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.
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Eunice Rakhale-Molefe
Regrettably, the chef was later released from his services.
This was regrettable because I had grown fond of him as a
team member, and – also – I had learned a lot from him.
What’s more, he had excellent people skills, which was
something I had lacked, and I had needed him around, to
keep the restaurant team intact. As a lecturer in culinary arts
at one of South Africa’s prestigious schools, he had ensured
that in-service training was relevant to the needs of what we
were trying to achieve with the new direction of the
restaurant, thus reinforcing on safe food preparation and
storage, and on proper cooking; as well as emphasising on
the selection and use of knives, pastry making, ideal mealaccompanying
sauces and soups, as well as organising
promotions and themed events. He also oversaw the
costing of menus; and attending to health and safety issues;
the list goes on.
The most critical thing I had learned from him was;
“How to handle offensive actions without being
offensive, myself.’’
He treated the kitchen staff with great respect (despite their
shenanigans) without cursing or the use of foul language, a
deplorable trait that has, sadly, become a norm in the
industry.
This chef also had a clean sense of humor and had brought
joy to the kitchen, something I had been longing for. His
flair for teaching had also made it easy for the workers to
embrace the vision of the company; the “buy-in”, as it were.
The staffers’ spirits were not only revived in following
orders and working as part of the team, but also in stepping
up to the plate to delegate and take charge, whenever this
was required. The most significant lesson for the front-ofhouse,
however, was the chef’s 15 key points’ training
exercise, which had been designed to maintain the service
levels at an all-time high; what I had chosen to call “The
Drill”.
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