Come and taste our heritage food

We serve traditional South African food and drink with a healthier touch in the Restaurant at The Story of Emily. Taste a piece of history while enjoying the view through a huge glass-fronted window.

Traditional South African food evolved from various influences such as Dutch, French, Portuguese, German, and from many areas in South East Asia. This mixed with indigenous customs and a rich tapestry of interesting and unique cuisine was woven.

In this feature we highlight two items, ginger beer, and tomato stew (tamatiebredie in Afrikaans) on our menu.

Our ginger beer is homemade by fermenting ginger, sugar, water, cream of tartar and raisins. Traditional South African ginger beer is less sweet. The addition of raisins probably started long ago in the Cape of Good Hope, to help with the fermentation process.

In a recipe manuscript written by Mary Sanderson (1770) and kept in the Cape Archives, she refers to ginger beer made in this way but, with added yeast. However, in those days it may have been a type of “sugar beer” which people were allowed to make and sell on market days in the Cape since 1688… And, it obviously had a huge kick to it!

Brewed ginger beer originated in England, in Yorkshire, in the mid-18th century, it was popular in Britain and its colonies from the 18th century onwards. Other spices were also added but any alcohol content was limited to 2% by excise tax laws in 1855.

The popular traditional dish tomato stew – or tamatiebredie in Afrikaans - was a later edition to the culinary favourites in South Africa. It is normally made with mutton and slowly cooked to perfection. Only late in the 18th century did tomatoes become popular. There is some evidence that this dish was prepared locally for the first time during this period.

C. Louis Leipoldt (1880 – 1947) a South African writer, medical doctor, and food expert, penned a recipe that included: ginger, cardamom, coriander, peppercorns, fennel seeds, thyme, chilli, marjoram, garlic leaves, chutney, sugar, and a glass of wine.

He wrote tamatiebredie must be “well-spiced, surrounding tender bits of meat magnificently impregnated with its flavour. It must not be too watery, and it must never, never be greasy, so when the lid is taken off the pot for the open evaporation cooking for the last couple of hours, all the superabundant fat should be artfully skimmed off, without removing any of the essential gravy.”

Some versions have chillies, but given its Cape Malay influences, it is a mostly mild and fragrant dish.

Our bredie stays true to its roots with loads of whole spice, and we serve it with samp. Samp is made from dried maize kernels that have been pounded and chopped until broken, but not finely ground like mealie-meal. Mealie-meal is also produced from dried maize kernels, ground to produce a fine meal that can be used to create traditional porridge (pap) in a variety of ways. It is simply delicious and wholesome.