Sugar & Spice. Baking the Cape Malay Way, by Zainab Lagardien

Sugar & Spice. Baking the Cape Malay Way, by Zainab Lagardien. Random House Struik

Sugar & Spice. Baking the Cape Malay Way, by Zainab Lagardien. Random House Struik

In Sugar and Spice, Zainab Lagardien showcases traditional Cape Malay recipes, as well as some that have been adopted by her community over the years. Several, especially those in the breads chapter, are of her own invention.

Zainab Lagardien  

Two Lagardien forefathers came to South Africa from Malaysia and settled in Port Elizabeth, where my father was born. My mother came from the neighbouring suburb of Uitenhage, yet their five daughters and three sons were all born in District Six in Cape Town. I was born at 14 Godfrey Street, off Hanover Street. District Six was no ordinary district - it was always alive with people and possibility. Koeksisters or bollas were sold on Sunday mornings for breakfast. You had to bring your own plate and stand in the queue with a second plate or serviette to cover the koeksisters. They were such favourites that they were even served on outings to the beach! Special occasions, such as New Year's Eve, were celebrated over homemade corned beef, corned tongue and freshly baked bread. On New Year's Eve, a troupe of musicians, known as the Malay Choir, would march through the streets during the night, making merry and singing songs in front of our houses. Often, some of the spectators would join in the fun. On New Year's Day, a number of minstrel troupes with black-and-white painted faces would parade during the day, serenading us all with comic songs. From early morning, people would line the bus route, the main road in District Six, converting the pavement into a makeshift kitchen as they waited for the minstrels to pass. These festivities would last two or three days, the sound of music and the smell of delicious food cooking on the pavement signifying the happiness and good cheer being spread. I was only six years old when my mother and baby brother were laid to rest and I went to live with my grandmother. A well-known konfyt-maker, she taught my sister and I to bake and cook at an early age. First we learnt about fruit. To make konfyt, pieces of fig were nipped off in tiny spots, grated or cut with a cross at the bottom and lowered into salt water overnight. Oranges were done in the same way, with pips and pith removed. My Aunt Fatima always iced the family biscuits, cakes and puddings. I was taught to decorate biscuits, then moved on to making quick smoortjies. Special lessons were given on cooking and braising meats or making fish meals. Once I'd mastered these, my love for cooking, baking and brewing developed. The kitchen was, and still is, a busy place and the best place to be! Many of the recipes in this book found their way to Cape Malay functions long before I was born. Bread-making in particular dates back a few thousand years. The first breads were hard and had a coarse texture. As time progressed, new methods of bread-making were devised to improve on the overall process. Today's methods of baking bread are much quicker and require less effort. In District Six, flour was sold on the corner of Hanover and Stuikkeris Street at Patrick's Shop for one shilling a bag. A mug of wet yeast (you had to bring your own mug) cost a shilling. Johnson's Bakery in Hanover Street would bake your bread for you at two pence a loaf. [...]

This is an excerpt from the cookbook: Sugar & Spice. Baking the Cape Malay Way, by Zainab Lagardien.

Book title: Sugar & Spice. Baking the Cape Malay Way
Author: Zainab Lagardien
Imprint: Lifestyle
Publisher: Random House Struik
Cape Town, South Africa 2010
ISBN 9781770078260 / ISBN 978-1-77007-826-0   
Hardcover, 22 x 29 cm, 144 pages, throughout colour photographs

Lagardien, Zainab im Namibiana-Buchangebot

Sugar & Spice. Baking the Cape Malay Way

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