Cook With Us Traditional Dish - Food Medley from Southern Africa

Bread tied up with string?
I'm sure many of you think this lady here has gone totally bonkers:)

Barbeque or a Braai as it is known in South Africa, conjures up images of meat sizzling and smoking over a hot fire - beef steaks, spare ribs, lamb chops and so forth.
Having a mild climate in our country, any excuse is used to have a Braai, even if it just means having a Braaibroodjie, direct translation BBQ Sandwich.
Make a sandwich with cheese, tomato & onion, butter it on the outside and tie it together with wet string to keep all the filling ingredients intact, and your sandwich parcel is ready to be toasted over the hot coals.
Really a delicious toasted sandwich with the smoky flavours of the BBQ.

Remember going to the fetes and bazaars as a child and all the delicious fare on offer there?
One of our favourite bazaar foods is something we call Vetkoek - literal translation is Fat Cake, wow what does that say to you? To me it says don't eat too many of these or you will end up being...fat!
Vetkoek is almost like a kind of doughnut; a bread dough is used and deep fried in hot oil. Filled with a savoury or curried mince or else simply filled with an Apricot Jam/Jelly, this really is delicious!

What is morning coffee without a Rusk?

A rusk is similar to Biscotti but not as sweet. This was made in colonial days when folk used to traverse the country in ox-wagons looking for greener pastures. A sweet yeast dough with the addition of Anise seed and sometimes raisins or sultanas; this bake is called Mosbolletjies.
Sliced into fingers and dried in the oven they're called Rusks; this was a good way of preserving the Mosbolletjies as the Rusks can be kept in an airtight container for weeks.

It would be kind of sacrilege to leave out Biltong.
Biltong is a classic South African treat - air-cured meat that's been marinated in vinegar and spices before being placed in a biltong maker (the more popular method of air drying with little or no heat) or a dehydrator (using air circulation and heat). We also make Dry Wors (Sausage) in the same manner, absolutely yum!
Many of you are familiar with Jerky, but that piece of leathery dried meat can forget about being eaten by any South African or anyone who has ever tasted our Biltong.
Basically only the best cuts of meat is used, Beef being the most popular, but Venison and Ostrich is popular as well.
Biltong is a popular gift for guys and it's best eaten with an an ice cold beer, cider or anything cold and wet.

And last but not least I would be very wrong not to share Milk Tart, which by the way was my very first bake for the very first challenge set by @cookwithus on Steemit a long time ago.
This was my Granny's specialty often made for church fetes/ bazaars; dozens of these tarts at one time in fact as my Gran had a big heart!
Milk Tart is a crisp shortcrust base filled with a delicious creamy and fluffy vanilla egg custard with a sprinkling of cinnamon, made with everyday pantry ingredients, a delicious teatime or dessert treat.

I could really go on and on as us South Africans really enjoy our food, but will end it there as I now am longing for one of these treats; think I'll go and buy ready made bread dough from the baker down the road and quickly put together a Vetkoek; my favourite way of eating it is with Apricot Jam!

Hope you enjoyed this little insight into some of my country's traditional food, look forward to seeing yours:)

A massive thank you to the @cookwithus team of @pandamama and @offoodandart plus all the wonderful sponsors @unity, @jepu, @krazykrista and @nutfund, @merej99 and @lexiwitness for keeping our favourite cooking contest going here on Whaleshares, you are all amazing!
Check out the official COOKWITHUS POST, we would love to see what you prepare in your kitchen!

Original Content by @lizelle
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