Winter is a time to pig out, let’s not beat around the bush. The colder months provoke our appetites to seek satiation. The good news is that we need more calories and burn them off when it is chilly. There is nothing better than sitting at home around a fire and chowing down on delicious South African winter treats. My favourites include: Koeksisters, milk tarts and Hertzoggies. Indeed, 27th February is National Milk Tart Day in South Africa. Do you have a memorable melktert moment from your childhood or adulthood?
Sweet Things Are the Treasure of Childhood
Sweet things are so very important when you are a kid. It seems like the world revolves around getting hold of sweet treats when you are young. Vanilla, melted butter, sugar, milk, eggs and flour – these ingredients make childhood treasure like milk tarts. Life would be pretty ordinary without the occasional yummy dessert I reckon. Malva Pudding is another of those Dutch origin South African winter treats, which make living a bit more special. Close your eyes and imagine the apricot jammy, spongy caramelised texture flooding your senses. Mmmmmmm.
So Good that Sugary Taste
The colder months are perfect for eating good food and sweet things. My mum used to make jam roly poly and a trifle to die for. Dessert was the best thing about her cooking and we all could tell that this was where her heart truly lay. Puddings, tarts and slices littered my yellow brick road rather than any roadmap to worldly success. When the frost lay upon the fields and mist issued from mouths like dragon smoke, we were all safely ensconced inside with tea and toast. A family that indulges together, generally, loves one another for better or worse. We may not have had a lot of material wealth, but we had milk tarts and each other.
Peppermint crisp tart is another special South African winter treat and together with Hertzoggies I have fond memories of stuffing my face. It seems as a kid my stomach was a limitless vault capable of consuming vast amounts of sensational sweet things. No dire warnings from well meaning relatives could deter me from eating too much. Indeed, too much was not a concept with which I was familiar back then. I once ate a giant bowl full of cherries whilst visiting relatives in Ficksburg around Christmas time. My parents were not impressed by my gluttony and did not know where to look in the face of this eating machine in the guise of their son. I paid the price later in the restroom with a super sore guts.
Sweet Things Are the Treasure of Childhood
Sweet things are so very important when you are a kid. It seems like the world revolves around getting hold of sweet treats when you are young. Vanilla, melted butter, sugar, milk, eggs and flour – these ingredients make childhood treasure like milk tarts. Life would be pretty ordinary without the occasional yummy dessert I reckon. Malva Pudding is another of those Dutch origin South African winter treats, which make living a bit more special. Close your eyes and imagine the apricot jammy, spongy caramelised texture flooding your senses. Mmmmmmm.
So Good that Sugary Taste
The colder months are perfect for eating good food and sweet things. My mum used to make jam roly poly and a trifle to die for. Dessert was the best thing about her cooking and we all could tell that this was where her heart truly lay. Puddings, tarts and slices littered my yellow brick road rather than any roadmap to worldly success. When the frost lay upon the fields and mist issued from mouths like dragon smoke, we were all safely ensconced inside with tea and toast. A family that indulges together, generally, loves one another for better or worse. We may not have had a lot of material wealth, but we had milk tarts and each other.
Peppermint crisp tart is another special South African winter treat and together with Hertzoggies I have fond memories of stuffing my face. It seems as a kid my stomach was a limitless vault capable of consuming vast amounts of sensational sweet things. No dire warnings from well meaning relatives could deter me from eating too much. Indeed, too much was not a concept with which I was familiar back then. I once ate a giant bowl full of cherries whilst visiting relatives in Ficksburg around Christmas time. My parents were not impressed by my gluttony and did not know where to look in the face of this eating machine in the guise of their son. I paid the price later in the restroom with a super sore guts.
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