SOUTH AFRICAN CULINARY HERITAGE
The book South African Culinary Heritage by Eunice Rakhale, is about local food history and traditions interlaced with family conversations. It illustrates the culinary diversity of Southern African cuisine and some neighbouring countries, comparing the similarities and unique palatable heritages thereof. Written in a conversational style, the book is a handy culinary compilation which will bestow the reader with explorations regarding local African lifestyles history, art, clothing, music and perhaps even some song and dance. For tourists visiting these African countries – possessing a diversity of ethnic cultures, it is a worthy read regarding heritage and of-course African cuisine. A guide which should be included in any tourist’s travel pack and families. It is about a genuine story told with an extraordinary ability that draws parallel between the author’s struggle in the restaurant industry and in her personal life. Ultimately, her passion for food is where she finds solace to learn, heal and grow. Mother Daughter relationships can be extremely complex and Eunice is no exception. In the book, besides a plethora of authentic recipes and history, she shares candidly about her strained relationship with her daughter Mothei Makhetha. Being estranged for seven years, Mothei writes her mother a letter, in a desperate cry for help, which she hopes will begin the healing process. After receiving the letter, circumstances of her life took Eunice back home to her mother in Moletsane, Soweto. This happens while she is researching her culinary book authenticating the recipes through the help of her mother. This handing down of recipes from her mother gets them connected on a very deep level, thus, creating compassion and trust they never had. In desperation Eunice seeks counselling from her own mother to try and mend the relationship with her daughter. Their journey is one of true and sincere conversations handed down from one generation to another, around family meals and prayerful family meetings.
The book South African Culinary Heritage by Eunice Rakhale, is about local food history and traditions interlaced with family conversations. It illustrates the culinary diversity of Southern African cuisine and some neighbouring countries, comparing the similarities and unique palatable heritages thereof. Written in a conversational style, the book is a handy culinary compilation which will bestow the reader with explorations regarding local African lifestyles history, art, clothing, music and perhaps even some song and dance. For tourists visiting these African countries – possessing a diversity of ethnic cultures, it is a worthy read regarding heritage and of-course African cuisine. A guide which should be included in any tourist’s travel pack and families.
It is about a genuine story told with an extraordinary ability that draws parallel between the author’s struggle in the restaurant industry and in her personal life. Ultimately, her passion for food is where she finds solace to learn, heal and grow.
Mother Daughter relationships can be extremely complex and Eunice is no exception. In the book, besides a plethora of authentic recipes and history, she shares candidly about her strained relationship with her daughter Mothei Makhetha. Being estranged for seven years, Mothei writes her mother a letter, in a desperate cry for help, which she hopes will begin the healing process. After receiving the letter, circumstances of her life took Eunice back home to her mother in Moletsane, Soweto. This happens while she is researching her culinary book authenticating the recipes through the help of her mother. This handing down of recipes from her mother gets them connected on a very deep level, thus, creating compassion and trust they never had. In desperation Eunice seeks counselling from her own mother to try and mend the relationship with her daughter.
Their journey is one of true and sincere conversations handed down from one generation to another, around family meals and prayerful family meetings.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
South African Culinary Heritage
could control, and – as a result – the women struggled to
find work in the formal sector. So, to earn an income, many
women developed skills as astute beer brewers.
Rural Africa has a historic tradition of beer brewing.
Customarily, it is the women who were tasked with this
chore. My late mother in law was among these special
women. These intrepid women, who came to be called
“Shebeen Queens”, made and sold beer to migrant workers
who could not afford to buy the Western types of beer, or
who still preferred their favourite traditional African beers.
My elder sister, Monki, was a neighbour to the iconic
“Shebeen King”, Peggy “Belair” Senne. The late Senne and
his wife, Kukie, were among the first few township residents
to own a license for owning a tavern in the townships in the
nineteen eighties.
The family business, which is located at house number 2475
in Rockville, Soweto, was established in the nineteen sixties,
and is now run by their son, Tonny Senne. Unsurprisingly,
the Senne family is mentioned in the same breath of
reverence as are fellow iconic taverners and Soweto
Taverners Association pioneers like Godfrey “Louis Luyt”
Moloi, Lucky Michaels and Ray Mollison.
“My father’s father started the shebeen business in Sophiatown in the
nineteen fifties, which he continued after the family was forcefully
relocated to Soweto; and I am now continuing the legacy,” says Tony
Senne, about his late flamboyant father, who got the
“Belair” nickname after he became the first Soweto resident
to own a Chevy Bel-Air sedan in the nineteen fifties.
Shebeens were township bars and taverns; places where
mostly working class urban males could unwind, socialise
and escape the oppression of life in a segregated society.
Despite their illegal status, these places played a unifying
role in the communities, providing a sense of identity and
belonging; and this was where patrons could express
105
Change language