Steemit Engagement Challenge S4-W4: "Our daily bread"

^{My favorite bread, roosterkoek}

Bread… bread… bread! My favorite!

One thing is for sure, I would not have loved to live in the times of the French Revolution. As the story goes, Marie-Antoinette told her servants to give the poor cake when they were hungry and were asking for bread.

24 September - National Heritage Day in South Africa.

It is a day on which we celebrate the true meaning of the “rainbow nation” as we are known. The call for South Africans is to celebrate their diverse cultural heritage by wearing their traditional clothes and to celebrate the day with family and friends.

Ask a South African what makes him happy and he will tell you sunshine, rugby, and “braai”.
Yesterday was the perfect day as we had sunshine, a huge International rugby match and a braai day!

Way back in 2005 a man well known to South African as "Jan Braai" started a campaign proposing that Heritage Day should be renamed to “National Braai Day”. The reason is that it was clear that many South Africans celebrate this day by having a braai. “Braai” is similar to a barbeque, cooking meat on an open fire.

South Africa's National Heritage Council endorsed it in 2008 and since then, no matter the race, color, religion, or where you are, South Africans lit that fire on National Braai Day.

There is one thing that is a must with a braai and that is “roosterkoek”.
Roosterkoek is true to the heritage of South Africa and is definitely my favorite! It is the traditional bread to cook with a braai.

The word roosterkoek is taken from two words,

Rooster – grill
Koek – cake

Although roosterkoek is made from cake or bread flour it is not a cake at all. It is bread dough rolled into balls and then cooked on a grid over the coals of the fire. Roosterkoek is therefore classified as a bread roll.

You can make your dough or you can buy it from the local supermarket. I decide to buy the dough from the supermarket as it is so much easier and not expensive at all.

If you decide to make your bread dough I share an easy recipe that is a proven winner.

Ingredients for the dough:

1 kg cake flour (+/- 16 roosterkoeke)
10 ml salt
30 ml sugar
10 ml instant dry yeast
30 ml cooking oil
600 ml lukewarm water

Method:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl.
2. Add the yeast and sugar and mix with your hands.
3. Add the salt and mix some more.
4. While kneading the dough pour in the lukewarm water. You have to do this bit by bit. The dough must not be too wet. If there is still dry flour you can add a bit more lukewarm water.
5. Add the cooking oil.
6. Knead the dough for +/- 10 minutes. The dough will be ready when it doesn’t stick to your fingers.
7. Cover the bowl with some plastic or a clean kitchen towel and let it rest for 10 minutes in a warm area.
8. After the 10 minutes you knead the dough for a second time for 1 to 2 minutes.
9. This time you leave the dough to rise for 30 to 40 minutes after you have covered it.

Yesterday I was at the supermarket and instead of buying bread for the bread department I bought bread dough and we made our roosterkoek when we had our braai last night.

Alpha Omega Foodmarket
Location: Google

Cost for 1 kg bread dough R 12,99 (South African rand) which equals to 3,21 STEEM. This is less than what a sliced white bread cost.

Cooking process

Once your store-bought dough or your homemade dough is ready you roll it into smaller balls and place them on a tray.

Cover the tray with plastic or a kitchen towel and let it stand for 10 minutes to rise.

Place the balls of dough onto the grid of an open braai (barbeque) and bake it for 15 to 20 minutes.
You have to turn them often.

Your roosterkoek will be ready if you tap on it and it sounds hollow or when the blade of a knife comes out clean.

Roosterkoek brings back so many memories therefore it is my favorite bread by far. My grandpa had a farm and I can remember how we, the grandchildren, sat around the fire waiting for the roosterkoek to come off the braai. Granny used to cut the roosterkoek open and spread it with homemade butter. There was nothing nicer than licking your fingers afterward where the warm roosterkoek melted the butter and it run down your fingers.

If we were good grandpa would cut sticks for us. After we have covered these sticks with the dough he would cook our roosterkoek on the grill for us. When they are cooked and you pull the stick out it leaves a hollow in the inside which granny filled with honey or maple syrup. Yummy!

It was with times like this that we thanked our Heavenly Father twice for our daily bread.

I’ve told you the name of my favorite bread, why I like this bread, how to make it and the cost should you buy the ready dough from a supermarket. What remains is which Steemian I would like to share this bread with and why.

In South Africa we have a saying; “local is lekker”.

Some time ago I received a reply from SC01 in my home language, Afrikaans.
I don’t know who this SC01 is.
I don’t know if this SC01 is from South Africa.
I don’t know if the SC01 is male or female.
I don’t know if the message was translated.

What I do know is that today my favorite bread, roosterkoek, goes to that SC01. I want to tell him or her that, “local is lekker” but so is roosterkoek!

I invite:
@nahela
@mariez
@okere-blessing

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