The Cape Herald said nothing about the disastrous events, but ten recipes were published, with Pollie’s turkey in the first place. Mr. Harris never got to taste any of the dishes, except for Susanna’s game pot, and had to take Dominee’s word and florally critique of each one. No one ever suspected Dominee of having his own agenda for making the turkey the winner. He was a man of the cloth, after all, and since Susanna never tasted it, she couldn’t contest. A photo of the Graytonians in front of their picnic table next to the river, their faces solemn, gave away nothing of Mr. Harris’s embarrassment.
After spending the night in the church hall under the wooden cross, Mr. Harris was up at the crack of dawn to ride away like a thief without saying a word to anyone, but he only made it to Pollie and Hendrik’s house before he vomited so violently he fell off his horse. Gertjie didn’t tell anyone he suffered from green fever. She couldn’t, or her secret would be revealed. Instead, she let everyone believe it was Susanna’s pot that was off. Cured the meat for too long. Maybe it was God’s will, because after that day, Susanna never made a springbok potjie again.
Only Marthinus suspected. He looked at the women helping Mr. Harris to Pollie’s house to get cleaned up.
“Jirre vrou, that stuff is strong.” He glanced around, and said softly, “Sam must take me to the spot where it grows.” When Gertjie shot her husband a condemning look, he added quickly, “So I can pull out the devil’s weed and destroy the seed, to eliminate the temptation.”
And so Mr. Harris went home to Stellenbosch, deprived of the truth, while Susanna and Gertjie guarded their secrets.
* * * *
In the difficult political times that followed, Grayton was the one town where the English and Boers lived side by side in peace. Nobody in Grayton rebelled when the lieutenant came to raise the British flag in front of the new town hall. For many decades to come, Grayton was the most peaceful town between Cape Town and the mountain. It was only when a road was built that trouble of a different kind came to town. And when that upheaval found Grayton, it was surprised that its inhabitants spoke English as well as it did Afrikaans.
Everyone talked about the First Grayton Annual Food Festival for years to come. Every time the story was told, the tail, as the Grayton saying went, grew a bit longer, and bigger, from a lizard to a dragon tail, until there were the transparent faces of ghosts among the children, and a potent flash of lightning sent by God that shot right into Susanna van der Merwe’s pot. The story rolled and accumulated so much moss that no one knew what truly happened the Christmas of 1910. Around the campfires, it was said that you could still hear a pig laugh in the mountains of Grayton until this day.
Glossary
Afrikaans — English
Blêrrie— Bloody
Boetie— Little brother
Bokkie— Darling
Dagga— Marijuana
Dominee— Minister
Ja— Yes
Jirre— Lord
Koeksisters— Kind of a dessert like a doughnut
Magtag— Dammit
Ouma— Grandmother
Patats— Sweet potatoes
Stoep— Covered porch
Sussie— Little sister
Vrou— Woman
Recipes
Pollie’s Christmas Turkey (12 portions)
1 turkey (4,5 kg)
800g minced pork
200g beef or chicken liver, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
25ml parsley, chopped
5 slices of white bread, five days old, drenched in water
20ml teaspoons salt
2ml white pepper
2ml nutmeg
5ml mustard powder
10ml fresh mixed herbs, chopped
3 strips bacon, chopped
12,5ml brandy
2ml black pepper
4 cloves
3 bay leaves
100g butter
75ml port
Mix pork, liver, celery, parsley, bread, 5ml salt, white pepper, nutmeg, mustard powder, herbs, bacon and brandy for the stuffing. Fill turkey with the stuffing and sow up with rope. Place turkey in a deep oven dish and flavor with the rest of the salt, black pepper, bay leaves and cloves. Spread butter over and add 500ml of water to the dish. Cover and bake for 45 minutes at 400°F. Lower temperature to 350°F and bake for another 3 hours. Baste frequently. Pour port over turkey and leave in warm oven for 10 minutes.
Susanna’s Springbok Potjie (10 servings)
2kg springbok meat, or other game, cubed
250g bacon, diced
250ml red vinegar
25ml salt
100g dried apricots
2ml pepper
2ml ginger
1 onion, sliced in rings
1 bay leaf
6 cloves
500ml dry red wine
25ml oil
25ml flour
50ml apricot jam
50ml port
Marinade bacon 45 minutes in a mixture of 25ml vinegar, 5ml salt, and 5ml sugar. Drain and keep marinade aside. Rub pepper, ginger, and the remaining salt and sugar into the meat. Place the meat in a dish with the bacon, dried apricots, garlic, onion, bay leaf, cloves, red wine, and the remaining vinegar. Marinate for 2 to 3 days (keep refrigerated) and turn twice per day. Build a medium fire and heat oil in a three-legged marmite over the fire. Brown the meat in the oil. Add 250ml of the marinade to the pot and cook for 3 hours over a low fire until the meat is tender. (It must not boil, only simmer.) If the marinade starts to boil, remove coals from the fire. Mix flour, apricot jam and port to a paste and add to the pot. Cook for 5 minutes. Serve with krummelpap.
Jakoba’s Easy Krummelpap (serves 6)
500ml yellow maize flour
250ml water
5ml salt
Boil water with salt. Sprinkle the flour over the water and boil for 15 minutes. Stir with a fork to crumb. Cook 30 minutes over slow heat with the lid partially closed.
Grayton Oxtail (6 servings)
1,5kg oxtail, cut into pieces (ask your butcher to prepare this)
1 garlic clove, crushed
500ml meat extract
1 bay leaf
4 cloves
5 peppercorns
5ml salt
5ml pepper
1 onion, sliced in rings
10 small yellow carrots
Place meat, garlic, 250ml extract, bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns, salt and pepper in a marmite on a slow fire. Simmer for 4 hours with the lid and add more extract if necessary. (A flat marmite can be used on a stove instead of cooking on an open fire.) Add onions and carrots after 2 hours. Serve with mash potatoes.
Gertjie’s Buttermilk Rusks (50 rusks)
1,24kg cake flour
10ml baking powder
10ml bicarbonate de soda
10ml cream of tartar
10ml salt
250g butter
2 eggs
375ml sugar
500ml buttermilk
250ml oil
Mix flour, baking powder, bicarbonate de soda, cream of tartar and salt in a bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and work into the flour mixture to a texture of fine crumbs. Beat eggs, sugar, buttermilk and oil together. Add to the butter and flour mixture to form a firm dough. Form balls and pack tightly together in buttered bread pans. Bake 45 minutes at 375°F. Remove from the pans, let cool for 30 minutes, and break into rusks. Dry 4 to 5 hours in the oven at 200°F, or overnight in the warm drawer. Let cool completely and store in airtight containers. Dip in coffee or tea for breakfast.
Susanna’s Koeksisters (2 dozen)
375ml water
800g sugar
2ml cream of tartar
2ml ginger
3 cinnamon sticks
500g cake flour
30ml baking powder
2ml salt
50ml butter
250ml milk
oil for dee
p-fry
Prepare the syrup first. Heat water in a pot, add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add cream of tartar, ginger and cinnamon sticks. Boil 5 minutes without a lid. Don’t stir. Remove from the stove and let cool. Syrup must be very cold when used. If needed, refrigerate. Prepare the koeksisters while the syrup is cooling. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add butter and work into flower with fingers to a texture of fine crumbs. Beat eggs and milk together, and add to the flour mixture. Mix well, and knead for about 2 minutes. Cover the bowl with wax paper and leave to stand for 1 hour. Roll dough out 10mm thick. Cut into strips of 80mm x 40mm, and make 2 vertical cuts in every strip 5mm from the top. Braid the strips loosely and fold loose ends together. Heat oil to 375°F and deep-fry the koeksisters for 1 minute. Don’t fry too many at a time. Remove from oil, drain 1 minute on brown paper, and dip 30 seconds in the cold syrup. Remove from syrup and leave on a plate to dry.
Magdalena’s Christmas Fruit Cake (1 big cake)
500g cake flour
500g raisins
500g dates, chopped
250g each sultanas, currants, and glazed peel
125g each glazed ginger and cherries, chopped
75ml brandy
500g sugar
200ml boiling water
2ml each nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and salt
500g butter
8 eggs, beaten
5ml bicarbonate de soda
15ml strong coffee
250g pecan nuts, chopped
Mix raisins, dates, sultanas, currants, peel, ginger and cherries and pour brandy over. Leave overnight. Heat 250g sugar in a pot until melted and starts to brown. Add boiling water and let cool. Sift flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and salt together. Cream butter and remainder of the sugar, and add beaten eggs to the flour mixture little by little. Fold fruit and brandy in. Dissolve bicarbonate de soda in the coffee and add to the mixture. Fold nuts in. Pour into a cake pan lined with thick aluminum foil. Cover the pan with a layer of aluminum foil. Bake 4 to 5 hours at 300°F. When ready, let cool, and sprinkle with brandy. Keep in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Sprinkle with brandy frequently until use. The cake preserves well and can be kept for a month or longer.
Nettie’s Milktart (4 tarts)
1kg puff pastry
1,5 liters milk
15ml butter
2ml salt
1 cinnamon stick
20ml each custard powder and maizena
30ml cake flour
50ml cold milk
250ml sugar
7 eggs, separated
5ml essence of almond
Place dough in 4 buttered tart dishes. Bring 1,5 liters milk to the boil and add butter, salt and cinnamon. Mix custard powder, maizena and flour with cold milk to form a paste. Add a little bit of the warm milk and mix. Add this mixture to the hot milk and stir continuously. Add half of the sugar, bring to the boil, and stir. Remove from heat when the mixture thickens. Remove the cinnamon stick. Beat the egg yolks. Beat egg whites until firm. Beat the sugar with the egg whites. Let the milk mixture cool and add a bit to the egg yolks while stirring. Add the egg yolk mixture little by little to the milk mixture while stirring continuously. Add essence of almond. Fold in the egg whites. Pour into tart dishes and bake immediately for 10 minutes at 400°F. Lower heat to 350°F and bake another 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool and sprinkle cinnamon over the filling.
Jakoba’s Malva Pudding (serves 6)
250ml cake flour
250ml sugar
20ml butter
1 egg
20ml apricot jam
250ml milk
5ml bicarbonate of soda
5ml apple cider vinegar
Cream butter and sugar until light and mix with egg and apricot jam. Sift dry ingredients together. Dissolve bicarbonate of soda in vinegar. Mix egg and vinegar mixture with dry ingredients, adding milk little by little. Add salt. Pour into an oven dish and bake 35 minutes at 360°F. In the meantime, prepare the syrup.
250ml cream
5ml vanilla essence
125ml butter
250ml water
500ml sugar
Boil everything together, and pour over pudding as soon as it is removed from the oven. Prick the pudding with a toothpick before sauce is poured over for better absorption. Serve with vanilla ice cream while warm.
Dominee Skeeloog’s Chutney (1.5 kg)
500g dried peaches
500g dried apricots
500g sultanas
3 onions
2 garlic cloves
125ml almonds, chopped
500g sugar
10ml salt
10ml ginger
10ml white pepper
10ml red pepper
1,5 liters vinegar
Soak peaches and apricots overnight in enough water to cover. Drain and add sultanas. Chop the dried fruit, onion, garlic and almonds in a food blender, or use a meat mill. Add rest of the ingredients and pour into a pot. Bring to the boil. Simmer 2 hours with a lid, and stir from time to time. Pour into jars and seal. *This condiment is delicious with springbok potjie, oxtail, or any other meat dish.
Miena’s Grape Preserve or Young Boers (1 liter)
Ripe, firm Hanepoot (very sweet, green) grapes to fill a jar of 1 liter of water.
250ml water
250ml sugar
375ml brandy
Wash the grapes and remove each one with a short piece of the stem still intact. Pierce each grape a few times with a needle. Boil water and sugar until a temperature of 225°F is reached. Remove from heat and stir in brandy. Pack grapes tightly in clean sterilized jars and pour the sugar mixture over. Close lids lightly and place jars in big marmite filled with water. Heat water to 190°F. Remove jars and seal lids tightly. Leave for 3 months before use.
About the Author
South African born Charmaine Pauls followed a writing career path in all the facets of her communications degree, including public relations, journalism, advertising, and brand marketing. She resides in Chile with her husband and children.
Other novels by Charmaine Pauls at Mélange Books
Between Fire & Ice
The Winemaker
Second Best
A Miracle for Christmas (short story)
Turn the page for more books available
from Melange Books
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