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South African cuisine is a unique fusion of African, European and Eastern styles and flavors.
The Rainbow Nation boasts a culinary heritage with strong Dutch, Indonesian, French, German, British, Indian and Portuguese influences.
Food itself plays an important role in the story of South Africa. Starting oddly enough in the kitchens of medieval Europe. These were dank and rather smelly affairs, where a forlorn and tortured cuisine cried out for a dash of the exotic. Something spicy was no doubt needed to make last week's leftovers palatable. And so, over the centuries, fortunes were made and lost in procuring pepper and other wonders of the East, transporting them across the treacherous terrain of Central Asia.
Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), Afrikaans for “red bush”, is a flowering bush-like shrub that is unique to the Cederberg region of South Africa. Reaching a height of 3-5 feet, this plant has long reddish-brown stems covered with spikey, needle-like leaves. The stems are harvested with their leaves from January to March, and are processed into an antioxidant-rich tea.
A symbiotic relationship with root-dwelling nitrogen-fixing bacteria allows these leguminous shrubs to thrive in the highly acidic soil of the Cederberg mountains, some 100 miles north of Cape Town. The indigenous people of the Cederberg region have for centuries known about the health-giving properties of beverages made from these shrubs.
Pleasantly mild in flavor and naturally caffeine-free, this soothing and relaxing tea has become popular around the world. It is very low in tannins and is used as a natural treatment for babies with colic.
The common red rooibos tea goes through a fermentation/oxidation process before drying, whereas green rooibos tea does not. Green rooibos tea has a more subtle flavor, lacks the reddish tinge and is even higher in anti-oxidants than the red variety. It is also more expensive.
The South African Honeybush (“Heuningbos” in Afrikaans) has properties similar to those of Rooibos. The flowers smell of honey and an infusion made with the leaves, is sweet and aromatic.
There are over 20 species found growing in the wild, in sandy soils, between Port Elizabeth and the Langkloof, in the Outeniqua area near George, in the mountains around Heidelberg and around Yzerfontien and Darling.
Aileen and her daughter Kathy are South Africans who have settled in the United States. They realized that many South Africans who have made the move to the US would like to nurture ties with the country of their birth. Food is an important part of this connection. They combined their expertise (see Meet the Authors) to write a book of South African recipes, adapted for easy preparation in the US kitchen. In addition to traditional specialties, such as bobotie, malvapoeding, koeksisters, buttermilk rusks and melktert, they have included contemporary favorites, like monkeygland steak, caramel-mint fridge tart and South African-style iced coffee.
Create cool, refreshing drinks with South African rooibos tea!
