Cooking up a Third Culture
The founder of a Cape Town food club explains how it came into being and chronicles how she prepares her labour of love
Two years ago I overheard a conversation between my mother and my sister, who’d studied home economics and can pull off delicious creations in kitchens with sparse stock, that my sister and I should consider getting into the business of food.
My food experience boils down to a working knowledge of meat quality (thanks to my father’s butchery while we were growing up), tips my sister recalls from her home economics days and my mother’s unmeasured ingredient combinations yielding the softest steamed bread and amagwinya (dumpling, vetkoek), the heartiest stews, a lush umfino (spinach), and ginger beer with some serious kwetsa — as well as a fondness for cooking shows.
Later, I came across an article on food clubs and I remember being keen to attend one. Then a friend invited me to her home for dinner and made chicken in a way I’d never tasted before. The ideas piqued and percolated in discussions with friends and family, kneaded and stretched until they shaped themselves into Third Culture Experiment, our monthly Mother City food club.
Hlumela Matika, the friend who’d made that memorable chicken, was my partner, co-cook and co-host until an opportunity came knocking and took her away after our seventh event.
With zero technical kitchen training outside of this, last Sunday saw the 18th Experiment and here’s how it came together.
Monday April 18: I meet patisserie chef Nomfundo Hlubi at a quaint spot just outside Cavendish called the Larder Cafe. We share our menu ideas, taking the anticipated wintry weather into account. We manage to sift the menu down to: Starter — Beetroot and feta tartlets with a sprinkle of fresh thyme; Meaty main — Mutton potjie served with samp and beans; and Dessert — Date pudding with homemade lemon curd icecream.
I opt to make the lemon curd from scratch, and having done it once before there was no anxiety. The issue would be the potjie; getting a good blend of ingredients that would complement the meat. They’d need to rest in the cast-iron bakpot over a fire and stirring must be kept to a minimum. This is a prerequisite for a potjie versus a stew. The different layers of supporting vegetables should retain their distinctive flavours while filling the tummy and warming the heart’s cockles. Vegetarians remain a minority as no one opted for the nutmeg butternut gnocchi veggie main.
Tuesday April 19: Invites are sent out. We have regulars who enjoy attending the events and have experienced our previous collaborations with Amarula and Hartenberg Wines, as well as our destination experiments at Babylonstoren and Spier Wine Farm. Thanks to word of mouth and social media, there are always new faces keen to sign up for the experience. Once the invitations are sent the focus turns to admin. Guests RSVP and make their main course choices. There’s reading up on recipes and researching techniques and preparation styles, watching videos and having specific food-related conversations, which sometimes mean a call home for an instructional reminder from the women in my life.
Wednesday May 11: A friend who works a “nine to five” by day and turns into a DIY queen during the rest of