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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South African Culinary Heritage
theatrical performances, and without any pious façade.
Then, I had to talk with, and to myself; and I had to do this
without hiding behind my emotions of anger.
Finally, there had to be a “talking” to my family, starting with
my mother, then I had to open up to my children. In talking
to the children, I had to let go of arrogance; and to
relinquish the idea of always wanting to be right. This was
the advice that my mother had given me before her passing.
“Eunice, O ikokobetse ka dinako tsohle (humble yourself at all
times) when you talk to the children,” my late mother had
counselled me, in preparation for my meetings with the
children. “You must forget about being right, and ask for their
forgiveness for hurting them.”
In God’s true order, the conversation that was supposed to
happen urgently was with my eldest child, my son; and,
thankfully, my daughter, Mothei, had taken the initiative and
set the related discussion in motion. In essence, Mothei took
over from where my mother had left off, and had nudged
me in the right direction by making sure the first dreaded
appointment happened.
My son, like myself is finicky about formality, punctuality
and order. We had agreed that – for our meetings to be
beneficial in restoring our relationship – we had to meet
regularly, over a period of time. We met once a week for
about six weeks; from ten, in the morning, until around
twelve; and we spoke candidly and sincerely about his
childhood; how I had raised him, and about the decisions I
had taken along the way. We also embraced both the
valuable and somewhat flawed decisions I had made. My
mother’s advice became my saving grace in the discussions
I had with my son. I had to humble myself, and forget about
being right, and just listen to my son.
But, as could have been predicted, I struggled between
listening and being defensive. But, by the grace of God, I
made it through our first meeting. Subsequent meetings
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