Let's start cooking ... South African Style Quiz

Answer: Biltong

Biltong is a dried meat made originally from buck and livestock. Recipes were brought to South Africa by the Dutch settlers. It was a way to preserve meat when refrigerators hadn't been invented.

Today, you can get various types of biltong such as chicken, fish and ostrich.

The typical way of preservation is to marinate the meat in a vinegar solution, then grind together a mixture of coriander (dried cilantro seeds),rock salt, brown sugar and black pepper.

This in then rubbed into the meat and left for a few hours, then hung up to dry.

Answer: Waterblommetjie Bredie

Waterblommetjies are mainly grown in the Western Cape area of South Africa. A "Bredie" is a name for a meat and vegetable stew.

When using waterblommetjies, it is important that the flowers be just opening. For preparation remove all of the black centres of the flowers and soak them in salted water. They need to be rinsed through quite a few times.

The bredie is then made with onions, garlic, chopped leg of lamb, potatoes, green chillies, salt, pepper, red wine, good beef stock and lemon juice.

Cook all ingredients other than the waterblommetjies and potato in the oven at 180 deg c for 1 1/2 hours.

Add waterblommeties and potatoes to the top and steam for another 1 1/2 hours and serve on white rice with lemon juice.
YUM!

Answer: Samp and Beans

This dish is a really rural dish and is a daily staple of most rural South Africans who cannot afford to eat fancy dishes.

Samp is white corn kernels which are crushed or broken into pieces and then soaked with sugar beans for a few hours.

These are then boiled together with onions, chillies, tomatoes, pepper, stock cube and if you are one of the lucky few, some fatty meat. Salt is only added at the end as it tends to toughen up the beans if added before.

"Umngqusho" is the Xhosa name for this dish, however it is known by many other names in the different tribes of Southern Africa.

Answer: A rounded three-legged cast-iron pot

It is indeed a rounded three-legged cast-iron pot and makes the most delicious stews ever! The stew is called potjiekos, pronounced "poi-key-kawse". Pot being the pot and kos being the food.

The normal cooking method is to get a lot of coals going, brown the meat in oil, add a mixture of vegetables, salt and pepper. Then place over a few coals, keeping the additional coals going for further heat.

It can also be used to make potbread which is another South African dish.

Answer: Mrs Balls Chutney

In 1852, Henry James Adkins married Elizabeth Sarah Spalding in King Williams Town, South Africa.

Sarah Adkins started making this chutney with peaches, apricots and secret spices and in 1870 started to manufacture commercially.

Her daughter, Amelia, married Herbert Saddleton Ball and improved on the recipe and so we have our favourite of favourites, Mrs Balls Chutney!

No curry or stew is complete without it :)

A myth about the Adkins was that Captain Adkins and his wife were travelling from Canada to Australia on the SS Quanza when it was shipwrecked off the coast of East London, South Africa and fortunately they managed to save among a few possessions, the recipe for our favourite and unique chutney. This according to Mrs Ball's grandson, Desmond, is not the true story.

Answer: Little tortoises

A "skilpadjie" is translated to "little tortoises" and consists of minced lamb's liver, onions, salt and Worcesterhire sauce. This is then wrapped in the caul fat which surround the kidneys and grilled over a barbeque until the fat is crisp.

Sound horrible to you? They are! Never have and never will touch 'em!

Answer: Bread hollowed out and filled with curry

A "bunny chow" is served in either a 1/2 or 1/4 loaf of bread from which the centre portion of the bread has been hollowed out and filled with curry. It is then capped with the piece from the portion that was cut out.

This story dates back to when the migrant Indian workers arrived in South Africa to work in the canefields. It was considered an easy way of carrying their lunches to the fields. No tupperware in those days ...!

The best bunny chows can be found in Durban which is home to a large Indian community.

Answer: Use it as a relish

"Chakalaka" originated in the townships and rural areas of South Africa as a cheap and easy relish. At first, it was mainly made with tomato, onions, peppers and chillies and was used with the traditional mielie pap, (mielie porridge) or samp and beans.

Nowadays, it is a favourite of everone's and the original recipe has been changed to suit individual tastes. No braai (barbecue) is ever without it as an accompaniment.

Answer: Dough

"Vetkoek" literally translated as "fatcake" is a dough made from salt, flour, eggs, milk and yeast all mixed together then kneaded.

It is then deep fried in oil and can be filled with either curried minced beef or some prefer it with cheese and jam.

The township name for a "Vetkoek" is a "magwinya" and is a cheap and popular meal but is served differently, normally with a sauce and some type of sausage.

Answer: Koeksister

If you don't have a very sweet tooth then this is not something you would even try.

The "Koeksister" orignated from the Cape Malays and is a very sweet and sticky pastry. A syrup is made first from golden syrup, cream of tartar, lemon juice and sugar. This syrup is then refrigerated until ice cold. The pastry is then made and refrigerated to rest for some time.

Pastry is then rolled out and twisted into braids. Cooked until brown in hot oil and then submerged into the ice cold syrup until they are soaked through.

As a preference, once they have been soaked through, they can be rolled in coconut and stored in an airproof container or frozen.