Author Description

Betsie Rood is regarded as one of South Africa's best cooks and enjoys a reputation of being a warm and generous hostess. Apart from her talent for cooking and entertaining, she has also displayed a knack for writing cookery books. Her first cookery book, on vegetarian recipes, was a first in its field in Afrikaans. It was followed by four volumes in the series Geregte met Souse which is, in fact, an encyclopaedia of dishes with sauces. Her Maleierkookkuns, a book of recipes of Malay dishes, was another first in Afrikaans and a great success in English, under the title Malay Cooking. Now she has selected 101 traditional South African family favourites, treasured in scrap books that date back to the 1890s. As a young bride she inherited many traditional recipes from her mother and mother-in-law, and both her grandmothers were excellent cooks from whom she learnt much. Mrs Rood has metricated the recipes and made a few adjustments to the ingredients and methods to suit today's kitchen. Our forebears used sorrel where today we use vinegar or lemon juice. Parsley was seldom used in the traditional boerekos but Mrs Rood has added it, where suitable, for extra flavour. All recipes are described clearly and simply; step-by-step instructions are given so that even inexperienced cooks can be sure of success. This book has something for every taste - from soup, seafood, meat and poultry to vegetables and desserts, and a wealth of recipes for biscuits, cakes, preserves, chutneys and jams. Biltong and milk tart, venison and mebos are uniquely South African additions. Betsie Rood's 101 Traditional South African Recipes is a compila- tion of proven South African recipes that fulfils a need which grew from the increasing popularity of our own culinary culture - varied, interesting, tasty and above all, economic.