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
(mother), it is just a conversation.” He says, and reiterates,
“Ke moqoqo, feela – (it is just a chat).”
Then Elia had continued, “Something in my heart for the
coming year is to restore my family relationships,
particularly the relationship with my eldest daughter.” Then
he pondered, further, “As I was contemplating this, I had to
look back on how the relationships got to be where they
were; torn apart. This also led me to search for the root of
the problem. This is my subject matter for our discussion.”
As he had said, he was also posing a question to my mother;
“The pain and suffering in our family; where does it
come from, Mme (mother)?”
Setting the stage, he allocated time for the discussion,
appointing a chairperson and set the boundaries on the
extent of involvement in the discussion.
He had also welcomed my husband to the meeting as an
observer. As with all our family meetings, Elia had insisted
that we had to start off with a Scripture reading from the
Bible, and that we had to involve God, in prayer, to help us
see matters clearly, without being defensive and personal.
My mother had then related the issue of deep hurt and
bitterness back to when her father had refused her to pursue
a career as a teacher. This had become aggravated when my
father had also refused her request to study nursing after
they got married. When a neighbour recognised her
capabilities, and had invited my mother to go for training at
Vereeniging Hospital, again, my father had refused to sign
the forms. As fate would have had it, this had become yet
another opportunity missed. These two incidences had
filled her with a deep-seated resentment. As my mother
shared this truth about her relationships with the two
important men in her life – my grandfather, whom I
remember fondly, and my father, who had loved and adored
my mother – my brother, Elia, struggled to take it all in. This
discussion had finally led us to the source of my mother’s
195
Change language