Cuisine and wonderful stories
This story is shared by the host of Kameel Huise Tussen Spore.
This story is shared by the host of Kameel Huise Tussen Spore.
The South African cuisine has a wealth of wonderful stories.
One of my
favorites is the story of our country's own political cookies.
The old people
told the story that the cookies with their distinctive jam tummies were the
favorites of both minister Hertzog and general Smuts.
Every family had cookies
according to the name of the leader of the political party which it supported.
In one household there could be supporters of Smuts and also of Hertzog- the old
people were politically insane in South Africa.
In the Cape Malay community
colored cookies were brought out when there were visitors.
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| Hertzoggies, Smutsies and Two-faced cookies |
The Smutsies vs the Hertzogies
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| Barry Hertzog and Jan Smuts |
The delicacies of the two South African
political parties obtained momentum during the 1924 election. This "food-fight"
showed that politics also had its own delicacy.
In the present situation the party which wins is the one with the most
"free" food.
In the rural areas it was easy to differentiate between the supporters of the two parties.
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| The supporters of Jan Smuts and the United Party were known as the "Sappe" and they traveled around the country in "pimped out Chevy's". Thank you to the Franshoek Motor museum for the photo of the shinny Chevrolet |
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| The supporters of JBM Hertzog and the National Party were know as the "Nats" They were seen in flashy Fords with shiny rims and a beat. Thank you to the Franshoek Motor Museum for the photo of the flashy Ford |
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| Jan Smuts official Cadillac |
Jan Smuts Cookies (or Smutsies) is a variation which Jan Smuts' supporters
baked.
They had a jam segment and a pastry covering .
They were named after Jan
Smuts who was the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and from 1939
to 1948.
According to legend they were very popular with the supporters of
general Smuts while his opponents would have nothing to do with them.
General
Smuts defeated Hertzog as Prime Minister and the Smutsies increased in
popularity.
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| Smutsies as still part of the traditions in South Africa Non of these photo's are ours Thanks to Huiskok for sharing the photo's |
Hertzog Cookies (Hertzogigies) were named after J.B.M. (Barry) Hertzog,
Prime Minister of the then Union of South Africa.
Barry Hertzog was a Boer
general during the Second Anglo-Boer War.
He attempted to protect the Afrikaner
culture against the British influence.
It seems that the Cape-Malay community developed the Hertzoggies because of
excitement when in the 1920's promised the right to vote for women and racial
equality if he won the election. he cookies were originally filled apple jelly
which was later replaced with apricot jelly.
The Hertzoggies are known for
their flaky pastry apricot jam filling and coconut meringue topping.
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| The ever popular Hertzoggies with the coconut meringue topping |
Tweegevreetjie (Two-Facers) were a protest against broken promises in
parliament.
It then happened that Hertzog was returned to parliament in 1924
and summarily broke his promise to the Malay community and gave the vote only to
white women.
To voice their dissatisfaction about this they baked the
"tweegevreetjies" with a clear message .
The protest was made clear by decorative one side with a pale pink and the other side with a brown icing.
This
represented the white man's black heart and it was called "tweegevreetjie" "two
Faced.
The Tweegevreetjies contain Malay aromas like cardomon.
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| The tweegevreetjies with their clear message |
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| Jan and Issie Smuts lived in this house in Irene It is situated in the Gauteng province of South Africa The house is also known as the Smuts Museum |
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| Barry and Mynie lived in this house situated in Bloemfontein It is situated in the Free State Province of South Africa It is also a museum |
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| Our favorite but no political connections We use the apricot jam made from our garden apricots |
Just a last little morsel
The first successful Caesarean section in Africa was performed by Dr James Barry, an army surgeon, in Cape Town.
The procedure was completed with permission from the baby's father, Thomas Munnik, despite the disapproval of the local church.
The baby was named James Barry Munnik after the doctor, and lived to be 78 years old.
Coindicentally he gave this name to his godson, prominent politician Gen. James Barry Munnik Hertzog.
Interestingly, the sex of Dr James Barry raised some eyebrows when it was revield that he/she was a woman in disguise, namely Margaret Ann Bulkley, who pretended to be a man so that she could attend medical school in Edinburgh.
Thanks for visiting our post and we hope that you will find a favorite.
Sending Lots of Love from South Africa
Sandra
