South African cuisine reflects the diverse range of culinary traditions embodied by the various communities that inhabit the country.
A colourful and cool bean salad
Cool, colourful and tasty: the bean salad known in South Africa as three-bean salad is perfect to enjoy alone or served at the famous Braai, the South African barbecue. It takes less than ten minutes to prepare.
Time 5-10 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
• 200 g green beans
- 200 g canned white beans
- 200 g canned red beans
- 1 red onion
- 20 g mint
- a few basil leaves
- 20 g parsley
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- juice and zest of half a lemon
- juice and zest of half an orange
- olive oil to taste
- 1 red chili pepper
- 1 tablespoon honey
- pepper to taste.
Preparation
Blanch the green beans in boiling water for three minutes. After draining them, set them aside. At this point, using a mixer, blend together the mint, basil, parsley, mustard, orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil and salt. In a bowl, mix together the green beans, the white and red beans, honey and onion, adding the previously blended dressing, lemon and orange zest. Season with salt and pepper.
The traditional melktert
Also known as milk tart, South African melktert is a traditional milk tart flavoured with cinnamon. It is of ancient origin, dating back to the times of the Dutch colony of the Cape of Good Hope.
Time 1 hour and a half.
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 120 g granulated sugar
- 100 g butter
- 3 eggs
- 300 g cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 pint milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cinnamon stick
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Start by mixing the sugar with the butter in a bowl, add 2 egg yolks and mix the mixture until it is quite frothy. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and work the mixture until it forms a ball. Take a round baking pan, butter it or cover it with baking paper and place the dough on it, covering the entire surface. Cook the crust for about half an hour at 180 degrees.
Heat the milk and a cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove the stick. In another bowl mix two tablespoons of flour, an egg, 50 g of sugar and vanilla. Slowly pour the mixture into the milk that you removed from the heat, stirring continuously. Return it to the stove and cook over medium heat until it is quite thick. Finally, add a spoonful of butter. Pour the mixture into the shortcrust pastry crust and bake in the oven for another 25 minutes. Complete with powdered cinnamon. Allow to cool. Your melktert is now ready. (Photo:123rf)
