When I make roosterkoek over the fire, I am right back with my grandfather.
Every year, all of us grandchildren went on a camping trip with our grandparents and one set of parents. With ten cousins it was always a happy chaos: swimming, cycling, the jacuzzis, mini golf and of course a braai.
One day my grandfather handed us sticks. Literal sticks. He had searched out good ones, made sure it was safe wood and stripped off the bark. We were given dough to wrap around the stick in a spiral, and then you held your stick over the coals until the bread was done and ate it straight off the stick. ‘Stokbrood’, and it really is a South African thing.
And the best part came next: you would pull the whole bread off the stick and push boerewors into the hole to make a boereworsrolletjie. Or pour syrup and butter into the hole for something sweet. My husband remembers it exactly like that, and we did the same with our boereworsrolletjies. Pure fun.
I can still picture it: the warm summer weather, my grandmother making salads and dessert, and us kids sitting with Oupa while he and my uncle did the braai.
My grandfather is no longer with us, but I carry that feeling with me. I have not made stokbrood that way in years, and I really should try it again. In the meantime I have made a lot of roosterkoek. It is much the same idea: bread over the fire. I just make them flat, so they are easy to fill. Think jam and cheddar, or fill one the next day with cold leftover braai meat for a lovely sandwich. You can vary it endlessly, or bake something delicious right in, like garlic butter and cheese.
The point is: it is here. I would love to make it for you, just let me know what you want. Or come grab one once our market stall is up and running.
Order your roosterkoek.
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