Cindy's Africa adventure: Wednesday, Aug. 29

We woke to beautiful sunshine today, and we could see Table Mountain! And it’s beautiful.

Our main attraction today was a cooking class in Bo-Kaap. It was wonderful – the folks were warm and funny, the techniques we learned are invaluable, and the eating – well, it was gastronomical!

We trundled down to the Rose Corner Café in Bo-Kaap, at the intersection of Rose and Wale streets – a historic location, as it has been in continuous operation since the early part of the 19^thcentury.

A little history of Bo-Kaap (which means Upper Cape): It formerly was known as the Malay Quarter and has been the traditional home of Cape Town’s Muslim population since the second half of the 18^thcentury. When it was first colonized by the Dutch in the late 1700s, the area’s indigenous tribes fought back, refusing to cede their land or work for the invaders. So, the Dutch kidnapped people from Malaysia, Indonesia and other parts of Africa and forced them into slavery. Slaves from Southeast Asia were brought there by the Dutch East India Company. Nearly 200 years would pass before slaves were officially freed in this region. Generations of Malaysians, Indonesians and Indians have lived in this neighborhood of Cape Town for nearly 400 years. I’ll tell you more later in the blog.

We met cook celebrity Zainie Misbach in front of the Rose Corner Café. Zainie is an internationally known cook and a celebrity, having been a food consultant for MasterChef South Africa and featured on numerous local and international TV programs. She is a Bo-Kaap local with strong community ties and a passion for preserving the Cape Malay culture with over 30 years experience in Cape Malay cuisine, having owned two restaurants.

We didn’t get to spend much time with Zainie, unfortunately. She met us and took us over to the Atlas Trading Company to introduce us to the many spices used in Malay cooking. Atlas Trading Company also is historical. Established in 1946, the company is a “purveyor of fine spaces, rice and rare products from across the world,” and indeed it is what it says it is. We wanted to buy every spice, legume and various other cooking ingredients – and they all were sold in bulk. Oh, to have a store near us…..

Anywho, Zainie’s father died 10 days ago, and she had to leave to tend to her mother who is pretty distraught about her husband’s death so we were left in the capable hands of her son, Zayred and his wife (whose name escapes me).

Zayred took us to a tunnel in which there are murals that depict historical moments including the development of Islam in Bo-Kaap and historical figures including Tuan Guru (Imam Abdullah) teaching children at his madrasah. Imam Abdullah was incarcerated in Robben Island from 1780 to 1792 because he led the Indonesian resistance against the Dutch invasion in the 1700s. He was finally captured along with a handful of other Indonesian resistance fighters and was incarcerated. During his time on Robben Island, Imam Abdullah wrote several copies of the Quran entirely from memory, two of which are preserved to this day. When Imam Abdullah was released, he was 81 years old; he stayed in Bo-Kaap and started the first madarasah or Islamic School and he taught

Islam and Arabic to freed slaves. There were other stories Zayred related in relationship to the visual representations in the mural.

Bo-Kaap, essentially, was a ghetto area similar to all those ghetto areas in the world where people who are deemed to be “less than” and valued only because of their labor are forced to live. Residents needed a “pass” to leave the area.

Zayred related how those in Bo-Kaap could only rent the units in which they lived until the early 1970s after students revolted about being taught in Afrikaans.

While they were on lease from the Dutch, the facades of these buildings in Bo-Kaap were all white. After the liberation, the locals painted them in bright colors, as they remain today.

Bo Kapp also is home to the first mosque in South Africa and considered the birthplace of Islam in this part of Africa.

Unfortunately, Bo-Kaap is falling victim to gentrification, and some of its distinctive character is wearing away as wealthy outsiders move in and purchase property, evicting long-term residents. Yep – gentrification. Apparently, people with money think Bo-Kaap is a cool place to live so they’re driving up housing prices so the locals no longer can afford to live there.

Zayred related stories about multi-national corporations that are attempting to build skyscrapers amidst the Bo-Kaap residents without even telling the residents. Apparently a group of students continue to protest every day at 5 p.m. at the corner of Rose and Wale streets. You can watch this brief video from a local TV station regarding what is happening to Bo-Kaap: https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0geKVvk0oZbbzoAS7gPxQt.?p=gentrification+in+Bo+Kaap&fr=yhs-Lkry-SF01&fr2=piv-web&hspart=Lkry&hsimp=yhs-SF01&type=ANYS_A0DSC_ext_bsf#id=1&vid=5dd3c09d473040d85efacce5ef487cff&action=view

We also learned that one of the attractions of Signal Hill (on which Bo-Kaap is built) is the Noon Gun. A cannon shot is fired every day at noon on the battery on top of Signal Hill to uphold an old Capetonian tradition. People set their clocks to the Noon Gun. We might get up there at noon one day before we leave to witness it.

So after Zayred provided us a historical context to Bo-Kaap, we went to Zaine’s home and cooked! Zayred and his wife were so gracious, and we really enjoyed our time with them.

First thing was sauteeing onions to carmelize them so we could start the curry. While that was being done, Zayred’s wife showed us how to make dough for roti. We had to let it rest, then we twirled it with butter on it and let it rest again before we rolled it out into a circle in order to fry it.

While the dough was resting, we learned how to make dhaltjies, which are hot and spicy little chickpea fritters with authentic Cape Malay flavors. Then we learned how to make samosas. We used beef that was browned and soaked in spices and onion, and that mixture was put into a pocket made by holding samosa pastry then folding it appropriately. Those were fried in oil, as were the dhaltjies (same oil).

We munched on them as well as these crispy things that, to my refined tastes, looked like what we called pig skins or pork rinds in the South. But, of course, they weren’t since observant Muslims do not eat pork. Actually, Zayred and his wife are vegetarian but they put chicken in the curry for us.

They served two delicious dips with the finger foods – one that was a spicy apricot and another was a spicy cilantro dip.

Before we ate, we rolled out the roti and slipped each into oil, and we learned the technique to make them crusty. It took several flips, brushed with oil before we took it off, flipped it a couple of times in the pan (one-handed) then set it on a plate to be “45’d” – yes, we’re referring to our inane president; what we did was crunch the roti on each side. That was the way Zayred described it: 45!

We sat down to eat, and it was so good! We shared it with Anna, a German woman who has lived in South Africa for six years and owns a travel agency. She was doing her job and checking out the cooking experience for future clients.

We left the house full and contented!

We then visited the Bo-Kaap museum, then went over to see the first and oldest mosque in South Africa on Dorp Street – the Auwal Mosque. The mosque is the most important institution in a Muslim’s life, and there are at least nine mosques in the Bo-Kaap. On the hillside behind the houses, there also are several kramats, or tombs, containing the remains of much-respected religious leaders.

We heard the call to prayer as we were enjoying a cup of latte at a Bo-Kaap restaurant.

On the way home, we ran across a car dealership in which there were new and vintage Jaquars so we perused the inventory, explaining that we were not potential buyers but just interested in seeing the vehicles. There were some older Jaqs around 1960 and some Roll Royces that were produced around 1960. They were also some Bentleys. There were beautiful things.

It was an enriching and interesting day.

A section of Bo-Kaap with Lion's Head in the background (well, we think it's Lion's Head). :)

A pair of men affixing a number on one of the Bo-Kaap homes.

A photo of Bo-Kaap looking toward Signal Hill.

A larger view of Bo-Kaap with Signal Hill in the background.

Us with Zainie and our friend from Germany, Anna.

A portion of the mural in the tunnel that depicts Tuan Guru (Imam Abdullah) teaching children at his madrasah.

Zayred's wife tells us about the proper procedure to do the roti dough while Zayred is in the background fixing the curry.

Ah - the spices to mix for a sumptuous garam masala - cumin, cardamom and coriander but then added to it is numeric, paprika and Father-In-Law Masala. There was a Mother-In-Law Masala too - the difference being in the heat (the Mother-In-Law was stronger). :)