The Karoo kitchen — where humble comfort food is deliciously king
Ever dreamt of opening a restaurant in a dorp? Ever wondered why you waited so long for your food at a platteland eatery? Read on.
Julienne Du Toit
8 May 2024
The Karoo, with its vast landscapes, diverse vegetation, and stunning scenery, is unquestionably one of South Africa’s most precious gems. Experience moving Karoo tales from the heart of this remarkable region.
The Karoo, with its vast landscapes, diverse vegetation, and stunning scenery, is unquestionably one of South Africa’s most precious gems. Experience moving Karoo tales from the heart of this remarkable region.
Ever dreamt of opening a restaurant in a dorp? Ever wondered why you waited so long for your food at a platteland eatery? Read on.
They say chickens are a gateway drug for those itching to get out of the traffic and into the countryside. But, as Julienne du Toit and Chris Marais of Karoo Space have found, there are many other triggers that precipitate a move to the platteland.
This was a true Karoo moment. Stepping into the back yard, picking quinces perfectly in season. Stepping back into the rustic old kitchen. And poaching them for a dessert as authentic as mosbolletjies and green fig preserve.
In the Karoo, there is always something quaint and quirky around the next corner – from Uniondale where there is power in the wors to Matjiesfontein where Johnny Theunissen was a one-man welcome committee.
As autumn settles in, it’s a good time to learn more about the strange tales, quirky characters and curiosities that abound in the Karoo, especially in winter , when the place transforms into a magical wonderland.
Domestic goddesses have raised the bar way too high, and after a decade of living in the Karoo, I am on the verge of being thrown out of the domestic sisterhood. I still cannot produce a scone, pickle an onion or bake a koeksister. It’s all too reminiscent of those school reports: ‘Must try harder.’
Small-town bakers have become a critical financial lifeline for their families and communities.
A company formed by the sons of farmworkers who benefited from the land redistribution programme had to go to court to have land returned to them after a government official decided to give two of their farms to other beneficiaries.
A slow drive through Seweweekspoort reveals towering cliffs hopping with dassies and hoped-for leopards, waterfalls that turn to mist and a quiet stay at a lodge far from it all.
Scheduled power outages ( ie Load shedding) have become part of regular life in South Africa. But how does a community survive almost two weeks without electricity in the midst of summer? Well, it takes government-supplied generators (lots of them), 5,000 food parcels and lots of patience for those who have not had their early-morning coffee. For ‘stellar’ residents of Ladismith in the Western Cape, grid failure became a reality due to a vicious storm that left the town – and many in the Karoo – without electricity for almost two weeks.
Overland biking through a world of angora goats, wind pumps and abandoned buildings in mohair country.
The soldierly stance of winter aloes, Saturday night in Rietbron and a donkey ride through Willowmore.
Eskom is pleading for patience during the recovery operation in Karoo towns affected by a days-long power outage. Gift of the Givers have stepped in to provide water and the Western Cape government has sent generators so residents can access critical services such as electricity, health and water. Meanwhile, Eskom’s operation includes hauling in a 55-tonne crane and a 20-tonne jackhammer.
If you had been alive on the Karoo veld back in the 1800s, you may have witnessed elegant springbok turned into trekbokken, the mammalian equivalent of locusts.
There are many reasons people decide to leave the city for the platteland, but what keeps them in the countryside is the intimacy of life within a vast rural landscape, a sense of community.
Steytlerville doesn’t have the Cango Caves, the Swartberg Pass or a Disney Castle to call its own. Dark legend, however, claims it once had a shape-shifter that could change from a man to a monkey to a fruit bat to a pig – but that’s another story.
Country living can offer a more nuanced life, serenity and spiritual enrichment, reconnection and rediscovery. But it’s not all beer and skittles out here in the sticks.
Attractions include the post office griffins and the mother church with its special olive tree.
Graaff-Reinet, the Gem of the Karoo, is a treasure trove of fascinating tales, replete with interesting characters and champion sheep shearers, a place where at dusk every night the Heartland Hour ushers in a unique beauty.
There was a time when Graaff-Reinet was a serious drinker’s town, what with a thriving wine and brandy industry amidst thousands of thirsty frontier people.
Graaff-Reinet is the kind of Karoo town where you arrive as a visitor – and leave with dreams of returning as a resident.
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