Olympic newsletter

It’s over!!!

I can’t believe how bereft I feel now that the Olympics is all done and dusted. No more late night beach volleyball, swimming, fencing, running – anything! I shall really miss seeing all these athletes strive to be the best in the world, and, most of all, I’ll miss that winning feeling I’ve had over the last few weeks.

As a Brit, of course I’m delighted at how well Team GB did (even more proud because so many of the medals came from my home county of Yorkshire – yay!) but I must say I’ve been equally proud and delighted to feel part of Team SA as well. Even – and it pains me to say this – when the boys pipped GB to the post to claim SA’s first rowing gold ever.

I’ve had a glow in my heart and a tear in my eye over Chad, Cameron, Caster and Oscar far too many times to count over the last few weeks – could I be turning into a true Saffa after all this time?

Well, the answer to that, sadly, is no. And the reason I know this is down to food. I don’t think you can call yourself Seffican unless you yearn for and drool over certain basic foodstuffs, which it’s just too late for me to understand.

Like rusks for example. I am never going to ‘get’ rusks – they’re dry, tasteless, crumbly and the boxes are too big for my cupboards. Or Rooibos tea – you do all know it tastes horrible under all that sugar don’t you? And finally, I don’t think I will ever really understand the South African fascination of cooking small pieces of meat on bones. The point of a potjie is to be comfort food – well, how comfortable can it be to get your fingers all greasy and sticky as you fish out one piece of bone after another? No – give me a nice clean chop anyday.

On the flip side – my life is no longer complete without biltong, koeksisters, Lucky Star pilchards and chutney Niknaks, so perhaps I’m not such a lost cause after all. But I’ve still never had a Durban curry, a smiley or – can you believe it – poached guavas and custard.

So, I need your help folks – if I’m going to be as proudly South African as I’d like to be, what should I be eating and learning to love? And for all our overseas readers – what’s the biggest foodie thing you miss that reminds you of home?

Send us your ideas – and recipes please – and the best suggestions can win a R500 Kalahari voucher. And hurry up – I need to try them all so I can cheer on Team SA in the Paralympics in a few weeks’ time!