Innehållsförteckning för Issue 4 2021 från Koe'sister

If I were to describe myself as an inanimate object right now, I’d be a dishevelled rug ready for a good spring clean. I’d need a long soak in warm, soapy water followed by a vigorous wash and spin before finally being hung up outside in the sun. Because what a time we’re going through! It feels like a never-ending assault. Just when I think I’m starting to get a handle on things, the slow march of devastating poverty, news of more deaths, ill health, riots and looting leave me grasping. This last year and a half have been the most. But you know that already. To help me to keep going, I’ve turned to daily yoga practice, obsessively crocheting (and buying skeins and skeins of yarn) and binge-watching series.…

BEANS & BONES Janet Bongekile Sithole B&B aka beans-and-bones soup is one of my standard go-tos on a cold day. It’s delicious! My dad used to make it and, since he loved chillies, he always added a few extra. I had always thought of this as ‘normal’ food until years later when I worked in a store where bones were sold as bones for dogs. It didn’t make sense to me, because bones were part of our meals at home. I suppose that’s when I was introduced to how the other half lives. Fast forward a few years and retailers have caught on that bones actually serve as proper meals in some homes and they no longer are sold in the pet-food section. Instead, bones now have a prominent place…

OF IKOTA, IZINKOBE AND UJEQE Janet Bongekile Sithole I had my iKota moment the other day and it was delicious! It got me thinking about the history of food, especially in black communities. What is iKota, you may wonder. iKota is derived from the word quarter. It is the top (or bottom) quarter of a loaf of bread, the crust side, that has been hollowed out and filled with wholesomeness. When I was at school, it was what the kids had during break. iKota, as much as the word is used throughout South Africa, originated in Jozi. Its real name is spathlo, which is made from hollowed-out bread filled with atchar, polony, chips, cheese, egg and Russians. Nowadays people also add meat, but it still has to be white bread!…

I come from meat. Upington people know me as BT, the butcher’s daughter. This underappreciated carnivorous relationship abruptly died when I came to Cape Town to study and my deep-rooted emotional relationship with spuds sprouted. The humble tater saved me from starvation and taught me that even if I had only its peels, I could make it to tomorrow. You see, twice in my life my decisions landed me back at spuds and peels (‘skillets’, as they’re called in my home). The first time, I was a student and an auntie down the road, who had a big family, was kind enough to keep her peels and rendered fat for me so that I could cook a meal for myself, the ex and a housemate. If we had salt and…

We started a worm farm Awhile back, Lieneke Dennis started a conversation about community gardens in the Lockdown Recipe Storytelling Book (LRSB) Facebook group. I searched the topic in the group and saw that there’s a desire to support food gardens without encroaching on the work of existing organisations in this fi eld. Lieneke’s questions inspired me to come up with an idea, which I ran past her: to start a worm farm and seedling bank to help community food gardens to become sustainable. The worm farm idea was inspired by the success Cavendish Square shopping centre had with their worm farm and the support they could give community food gardens in poorer areas in the form of compost and worm tea. It’s one of my favourite sustainability stories in…

PANEER MAKHANI Sumesha Subramoney I’ve been vegetarian since the age of 14 and grew to enjoy many different types of vegetarian cuisines. I love Thai and Italian dishes, but because I grew up eating Indian food, it remains my favourite. This is my take on paneer makhani. I was forced to start my cooking journey 13 years ago to survive in Johannesburg, as I didn’t have my mum to cook for me any more. I did call her to pick her brain for recipes, though. The first thing I had to learn was how to boil rice, which was a mission. At the first try, I forgot to wash the rice and it ended up being very stodgy. Over the years I grew to love cooking and adapting recipes to…

Main dishes There are more to Diwali food than sweetmeats. Verushka Ramasami shares two of her tried-and-tested recipes. PRAWN CURRY This is one dish we always make on special occasions. Even as a kid, we had prawn curry at Diwali, Christmas, Easter and birthdays. It was a real treat, because prawns were expensive, and we added eggs to extend the meal. I only realised a few years ago that the practice of adding boiled eggs stems from the Telugu in Andhra Pradesh. I have been watching this dish lovingly prepared for over 30 years. I did say that my love language is food, right? • 30 ml (2 tbsp) fish masala • 5 ml (1 tsp) chilli, ginger and garlic mix (I use Pure Spice’s mix) • 800 g prawns,…

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE FYNBOS Abstinence is a South African range of nonalcoholic spirits and aperitifs infused with the tastes of the Cape. Abstinence Cape Citrus is an alcohol-free and sugar-free gin with buchu and citrus at its core, while the Cape Spice alcohol-free gin combines citrus and fl orals with allspice, cloves and cardamom. Cape Fynbos gin has rose geranium (wildemalva) as well as juniper berries, angelica root and coriander. Abstinence Non-Alcoholic Aperitif mixed with soda or tonic water makes a great spritz, or mix half aperitif and half Abstinence Cape Spice or Cape Citrus and pour over ice to make a negroni. Abstinence alcohol-free gin retails at R249.99 per bottle and R149.99 for the aperitif. SAVOUR THE MOMENT Fitch & Leedes Moments mocktails offer abstainers a delicious…

“Hello everyone, all duahs and prayers needed and very much appreciated. I got my results back and I have been diagnosed with cancer. I’ll be taking it one day at a time. I’m staying positive and I put all my faith in the Almighty and I’ll be seen to by great doctors. Love you all so, so much.” With this social media post in December last year, Fatima Sydow announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer. As we’ve come to know Fatima, she’s positive, despite the diagnosis. The month before, nagging pain on the bottom of her left foot had told her that something was wrong. Instead of going away, a “ball” formed underneath her foot. “I had problems walking and couldn’t wear normal shoes. I was in a…

BLUE-CHEESE SAUCE Ismail Mahomed This is for all those who love blue cheese. I often have it on toast with avocado and asparagus, or on its own on crackers. When I have time, I make a lekker blue-cheese sauce to serve with grilled chicken breast and salad, or with smoked trout, lightly toasted bread and salad. This is the story of how my craving for blue cheese began. I was 15 when I used my pocket money during one holiday in Hawston to buy my first big wedge of blue cheese from a ‘white people’s’ shop in Hermanus. “Naai man! Is vrot tjeeze. Kyk die foongees oppie tjeeze,” my cousin yelled in disgust as he tried to take it from my hand. “Djy, foosek man! Dissie vrot tjeeze nie. Die’s…

Jy dra die dood huis toe Wilma Paulse ’n Mens dra nie begrafniskos huis toe nie, jy dra die dood huis toe. Dit het ek baie keer gehoor terwyl ek grootgeword het. Met die doodsengel van Covid wat soos ’n briesende leeu loop en mense verslind, moes die mensdom baie aanpassings maak ten opsigte van ons koskultuur en hoe ons met kos omgaan wanneer ons rou. Want kos troos ons, maak ons gelukkig, maak ons harte ligter as dinge te swaar raak om te dra. Begrafniskos is deel van begrafnis. Daar word ’n hele vergadering gehou daaroor. In my komvandaan-gemeenskap in die Noord-Kaap moet daar eerstens bloed gemaak word by die doodshuis, bedoelende daar word geslag. Die voltydse begrafnislopers (daai mense wat nooit ’n lift gat toe het nie en…

Whenever I think of the levels of violence against women and children in South Africa, I wonder what goes through the minds of women who live with partners who beat and abuse them or their children. I believe that the real revolutions in our lives happen most often during the quiet moments we’ve managed to snatch for ourselves, perhaps in the privacy of our bathrooms, or at the kitchen table, while peeling potatoes. The spaces where women allow themselves to acknowledge their pain often are not public places. If you ask a woman who had left her partner when she finally decided to leave, what finally made her do it, it won’t always be the day she caught him in bed with another woman or man, or the day he…