would then butter a thick slice of still-warm homemade bread and pour some of the syrup and an orange half on a plate with the slice of bread and then eat with a knife and fork, cutting off bits of orange preserve, dipping a piece of bread in the syrup and then taking a big bite!! drooooolllllllll

Would you like to make and dry your own biltong? It's easier than you think, just click here!

Rachel and Brian Rogers who currently live in Arnhem, Netherlands would like to know if any other South Africans live there? Click here to reply to them!

Well, that lot should keep you busy till the next Newsletter!

Looking for a specific South African recipe? Email me and I will do my best to find it for you!

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Any comments, positive or otherwise on this Newsletter will be appreciated!

That's it for now
Mooi loop!
Peter

The Recipes
See Links for Metric Converter

Brawn

12 sheep's trotters
125 g lime dissolved in 9 litres boiling water
4 whole cloves
12 allspice berries
12 black peppercorns
15 ml coriander seeds
4 bay leaves
250 ml brown vinegar
10 ml salt

Dip the trotters in the lime water and scrape clean. Then soak them in salted water
to cover for 1 hour. Drain and chop into small pieces. Cover with fresh water and
simmer over low heat till the meat is tender. Remove the bones. Tie the cloves,
allspice berries, peppercorns, coriander seeds and bay leaves in a muslin bag and add
to the saucepan. Add the vinegar and salt and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Remove
the bag of spices. Spray a mould or glass dish with non-sticking cooking spray and
pour in the mixture. Chill until set and serve cold.

Buttermilk Pudding

50 ml butter or margarine
200 g white sugar
4 large eggs
240 g cake flour
2 ml salt
500 ml buttermilk
10 ml baking powder
5 ml grated lemon rind

Cream butter or margarine and sugar together till creamy. Beat in the eggs to make
a smooth mixture. Sift flour and salt together then stir into the creamed mixture
alternating with the buttermilk. Stir in the baking powder and the lemon rind. Pour
batter into a greased ovenproof dish and bake at 180ºC for 30-35 minutes or until
puffed up and slightly browned. Serve immediately with jam (moskonfyt or orange
preserve or whatever is available)

Mebos

unblemished, ripe apricots
1 kg salt, dissolved in 8 litres water
750 g sugar per 500 g mebos

Soak the apricots overnight in the salted water. Next day, drain the apricots and
remove the skins. Leave the whole apricots in the sun for 12 hours. ( Do you get 12
hours of sun in the UK?) then gently force the stones out at the one end. If the
apricots are small, press 2-3 together into a round, flat shape. Dry them and spread
out on racks for a few days. During the drying process, shape the mebos by hand (
dip your hands in a mixture of 30 ml salt and 2 litres water) Weigh the mebos to
determine how much sugar you will need. Pack alternate layers of the mebos and
sugar neatly into small boxes. Close the boxes securely and store in a dark place. It
will keep for several months.

Orange Preserve

1 kg ripe, firm oranges
salt
boiling water

Syrup
1.5 kg white sugar
2 litres water
20 ml lemon juice

Thinly grate the rind from the oranges and run the fruit with salt. Leave the oranges to stand for approx 30 minutes. Place the oranges in a basin and pour boiling water over them. Leave until the water has cooled then drain and rinse in cold water. Leave to soak overnight in fresh, cold water. Cut a deep narrow cross in the base of each orange and roll the orange gently between your hands to squeeze out the pips. Place the orange in enough boiling water to cover in a large heavy based saucepan and boil till the skin is soft (pierceable with a matchstick) Leave the oranges whole , otherwise halve or quarter them as desired. (I prefer halving)

T o make the syrup, dissolve the sugar in the water in a heavy based saucepan over low heat. Add the lemon juice and bring to the boil. Add the fruit and boil till the oranges are translucent and the syrup is thick. Skim the foam off the surface if necessary. Pack oranges into hot, dry, sterilized jars, cover the oranges with syrup and seal immediately.
 

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