Spekboom goodness
Executive chef Kerry Kilpin of Tryn, the vibrant new signature restaurant at Steenberg in Cape Town, has taken local goodness to the next level with her spekboom chutney, her ode to this indigenous wonder plant
Keen to share her favourite recipes to inspire home cooks during lockdown, Kerry uses spekboom straight from her own garden. Considered to be a “miracle worker” in reducing carbon footprint, this proudly South African edible succulent is one of the most efficient plants at removing CO2 from the atmosphere, especially under ideal growing conditions. With notes of citrus, spekboom melds seamlessly into Kerry’s culinary focus of featuring an abundance of unexpected fresh and local ingredients in her dishes. Her delicious spekboom chutney takes pride of place on the menu at Tryn complementing both sweet and savoury dishes such as her sublime Textures of Boerenkaas. Taking her cue from Steenberg’s 17th century founder Catharina
Ras, or Tryn as she was known to her nearest and dearest, Kerry loves to use ingredients straight from Steenberg’s herb garden or the lime and lemon trees on the Tryn terrace. Also known as pork or elephant bush, spekboom is a nutritious eco-warrior packed with vitamin C and basic nutrients such as magnesium and manganese and was traditionally used to treat exhaustion and dehydration. This hardy succulent is easy to grow, waterwise and requires little maintenance. Enjoy making Kerry’s easy chutney and let it work its magic with flavourful cheeses, as a spread or as garnish. Watch her whip up this delicious spekboom chutney relish by visiting youtube.com/Steenberg_Farm.
Spekboom chutney Ingredients
375ml spekboom leaves – picked off the stems and washed
1 onion chopped
110ml white spirit vinegar
140g sugar
5ml fennel seeds
5ml brown mustard seeds
5ml salt
Here’s how
Sweat the onions and spices until soft taking care not to let them turn brown. Add the spekboom and cook for a further three minutes. Add the vinegar, sugar and salt. Cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes on a low heat or until it has the consistency of a nice thick chutney. Taste and add more seasoning if required.
You will notice that the spekboom releases quite a lot of gooey liquid when cooking, this is quite normal. Pour into a sterilised jar and refrigerate.