Picture: THINSKTOCK

IT WAS a surprise to learn that "gemmerbier" (ginger beer) is an Afrikaans recipe, having grown up enjoying the refreshing drink at practically all the funerals and weddings I attended as a young black girl born to a Sotho father and a Tswana mother.

But I was nonetheless pleased to find it in Kgaladi Thema-Sethoga and Ursula Moroane-Kgomo’s A Culinary Journey of South African Indigenous Foods, especially with the sizzling hot summer we have been experiencing.

This is an exciting find. There are not many South African cookbooks that focus exclusively on recipes from the diverse indigenous groups that make this country a rainbow nation.

The book is co-authored by Kgaladi Thema-Sethonga and Ursula Moroane-Kgomo. The recipes come from the Tsonga, Zulu, Xhosa, Khoisan, Pedi, Ndebele, Swati, Tswana, Sotho, Venda and Afrikaans cultures.

Details

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  • TITLE: A Culinary Journey of South African Indigenous Foods
  • AUTHORS: Kgaladi Thema-Sethoga and Ursula Moroane-Kgomo
  • PUBLISHER: Indiza Co-operative

Dishes such as Umqombothi (African beer) derived from the Zulu culture, Amadombolo (Dumpling) and Umngqusho oneboyti (samp and beans) — both made popular by Xhosa people — and the Sotho favourite, Phutu (crumbly mealie meal porridge), fill the pages.

This book will go down well with most young African readers who did not have legacy recipes passed down from their mothers and grandmothers due to not spending much time in the kitchen, and instead choosing to dedicate energies towards building a successful career.

What lets it down, however, are the images. They are not crisp and clear, many are pixelated. If you have not already tasted some of the meals, you may not be enticed to want to try some of them out because they do not look appetising.

For a cookbook, the most important thing are the images because most people taste with their eyes first. That is why food lovers flock to the Jamie Olivers and Nigella Lawsons of this world, because they know that, just like most things in life, image is everything.