Dip a Ouma....



Down here in deepest darkest we have some really odd traditions, food and languages.......Like all over the world, we have a unique way of expressing ourselves, I suppose this is because we have a very diverse heritage, we are mostly all of Dutch origin, and I think I have told you all this before,  we speak our own unique form of Dutch called Afrikaans! I have very strong Afrikaans and Scottish roots( Sheez! What a combination!!) My grandmother was Johanna Wilhelmina Williams, and I am BLESSED  enough to have a wonderful step Grandmother  Elizabeth Honibal...... Like all grandmothers, I have wonderful memories of them both, and of course they involve food!

 

My Nanny, could make pancakes(crepes) like no else I know! Heaps of piping hot pancakes waiting for us after school. They were piled high on a pot of boiling water and sprinkled liberally with cinnamon and sugar! they were doled out by being rolled up and flopped onto plates which my cousins, my brothers,sister and I would wolf down, all washed away with piping hot tea! Alas her handmade mayonnaise recipe went to her grave with her....... 

 

My first encounter with My Ouma Honibal, (Ouma - is Grandmother in Afrikaans) was on her farm, she had made bread in her fire oven outside, I was serve up a massive thick slice of piping hot white bread, slathered with homemade butter and  homemade konfyt(jam) She cooks and bakes better than anyone I know - she would send me Tupperware dishes filled with souskleitjies( a dumpings in cinnamon sauce0 and bags full of  mosbolletjies and rusks - WHAT language are you talking I hear you all shout!!!

 

Well herein lies my rambling for today! Rusks! A rusk is a very Very VERY dry biscuit type thingy!I really am not sure how they came to be but they are yummy! They are best dipped into your tea of coffee, they soak up the liquid and become soft and crumbly......  The trick is to get it into your mouth before it all collapses back into your tea, in a hot yummy mess, if this happens you need  a spoon to fish it out!

 

Well Used Recipes

Rusks are extremely popular here in SA, we have entire aisles in supermarket that are just different branded rusks, the most popular brand being 'OUMA' rusks. they ran and advertising campaign a few years back and in the campaign they sand a song telling you to 'dip an Ouma'....... I love making rusks! It is easy, but you do need an a load of patience.... NO fast Apply To The Mouth gratification with these biscuits. Sorry! The best thing about this recipe is that you don't need definite ingredients you can use 7 cups of anything you have, I use coconut, muesli, raisins, oats you name it you can pop it in. you just need to make 4 of the 7 cups flour! So with out any further rambling......

Your Anything Goes Ingredients

Ouma Honibals 7 Cup Rusks

4  Cups of  Flour(you can use nutty wheat or bran)
3 Cups of Anything you like!
7 tsp Baking Powder
350g Margarine/Butter
1 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
400 ml Milk

Mix the Dry Ingredients
Mix the Milk and Eggs - add to the dry bowl
Melt the Margarine - add to the rest and mix well ( a certain amount of elbow grease is needed)
Pour into a  well greased pan and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 3/4 hour!

Now comes the patience part.....
When the baked cakey type thing is cool enough to handle - tip it out, cut into long fingers(not too skinny) place on a wire cooling rack and return to the cooled oven. I turn the heat down to 100 degrees Celsius, and leave the oven door slightly open! NOW patience is required....... leave them for hours, they are ready when they are ROCK HARD!!!

NOW - APPLY TO MOUTH!! (with tea or coffee dipping as you munch)

Salt

 

Thick Batter

Baked

Looks Like Cake - Tastes Delicious

Time to Start Drying Out

Done!

Best  When Dipped

 

While writing this post, I got to thinking about how these delectable rusks came about, I think they must have been a way of preserving cake, because when the batter first comes out of the oven, the texture is very cake like. But remember the early settlers(voortrekkers)  travelled many months in ox wagons when coming up from the coast to the inland territories, so they probably HAD to find a way to preserve their baked goods - just a thought! I have long admired these tenacious women who up rooted themselves from their homes in Holland, England, and many other countries to start new lives in the colonies! Cooking over open fires, facing an inhospitable land and wild animals not to mention the hostile local people. What AMAZING and POWERFUL women! And we complain when Woolies (M&S) is out of our favourite biscuit......

 

So I dare you .... Gooi an apron over your jean pant, gaan kombuis toe and make some rusks, and  go dip a Ouma China!  SA peeps you will understand...... xxxx