Recipes From South Africa

There are so many flours available, you will not believe it unless you have looked for it yourself. Bafore 2009 I did not even know anything but regular wheat flour and corn flour exists. The reason is because all recipes always have the same ingredients. You don’t even think about the fact there are other flours available.

You can use potato flour, soya flour, tapioca flour, rice flour, chick pea flour, quinch flour, buckwheat flour, sorghum flour and many more. I say many more because there are others, but these are the one’s I have seen in our local store. Spar and Dischem are the only shops that cater for celiacs. Checkers and Pick ‘n Pay have the odd gluten free item, but they do not have that many.

At least if you have the different flours to your disposal, you have options, choices you can make. When mixing the flours together you can create different consistency, best suited for baking cookies, breads and other recipes. I have used the above flours for different recipes and will share a few of these recipes with you next time around.

Good luck with you shopping and happy mixing of your flours. It is just trial and error, if something doesn’t work, try again and again…

Gluten, what is it?
Gluten appears in food that is processed from wheat and other species that are related. These include rye, barley and even oats it seems, although there are still tests being done on this. Some celiac react to oats and others not, so lots of research is being done on this subject.
The purpose of gluten is actually great, not something you would consider if you do no have to follow a gluten free diet. It actually gives elasticity to dough and helps it rise. It then helps the dough keep its shape and provide a chewy texture to bread or anything else baked with the dough. Gluten exists conjoined with starch in various grains. Wheat is a very big source of protein worldwide and is found both in foods prepared directly from sources and it is also added to foods that are low in protein.
As the gluten intolerance in the western world increases, countries are forcing producers to label all their products, clarifying whether a product contains or may contain traces of gluten.
Finding a replacement for gluten as a source of binding and providing elasticity to bread is still a work in process, but great gluten free products are on the market today. There are much greater choices in first world countries like America, UK, Australia and Nieu Zeeland. Other countries are improving their choices rapidly, but the third world countries are still not able to provide that many alternatives. The once that are available is extortionate prices which leaves celiacs without real choices. ..

Gluten free, Ceoliac, these are both terms I have NEVER heard of before in my life until October 2009… These terms mean absolutely nothing to anyone who does not have a problem with it or know someone else that has a problem with it. And that is true in my case.

In October 2009 my husband was diagnosed as a ceoliac (gluten intolerance). Never would I look at food and labelling in the same way again. My husband was diagnosed in England after having problems with his stomach for over 20 years. Can you believe it? Doesn’t this just show you exactly how “new” the condition still is. Not all countries regulate labelling very strictly and is not seen as severe as having say a peanut allergy. So it is very difficult being a ceoliac in most countries.

Coming to South Africa has been great for me, being with family and friends and just being back in my home country, but for my husband, eating has become very difficult. NO shop has a specific labelling system, not many companies, not even the big once can tell you what their policy is on labelling. Is there gluten in the product yes or no? May the product contain any traces of gluten yes or no? These basic questions can most of the time not be answered. How hard can it be.

What we have discovered though is that if it doesn’t state “GLUTEN FREE” on the packet, chances are very good that it isn’t… I wish there was a labelling policy in the country that would make life so much easier for all allergy sufferers and people that have food sensitivities. Would it not be fantastic if you could pick up a product and in the corner it has a symbol which is universally recognisable as being free from gluten, or wheat, soya, milk, peanuts, tree nuts and so on… Would that not make life easier for everyone, rather than having to find the small print on the back where the ingredients are listed, reading through it and then trying to find the allergy information at the bottom that doesn’t even always include everything.

Take corn cracker breads for esample. Read the ingredients, no gluten, under allergies it is not stated that ceoliacs can’t have it, but if you phone to double check, they say NO, it is safer if you don’t have it because it is packed in a factory that produces and packs products containing gluten. Why not just put in on the back that it may contain traces of gluten, but no, it is not law according to companies to do that, they only have to state if there is gluten IN the product. How silly is that…

If we had the universal symbols, there would just not be one on the packet which would tell us that it is NOT safe to eat and we would move on, look for something else without wasting our time. How much easier would that make life for everyone???

South Africans love guavas, the yellow once. It is great to enjoy just as a fruit, as a juice, as desert or just in day to day baking. There is nothing like it… One of my favourite recipes is a guava fridge tart, sweet I know! but it tastes great. You should give it a try

Ingredients:
1 large tin of guavas
1 ½ tablespoon of sugar
3 tablespoons of custard powder
¼ cup of lemon juice
1 tin of condensed milk
1 swissroll
250 ml of fresh cream

Method:
1. Cut the guava into little pieces and mix the sugar with the fruit.
2. Mix the custard powder with a little bit of the guava juice and add.
3. Boil the above mixture until thick whilst stirring continuously. Let it cool down.
4. Beat the lemon juice and condensed milk together until thick. Add to the cooled down mixture and mix well.
5. Cut the swissroll and place a layer in the bottom of the pan.
6. Pour the mixture on top of the swissroll base.
7. Beat the cream and spoon on top the tart just before serving.

Well, our little baby has started his first solids on the 1st of February. He has tried different fruits and vegs now and can I just say that his favourite fruit is MANGO!!!

Good thing, because both mamma and pappa LOVES MANGO as well. He also enjoys pear, carrots, rice, potato, butternut and gem squash. Today we will try sweet potato with mango a little later this afternoon afcourse!!!

It is again very warm today, but once the winter comes, I guess it will be VERY cold. Seems like the northern hemisphere has had a very cold winter, so we will probably be the same.

Have a great day and don’t work too hard. Speak soon

Check out this book at Amazon.. It is a best selling book. If you would like to read more about the book just click on the picture of the book above and get it now!

I knew having children is a challenge, but I did not realise exactly how much they will keep you busy!!! Marius is a little angel, 6 months old next and just started eating solids this week.

So far so good… He demands a lot of attention and I am VERY glad to give him this. It is the only thing I CAN give and it is great to know that only my time is enough to keep him laughing every day…

He is a very calm child and happy, always smiling no matter what. As long as he is fed and has his naps, he does not complain at all.

He is also the reason why I have not been writing as ofter as I used to. I will try my best to, but sometimes time just gets away from me. I am sure you all will know how that feels.

I have been cooking some food for him today. Introducing some gem squash today. Can’t wait to see his little face! It is one of our favourite veg, so I hope he will like it too.

I am also making some mango smoothies for my husband, mother and myself this evening. That is a great treat, only need to add crushed ice and off you go… Hope you enjoy your day and we will chat again soon

Hope all of you have had a very Blessed Christmas season and a very HAPPY New Year. Hope to share lots of recipes and experiences with all of you in the year to come.

Please feel free to write to me via my blog and I will reply also via my blog.

If you feel like trying some South African food, you can now either purchase my downloadable book in both Afrikaans of English or you can now own the real book. It is only available in English at the moment, but the Afrikaans version will be available this year at some stage.

Have a great week and good luck to those that are back to work this week. Speak to you all very soon…