JO-ANNE REYNECKE (BROKEN VOWS ACTRESS)

What’s your favourite traditional food? Isitambu esinamathambo (samp and beans with beef bone curry). It takes one family three days to finish it because it’s always cooked in a big pot. Also I just love the taste. Can you cook it? No. My mother and sister are the best cooks in the family, so they never bothered to teach me. Plus it’s a meal that takes all day to make and I’m not that patient. What makes it a special dish for you? It reminds me of my childhood. It meant that the family was going through better times, and we could afford all the ingredients.

If you were to have a party at your place, would you serve it?

Definitely. I would just have my mother come to Joburg to cook it for us.

What are your thoughts on maas with phuthu – do you eat it with or without sugar?

Oh my word. Sugar immediately ruins maas. Thami (Mngqolo, fellow actor and her partner) likes it with sugar. I love it plain on a summer’s night. It has to be finely cooked phuthu.

What does Heritage Day mean to you as a South African?

It’s the day that colour should disappear. We should just be in awe of each other’s cultures; every culture is unique and beautiful. To remember imvelaphi yethu (our roots).