Embracing all foodies

Diversity  – of people, cultures and tastes – is at the heart of the food book which Grahamstown resident Pangalay Glenda Docrat has written.

My Cultural Kitchen Cook Book traces Glenda’s roots as a South African of Indian descent but focuses on a wide variety of food she has been cooking for her family for decades.

“Over the years, Sundays have served as time for family lunches, where my biryanis and curries have won the hearts of family, friends and guests alike,” Glenda says.

Significantly, her self-published book shows off the rich cultural diversity of our country, as she perfects traditional Indian dishes but also takes on board other food strands and even other cultures to give a new, even modern twist to good food.

Glenda says she learnt her skills from her late mother – “a renowned cook in both our family and the broader community we lived in” – who guided the young cook as she experimented in the kitchen.

Living in a multicultural community, she learnt at an early stage the important role of food in bringing people together.

“I experienced first-hand the joys of growing up in a family that prided itself on exceptional food and (took) great care in preparing it.”

As her florist business developed, Glenda also devoted more time to catering for clients, adapting recipes to suit their cultural palates.

Apart from the wide range of Indian foods such as curries and biryanis among the 150 recipes, the book includes South African favourites such as lamb and green bean stews. There is a variety of seafood dishes, roast leg of lamb in pastry, a butter chicken pie, chickpea-floured baked chicken, and various bread recipes which Glenda says are great accompaniments to classic roasts, braais, or as meals on their own served with butter.

Lamb liver and tripe are among the local delicacies featured in a chapter dedicated to potjiekos. She has also included a number of healthy options, including a sweet potato pie, and a healthier version of the roti.

The dessert menu covers traditional fare such as steamed date pudding and peppermint fridge tart, Indian sweetmeats, koeksusters and boeber but includes an innovative fruit dessert in a phyllo pastry.

Glenda says she has wanted to write and publish the cookbook for years but was inspired by her daughter Zakeera, a Rhodes University doctoral student and foodie in her own right, to sit down and prepare the manuscript.

“It wasn’t plain sailing but it was manageable,” she says.

My Cultural Kitchen is available from Van Schaik bookstores or from the author at myculturalkitchen@

gmail.com for R380. She will be signing and selling copies at the Hemingways market this morning