Rye was considered a staple grain during the Middle Ages and remains popular in European countries, especially Germany and Sweden. There are many variations of rye bread – from light rye breads that contain a mix of flours, to dark and coarse pumpernickel that features in traditional German ...
Bee sting cake (Bienenstich)
The “Bee sting” cake is of German origin and there are many stories surrounding this rather unusual name. One story is about two royal pastry chefs who stole honey from a beehive on the banks of the Rhine in 1474, to bake a special cake for their king. This bee sting cake was the result – possibly ...
Crème Brûlée
Crème Brûlée is a classic French dessert. It consists of a rich custard base topped with a hard layer of caramelized sugar. It is also referred to as burnt cream or crème anglaise. Crème Brûlée has a short ingredient list and is the perfect finishing touch to any dinner. Crème Brûlée can be ...
The perfect hard-boiled egg
The perfect hard-boiled egg must shell easily, have an unblemished white and a yellow, flakey yolk with no tinge of green sulfur surrounding it. I grew up believing that hard-boiled eggs were automatically perfect. A pin-prick through the shell on the rounded side usually prevented them from ...
Sousboontjies – butter bean salad
When I think of sousboontjies, I think of the jars of caramelized butter bean salad produced by Koo and Gants Foods that I bought in the 1970s, ‘80s and 90s. These saucy, sweet-sour beans were the perfect accompaniment to braais and cold meats. It appears that Koo still produces sousboontjies, but ...
