Traditional South African Bobotie - 1936

It is not often that one comes across a tome of home assistance in the form of the South African edition of ‘Cookery Illustrated and Household Management’.

Published in 1936, this manual of the domestic arts was ably edited by the well-known cook, Elizabeth Craig. For distribution in the local market, Craig added traditional South African dishes.

One such traditional South African dish is Bobotie, a well loved favourite:

"Bobotie

2 lb. mutton or beef (cooked or fresh) [450g]

2 onions

2 tablespoons butter or dripping

1 slick white bread

1 cupful milk

2 tablespoons curry powder

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 eggs

Seasoning

Chopping almonds

A few lemon or bay leaves

Utensils – Mincer, 3 basins, saucepan, knife, spoon, egg-beater, fork, pie-dish. Enough for 6 persons.

Mince the meat. Soak the bread in half of the milk and mash it finely with a fork. Fry the chopped onions in the butter. 

Add to these the bread, curry powder, sugar, seasoning, lemon juice (or vinegar) and the minced meat. Mix well together with 1 well-beaten egg. Pour the mixture into a buttered pie-dish and bake in a moderate oven. 

After about half an hour, beat up the other egg with a pinch of salt and add to the rest of the milk. Pour this over the mince. Place a few lemon or bay leaves on the top and sprinkle over some chopped almonds. Return to the oven and bake for another ½ hour during which the custard will set. Bobotie is generally served with rice."

Notes: I added dried coriander to the custard mix, and threw in some country mix vegetables for extra colour and flavour. Baked 180 °C for +/- 45 mins to 1 hour depending on type of oven. 

Enjoy!

The Vintage Kitchen 

Elizabeth Craig - A doyenne of home economy (plus her pancake recipe)

Elizabeth Josephine Craig (16 February 1883 – 7 June 1980) was a notable Scottish home economist, cookery writer and journalist. 

(Image courtesy of www.britishfoodinamerica.com)

Elizabeth wrote over 40 cookery books during her 97 years! She first began writing cookery books after the first World War and then continued on until 1980 - an impressive five decades!

Elizabeth starting cooking at the young age of 6, and also began collecting various recipes from the age of 12. Due to this background, she was well-versed in the art of cookery. True to her talent, she was able to create recipes according to the times, whether it was frugal recipes during war time or later years when refridgerators were common. 

I am fortunate to have a copy of Elizabeth's Craig's Home Cooking, a 1961 edition of the original 1949 publication. 

Shrove Tuesday has come and gone but I will feature Elizabeth Craig's Pancake Recipe as we are still nearing Easter! 

Pancakes

3/4 lb. flour
1 large egg
1/2 half pint milk
Pinch salt

Sift flour and salt together into a basin. Make a well in the centre, then drop in the egg. Stir in half the milk gradually, then stir in the flour from the sides by degrees. Beat well and add the rest of the milk, beating all the time. Stand in a cool place for one hour. When ready to fry, pour and scrape batter into a jug. 

 

To fry pancakes

Melt a walnut of butter or lard in the frying-pan. Remove pan from fire and pour in from 2 tablespoons to 1/4 pint of batter, depending on the size of the frying-pan. Move the pan a little to allow the batter to spread over the whole of the pan, then quickly place the pan on heat. Cook till lightly browned below, then toss, by jerking the pan upwards and towards you, or turn with a palette knife. Brown on the other side, then turn on to sugared paper. Dredge with sugar, squeeze a little lemon juice over, then roll up and keep hot while cooking the rest of the batter. Put a walnut of fat into pan before cooking each pancake. Serve arranged on a hot dish lined with a paper doily. Garnish with fingers of lemon.
  

Enjoy!

 With love from,