The Saffron Pear Tree and other Kitchen Memories, by Zuretha Roos

The Saffron Pear Tree and other Kitchen Memories, by Zuretha Roos.

Warm memoir of cosy kitchens, memorable places, quirky characters and soul food are part of The Saffron Pear Tree and other Kitchen Memories from Zuretha Roos.

Zuretha Roos  

On a large wooden board lies a young kabeljou, a kob, of about 40 centimetres. It is sea-fresh: it was caught off a boat today. I am going to fillet it, and prepare a beer batter. I shall cut each fillet in two, dip it in batter and lower it into boiling hot oil. In seconds the fish will emerge encased in a crisp golden crust. It will be delicious. There will be new potatoes and peas, and chilled wine. Perhaps I’ll make a pudding; it is cold and the day draws in. From where I stand in the small kitchen of our beach house, I have an unbroken view over ocean and rocks and crashing waves. It is a great blessing to live within all this pure space: if the earth was flat, I would be able to see all the way to Antarctica. The dusk deepens suddenly: a wall of cloud moves in rapidly from the west. The windsock stretches out and flaps its gaily coloured tails in the wind. Tonight it will rain. I start to fillet the fish, carefully. A large old-fashioned kitchen is what I would love to have most. I’d choose an old-time kitchen like my grannies’ over the beautiful modern ones. There should be lots of cupboards and a cosy table. I would like to smell again the woodscent from an old stove, and there should be a comfortable woman with a white apron bustling around to keep me company and to help me with chores. Food and kitchens and the cycle of life: in the lives of most ordinary women these three concepts are almost inseparable. Invisible threads connect womankind to kitchens: their mother’s, their own, those of their friends. It is in those first kitchens, our mother’s, our grannies’, where we first measured the slow passing of our babyhood against the height of the kitchen table until, one triumphant day, we can peek over the tabletop and, at last, see what is up there! Then time starts speeding up, and the day comes when we find ourselves in a kitchen of our own, perhaps small and cramped. Later there might be a baby in a high chair, or a toddler on the floor. And how fortunate is the woman who grows old in her own kitchen, among her familiar possessions. She will have dented pots and bent forks and wooden spoons worn down with stirring. Her once gleaming cutting knives will have worn thin with sharpening. Her plates might have cracks and her table will be grooved and marked. Her cat might be as stiff and old as she is. But she will be happy as she sits near the stove with her mug of coffee and her memories.

Recipe: Ouma’s Snoek Tart

125 ml grated Cheddar
300 ml soft breadcrumbs
10 ml soft butter
375 ml milk
20 ml cornflour
2 eggs
White pepper and a tiny bit of salt
250 g smoked snoek, boned and flaked

Preheat oven to 170°C. Mix the cheese into the breadcrumbs and press into a small buttered pie dish to form a kind of crust. Whisk the butter, milk, cornflour and eggs together. Season with pepper and a little salt (remember that the snoek is salty). Stir the flaked snoek into the milk mixture, fill the pie crust, and bake until set (about an hour, but could be less).  Palates more partial to a bit of zing might like to add a few dashes of Tabasco, and an extra sprinkle of cheese over the top when nearly done and puffing up. Makes 4-6 servings.

Recipe: Quick Baked Coconut Pudding

Ouma called it a “milk pudding”. Because I have used it often, I metricated the old recipe.

4 eggs
250 ml sugar
125 ml cake flour
2 ml salt
3 ml baking powder
250 ml desiccated coconut
60 ml melted butter
5 ml vanilla essence
500 ml milk

Preheat oven to 180°C. Beat the eggs. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar with the flour, salt, baking powder and coconut. Add the eggs, butter, vanilla and milk, and beat well. Grease a pie dish, add the batter, and bake for 45-55 minutes until golden brown and set. Serve warm. It makes 4-6 servings.

This is an extract from the book: The Saffron Pear Tree and other Kitchen Memories, by Zuretha Roos.

Title: The Saffron Pear Tree and other Kitchen Memories
Author: Zuretha Roos
Illustrator: John Hall
Publisher: Struik
Imprint: Oshun Books
Cape Town, South Africa 2005
ISBN-10: 1770070389 / ISBN-10: 1-77007-038-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-77007-038-7 / ISBN-13: 9781770070387
Softcover, 13x20 cm, 392 pages, some drawings