Kook en Geniet

Old-school is cool

Kook en Geniet reminds Bertus Basson of a kinder, gentler age.

One of the most frequently asked questions when a South African travels abroad is "What culture and traditions do you have in your country?" and all too often South Africans answer: "We don't have a particular culture."

Well, is it true? Are we the only cultureless country in the world? Absolutely not. We are lucky enough to have one of the most colourful and diverse cultures in history, but we need to learn to celebrate this a bit more empathetically and frequently.

Food has always united South Africans, sometimes at such an everyday level that we don't even notice it. Take wors and pap with chakalaka, for example.

The wors is the result of historical German and Dutch influences; the pap and chakalaka very African. My gran used to do curried tripe, the sweet curry we all grew up with - a little Afrikaans ouma preparing what was originally a Malay dish. I feel that we have the ultimate in food fusion, happening right under our noses, but sometimes we forget our roots.

Today I would like to celebrate my culture. I am a Dutchman. Like many others in my kin, I grew up with a dog-eared, over-used, stained copy of Kook en Geniet by Stoffelina Johanna Adriana de Villiers, first published in 1951.

In it, you find the most amazing array of recipes that showcase our culture. It is probably the most re-printed Afrikaans cookery book ever, and at every Afrikaans wedding the new wife will receive at least four copies so that she can recreate the magic of days gone by in her own home.

Proper home cooking is in danger, however, as we become a society of quick-fix microwave and take-out meals. When I was growing up, there were no shortcuts: mom even had to peel the carrots.

Thinking back, though, my fondest childhood memories are those spent around the table with the family eating dishes created from Kook en Geniet and old family recipes. Why can't we eat like that anymore? Why deny our culture of "spys, wyn en samesyn"?

What concerns me the most about our fading eating culture is what we are teaching our children. With obesity becoming one of the world's biggest health concerns, should we not rather favour a culture of home-cooked food from fresh ingredients?

Our young ones grow up thinking that all food should be eaten in front of the tellie, that all milk comes in cartons, that all chickens come from deli counters. Teach them how to respect real food and all of a sudden they will also have a respect for life.

In these harsh economic times, it also makes sense to turn to proven recipes that have survived a few recessions and depressions. They show us how to make food from very little and prove that we do not need lashings of olive oil (usually imported and overpriced) or fillet steak every day.

There is nothing wrong with bobotie and sweet potato. And, yes, traditional recipes are full of fat and lots of meat, but everything in moderation.

In fact, the book has evolved over the years and now not only sports recipes for Asyn Poeding (vinegar pudding) and Slap Hakskeentjies (cooked onion salad) but also lighter couscous and pasta dishes.

So to relive our former glory days (not mullets and PW Botha, just the food), why not pop into the nearest secondhand book shop and look for an old Kook en Geniet of your own? It's time to put Sous Kluitjies (dumplings) back on the menu.

Bertus Basson is chef at Overture, the restaurant at Hidden Valley winery in Stellenbosch. While he dislikes mullets, he does condone the Mohawk.