The EXPEDITION Project

I realise that while I have been blabbing on about various things I have encountered in South Africa, I haven't actually explained why I am here in the first place. 

For the past 6 months, I have been on the road with The EXPEDITION Project, an NGO that has embarked on a 365 day journey 'in search of a nation's stories, dreams and heartbeat'. 200 towns in 365 days. Now that is a mean feat. While the goals of this project are endless, the primary focuses are:

• To encourage tourism into the smaller towns of South Africa 
• To inspire sustainable change
• To highlight some of the social and environmental initiatives and projects that are currently active in South Africa

Each day with TEP is different. Each day is new and exciting. One day we may be visiting a local school, orphanage or drop-in centre and the following day we will be joining rangers on a game drive and being educated on sustainable tourism and game park management. What is so special about TEP is that it is not a once-off, 'feel good' campaign -this year is the first of a series of expeditions to go around the country and with each year that passes, progress will be made.

Roger Wynne-Dyke (founder of TEP) is one of the most driven and dedicated individuals I have ever met; he is extremely proud of his country and is devoting his life to better it in any way he can. With minimal financial support behind him, he is doing this out of the goodness of his own heart and is determined to complete this year even if it means ending up broke. 

I feel incredibly lucky to have been selected to join him on this inspiring journey and am relishing in every opportunity that arises. I don't take a moment for granted and have learnt so much in this relatively short period of time. I know The EXPEDITION Project is going to be successful because with so much 'drive' and commitment behind a project, I mean...how can it not succeed in the end?

For more details check out http://www.theexpeditionproject.com/

Bobotie (pronounced ba-boor-tea)

I was lucky enough to spend some time cooking with Monica from Avalone Guesthouse this afternoon. When she mentioned she was making Bobotie for supper, I grabbed the chance to help her out seeing as I have never made one before. She was more than happy for me to assist her in the kitchen and patiently waited while I hungrily snapped away (mind the pun).

Bobotie is to South Africa (well in my opinion anyway), what mousakka is to Greece and what shepherd’s pie is to Britain. It is the national dish of South Africa and is essentially of a delicious mixture of curried meat and fruit with a creamy golden topping.

What looks like a dish that will be quite complex and tricky to make is actually very simple indeed. I know you’re probably thinking it seems more like a wintery dish and you’re probably right, but seeing as it is now winter this side of the equator, I am going to make the exception.

You will need:

1/2 kg minced beef (2 small packets should be fine)

4 slices of white or brown bread (a few days old)

Milk

2 onions, chopped

1 tbsp Apricot jam (you can also use peach or mango chutney)

Sultanas

3tbsp masala powder (we used ginger and garlic masala but any should be fine)

1tsp dried mixed herbs

2 large eggs

For the topping:

300ml milk

2 large eggs

Method:

1)Place the mince in a bowl

2)In a side dish place your bread slices

3)Cover the bread with milk

4)Leave the bread to soak the milk

1)Take your onions and roughly chop them

2)Add half of the onions to the mince

3)Add 2 generous dollops of jam or chutney to the mince 

and onions (more if you want it sweeter)

4)Add the remaining onions

9)Grab your masala powder

10)Sprinkle in the powder, covering the mince

11)Add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and combine all the ingredients together with your hands

12)Squeeze the remaining milk out of the soaked bread

13)Crack 2 eggs into the mince mixture and combine with hands

14)Divide the mince mixture into individual oven proof 

dishes (or 1 large if you prefer)

15)For the topping, add 2 eggs to 300ml milk

26)Whisk milk and eggs until blended

1)Add the topping mixture equally amongst the dishes

2)Continue until you have used all your topping mixture

3)Pop in a preheated oven of 180C/fan 160C/gas 4

4)Cook for 45 minutes or until the topping has set and starting to turn wonderful and golden

Serve with yellow rice (white rice with 1tsp of tumeric) and a handful of sultanas or raisins) or maybe a steaming hot jacket potato with butter.

So the next time England is cold & dreary, which is inevitably going to be soon, why not warm your body with this mouth-watering South African favourite? 

Passion fruit take 2

OK, so anyone who knows me well knows that passion fruit (and coconut; and not necessarily together) are two of my favourite fruits. Actually, they may just be two of my favourite things ever (all jokes aside). You can read my subtle tribute to the passion fruit on one of my earlier entries if you fancy. You need see a hell of a lot of coconuts in South Africa but believe me I'm on the look out.

This will be me if I find some

So while I was casually perusing my new favourite blog, http://drizzleanddip.com, written by a South African 'food stylist' (has anyone ever heard of one of these?!), I came across not only 1 but 2 passion fruit recipes. She shot up in my estimation the moment I clamped eyes on the word 'granadilla' (passion fruit to just about anyone other than a South African -why did they have to change the name of a fruit that is so perfect as it was?).

I thought I must copy the recipes here so you can revel in the glory of the passion fruit too.

Recipe 1) Friday's porn food: granadilla sorbet

Recipe: (makes about a litre)

• 1 cup of sugar (250ml)
• 1 cup of fresh orange juice (250ml)
• 2 cups of fresh granadilla pulp
• 2 large egg whites, beaten to stiff peaks

Heat the orange juice and add the sugar, stirring until it has dissolved. Add the granadilla pulp and chill in the fridge.

If you are making it by Hand:

Freeze the mixture for an hour and then fold the beaten egg whites through and then freeze again. Beat the sorbet every hour or so until the mixture has formed frozen crystals and then leave until ready to serve.

If you are making it in a machine:

Pour the fruit mixture into the ice cream machine and churn until it is the right consistency. Add the beaten egg whites and churn for about 20 seconds, scraping down the sides to ensure that they are incorporated. Remove and freeze until ready to serve.

Recipe 2) Easy passion fruit curd (glad she used the right name)

For a big batch that makes around 2 cups / 500ml:

• 6 large eggs (free range or organic only)
• 120g butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of passion fruit pulp (strained or whole)

Heat the juice, butter and sugar in a heavy based pot until the sugar has dissolved and it reaches boiling point. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool slightly (about 3 minutes). Beat the eggs until fluffy in a bowl and then very quickly, whisking all the time add them to the hot juice. You do not want the eggs to curdle. Place this all back on the heat and whisk constantly until the mixture becomes thick. I allowed it to cool in the pot which further thickens it and then empty into a sterilised jar and store in the fridge.

This is wonderful to have on hand to create a dessert. It can be sandwiched between sponge cakes or biscuits, poured over meringues, dolloped onto pancakes or turned into gooey tarts. It is also wonderful just spooned directly out the jar.

Kids will be kids?

Something that I keep noticing in South Africa is the mentality of mothers and their approach to parenting. It may seem that I’m talking loosely and have no right to judge a parent as I am not one myself, but I am in no way saying this is negative behaviour; merely something that is interesting. I should probably also add that the mothers in question are those of poverty, those I have encountered on the streets and in the townships. These mothers treat their children as though they are much older than their years, and though of course their love for their young is undeniable, the way they interact with them is something that continues to intrigue me. They don’t pay attention when they fuss; they hoist them up on their backs with little tenderness and allow their babies to sit there squashed to their backs for sometimes hours on end.

If anything, I commend these women. In Western society, we indulge children so much, almost too much I feel. Of course it’s perfectly natural and loving to coo over a little one and show it love and affection at all times, but in my (naïve) experience, it seems like these African mothers have developed a more successful method. And the result is that you rarely see their children sulk, whine or cry. I think I can count on one hand the instances that I have seen a black baby crying. They sit like little patient angels on their mum’s backs, happily bobbing along as she sets about her day. They are brought along to work and forced to entertain themselves, sometimes with less than a plastic bottle of a bit of wood. There are few Western mothers who would ‘put their children through this’. Mothers in the UK, although I am in no way faulting their parenting in any way, are on call at all times and cosset their children at every opportunity. I am sure there are exceptions and of course I appreciate that I am speaking somewhat generally. And I’m sure a lot of you are thinking, ‘so what, that shows an attentive parent’. And you’re right.

My experience with young children comes from being an off and on nanny for 6 years. I adore children. I find them interminably fascinating and fun to be around and admire their wonderful ability to ground adults and hold them in the present. Children at a young age don’t have the aptitude to worry about the future, they only live for the day; something I can bet a lot of you wish you had. I sure do anyway. In my opinion, from the mothers I have had the pleasure of working with, those that shone were the ones who didn't let it worry them when they encouraged their child to amuse him or herself. Ultimately, I think these children will grow up to be far more self-sufficient and less insecure, so for the short period of time where it must feel like one is ‘abandoning’ their children, in the long run it is definitely for the best.

African children seem to display a maturity that you don’t see in their counterparts in the UK. They often have the responsibility of a younger sibling once they reach a certain age, a job that they do with dignity and love. They work from an age that some people in the Western world would be stunned at, but again, do this it appears with minimal fuss.  They seem to have been instilled with the right values from a tender age and a knowledge (despite this perhaps not being verbalised) that they must work for their food, their home and their school.  They work to live. You see a fierce pride in their eyes which I find humbling. I think we could all take a leaf out of these African mothers’ books. I’m sure a lot of them wish they could swap lives with a mother from the UK, having the luxury of spoiling and doting over their child, but life sadly hasn’t dealt them those cards. I’m not saying to UK mothers ‘strap your baby to your back and ignore him/her’ but perhaps a little less indulgence wouldn't be such a bad thing? And hey, you may get a little less crying -that wouldn't be such a bad thing would it?!

On the road

After being on the road for 137 days, you are guaranteed to encounter some amusing things. Driving through South Africa promises countless funny signage and sights, a lot of which we have been lucky to see first-hand. I thought it’d be fun to share a few of those I’ve captured with you (as well as some we haven’t seen ourselves) and, with any luck make you giggle.

I think my personal favourites have to be:

As well as the numerous comical things you will see along your drives in South Africa, there is always going to be the inevitable ruthless driving, dangerous over taking and general absent road rules. The culprits for the above typically land with the taxi drivers, those driving the ‘taxi’s or shared minibuses that you see on so many South African roads. Taxi drivers have a somewhat unsubstantiated arrogance in their manner, leaving them to believe they rule the roads and can drive in whatever way they choose. They stop to pick up passengers in the most antisocial places, never indicate and seem to have one hand on the horn at all times. As well as this, there is definitely the united belief of 'the more the merrier'.

Taxi hand signs have been nicknamed South Africa’s ‘12^th official language’ due to the millions of commuters who use this inaudible, unwritten language every day to indicate to drivers where they want to go. This peculiar yet effective signage, unique to South Africa, has been established and modified over the years but we warned, don’t even think about using a taxi if you aren't accustomed with the ‘secret language’ of its hand signs.

Each sign indicates a specific route, the majority of these being used in the Gauteng province, usually in and around Johannesburg. Susan Woolf has done extensive research and has been committed to ascertaining the meaning and origins behind this exclusive non-verbal communication. Eventually she came up with 14 simple tactile shapes that combine to form all the hand signs for Gauteng.

I’ll give you some examples of these hand signs to better illustrate it.

Local to the area

Gauteng to Johannesburg CBD

Once you have been in South Africa for a while, you begin to notice such signage occurring at the side of the road and it is really fascinating to observe the conduct. I have been practising but am not quite confident enough to brave one of these taxi experiences alone just yet!

Jatinga Country Lodge

I appreciate that I’m only 23 but it doesn’t stop me dreaming about who I’ll end up with and where I may one day get married (don’t tell me you haven’t done the same because I won’t believe you).

I don’t want to freak Rog out by this (!) because believe me, I’m not in any way ready for marriage just yet, but I think I may have found my location. That is if I end up getting married in South Africa!  I always fantasised about a ceremony and reception at a beautiful stately home in the English countryside. My sister and I always dreamt of getting married to two men like the Bennett sisters in Pride & Prejudice and who knows, maybe that dream will still come true!

But for now, the location that is topping trumps is Jatinga Country Lodge in White River, Mpumalanga.

We were lucky enough to be invited for lunch at this beautiful lodge and while Rog was engrossed in conversation with Mornay, I went off exploring.

I hadn't been gone long when I came across a sweet little gate with behind it a magical place that can only be described as something from The Secret Garden. Once I had passed through the gates, I was totally captivated and just wanted to delve further into this beautiful Eden. And that is exactly what I did. 

Set among a vast lushness of willowing trees is the sweetest little chapel I've ever seen. It is draped with ivy and is quite exquisite. Silence permeates the entire garden and for a moment I forgot where I was. I sat down on a little bench for a while and simply enjoyed the stillness, contemplating what a stunning venue this would be for a wedding.

So if in a few years you’re invited to my wedding and are put off by the fact that it is taking place in South Africa, please re-think as you would be sad to miss out on this place, I can tell you.

Said like a South African

Of course there are going to be certain things that are said differently from country to country; that’s a given isn’t it? But when you are in an English speaking country, isn't it funny and somewhat fascinating to notice the variations? Well I think so anyway.

I mentioned in another entry that Saffas just love to abbreviate words, and I absolutely stand by this statement. These can extend from place names (think Durbs, J Bay & PE) to everyday things (flops & avo) and pretty soon after landing in South Africa you will begin to realise that these shortenings occur regularly.

But it’s certainly not just abbreviations that I’ve noticed; there are whole other words and expressions that we don’t use in the UK. Sure, we speak the same language, but believe me, we may as well not be at times the difference is so vast. South African English has a flavour of its own and the 11 different national languages (borrowing freely from Afrikaans) are thrown in to the mix, totally confusing a naïve international like yours truly.

OK, so let me give you a few examples, and forgive me for some of these being a bit gross. A bogey is called a 'snolly' and a poo is called a 'plonky'. 'Dumpies' in fact are beer bottles, 'bakkies' are open backed trucks and of course we all know a 'braai' is a BBQ. A 'koki' is a felt tip pen and 'tackies' are trainers. 

I’m sure many of you have heard the expression ‘howzit’, which in South Africa is used to greet pretty much anyone really.  It doesn’t necessarily denote a question and definitely doesn’t need an answer; it is more of the general ‘hey how’s it going’ that we may use in the UK.  To ‘have a jol’ means to go out and party, (maybe you go with your ‘chommie’ (friend) or ‘boet’ (mate), which after too many ‘dops’ (drinks) may result in a ‘babbela’ or hangover. ‘Eina’ (ouch).

I've listened to Rog on the phone and noticed that amongst his ‘normal’ English vocabulary is the usage of ‘oh my hat’ instead of ‘oh my god’ and when something is shocking or interesting, he says ‘sure’ (said in an expressive way) or ‘yoh’, said with the same level of expression. I think my personal favourite has to be 'og shame man'. What do you think when I say the word 'shame'? Well the dictionary defines it as 'a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behaviour'. South Africans often use this same usage of the word but the other definition is somewhat different; 'shame' can be also used as a sympathetic expression, for example when seeing a cute kitten or baby.

In a more formal situation, you will often be communicated to ‘go well’ once you leave an accommodation establishment or restaurant, or will be told ‘you must sleep well’ if you see someone before bedtime. The latter took a bit of getting used to as I wasn’t used to such authoritarianism and kindness in the same sentence.  During a meal, you will almost always be asked by the waiter, ‘are you still fine?’ regardless of whether you have been asked if you are in fact ‘fine’ in the first place.

What to say when…

• You want to express how nice something is –lekker. (This meal is lekker)
• You are not exactly sure how long you’ll be –now now. (I’m coming now now)
• You will be a little longer than ‘now now’ –just now. (I’ll call you just now)
• You need to respond but can’t think of what to say –izit?
• You want to give your statement more effect –hey? (It’s a nice day hey?)
• You want to say everything is good and in order –sharp sharp (often said by petrol station staff) 
• You want to express surprise or disbelief –eish

I hope you’ve enjoyed my attempt of revealing some typical South Africanisms. Let’s round it up with a ‘South African love poem’ (!)

Of course I love you Bokkie,

I only smaak you dik

You cook and clean and iron my shirts

And look after me when I’m sick

So your bum is only big hey

But I don’t mind a bit of flab

It means that when I’m lekker jags

There’s something there to grab

So your belly isn’t flat no more

I’m telling you I don’t care

So long as when I druk you

I can get my arms around there

No stukkie who is your age

Has nice round perky breasts

They just gave to gravity

But I know you did your best

I’m not tuning kak now

I never tell you lies

But I think it’s lank sexy

That you’ve got dimples on your thighs

So no matter what you look like

I’ll always love you Dear

Now shut up while the rugby’s on

And fetch me another beer

Graskop Pancakes

Said goodbye to Limpopo and hello to Mpumalanga. As soon as we reached our first town, Graskop, we were bombarded left right and centre with pancake shops, cafés and restaurants. Not knowing that Graskop was famous for pancakes, we were quite intrigued and beginning to get slightly hungry at the thought. It turns out that during the mining era, the miners would form queues right around the block to a local lady’s house where she would prepare fresh pancakes for them during shifts. She became so popular that other pancake houses began to open - the most famous of these being Harrie’s –still open today.

As you can imagine with the most popular pancake house in town, it was full to the brim of tourists and sadly we couldn’t get a table. Wandering a mere 20 metres down the road, we luckily found ‘Graskop Pancakes’, a sweet place that turned out to be quite the little gem. Owner Rod agreed to let me mosey into the kitchen and observe the pancakes being made. Unfortunately Gloria the chef had already prepared the morning’s batch, but nevertheless it was fun to learn what weird and wonderful fillings people choose and see her prepare them.

I selected the traditional mince filling while Rog was ever so slightly more adventurous, with ‘chicken a la king’ as his choice (for anyone that doesn’t know what that it –creamy chicken and mushrooms).  

They were absolutely scrumptious, and forgetting the calories for a moment, I relished every second of my pancake eating experience. Half way through however, I was full to the brim and had to surrender, very reluctantly I may add. Rog being the trooper he is, stepped up to the plate (mind the pun) and managed to polish off his own as well as my neglected half. Job well done.

My mum used to make delicious savoury pancakes every time my little brother came home from university, mainly because they are his favourite but also because we felt too indulgent to eat them ourselves on a regular basis. She fills them with chicken, mushrooms and cheesy white sauce and they are quite miraculous. So for me, pancakes still remain a real treat. Pancake Day in my opinion is an ideal day; a day when you can guiltlessly devour as many pancakes as you see fit without feeling like too much of a heffa lump.

For a healthier alternative though, why not try gluten free buckwheat pancakes filled with chicken, feta and roasted veggies, or even Quorn mince and fresh tomatoes if you like the idea of the traditional filling. I also like the idea of hard boiled egg with chopped spring onions, flaked tuna and a touch of low fat mayo or crème fraîche. Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy your pancakes as much as I did in Graskop!