The Satanic Mechanic (32 page)

USING A HOTBOX

A hotbox is a wonderful way to slow cook your food. And it saves lots of electricity too.

You might be able to buy a hotbox (usually made with Styrofoam balls). It is a big cushion with a soft hole in the middle for your pot, and a cushion lid. I got a nice one covered with shweshwe cloth from
a church fête a while back. But they are also easy to make. You can put your hot pot on a wooden chopping board, wrap it up in a towel and then a blanket, and it will work as well as a hotbox.

You will need to bring the pot to the simmer on the stove first. Then wrap it up or put it in the hotbox. This will keep the food cooking for about 4 hours, and keep it hot for 10 hours. For some dishes (especially curries) I like to cook my meat slowly for 24 hours. I leave it in the hotbox overnight, and during the day I put it back on the stove for 5–10 minutes every 5 hours or so.

The food will only cook in the hotbox if it is covered with fluid and the pot is almost full (a half-full pot will stay warm but won't cook). It works best if you have a thick cast-iron pot. The hotbox is perfect for making soups, stews, curries, rice and other grains. It will get your meat very tender, falling off the bone. No moisture is lost in the process, so if the end result is too wet, you can heat the food in your oven afterwards to cook off the extra liquid. If you are cooking grains, make sure you don't add too much water or they will overcook.

Acknowledgments

I am immensely grateful to all the people and publishers who have given me support, encouragement and ideas. They include:

My agent, Isobel Dixon, and her fantastic team at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency. Isobel gave great editorial feedback and did the English translation of the first verse of Langenhoven's lullaby. Louisa Joyner (Canongate Books, UK) is a brilliant editor, Vicki Rutherford a fantastic managing editor, and Ailsa Bathgate a wonderful copy-editor. Umuzi (imprint of Penguin Random House, SA) gave very useful feedback and checked the Afrikaans words, and Bronwen Maynier polished the recipe section. Big thanks also to Mandy Brett (Text Publishing, Australia), Bridget Read (Ecco, imprint of HarperCollins, USA) and Iris Tupholme (HarperCollins, Canada) for their input.

My parents, Bosky and Paul Andrew, were the first to read the early chapters of this book, and their delight propelled me forward. My man, Bowen Boshier, gives me love and support every day, and advised me about things such as weapons, nature and animal names. Peter van Straten played with some plot ideas with me. Along with Bowen Boshier and Andrea Nixon, Peter is part of my personal paparazzi that provides the photos and videos that give life to my website. Brian Rogers (Buddy Care SA) gave me useful information and stories about PTSD. Fulla Planets kindly gave me all the Greek words I requested. Ronél Gouws created an idiom (about the buck in the shadows) for my use. Petra Vojnova gave me a computer when mine died. Wayne Boshier provided IT support and helped me find Arabic words and
names. Leif Peterson taught me a little about the informal economic sector in South Africa.

Thank you to the Salmons for a place to write, under the mashatu tree in Shashe camp, Botswana; and to Geoff and Di Norris for sharing an inspiring love story with me at Megwe camp.

KvN Publishers gave permission for me to use the Kurt Darren beer-tent songs (‘Eiland Vol Meisies', ‘Kaptein', ‘Sê Net Ja' and ‘Alleen – Leen – Leen', with lyrics by Kurt Darren, Don Keilly, Robin Keilly and Marc Brendon). The lovely lullaby, ‘Lamtietie Damtietie' was written by South Africa's late poet and songwriter C.J. Langenhoven.

Finding, creating and perfecting the recipes in this book was a great adventure. In the process, I discovered the reason (well, three reasons) why I incarnated in this body on this planet: to eat Venus Cake and Candy's Cheesecake, and to drink Van der Hum liqueur.

I engaged the help of kitchen goddesses in the testing and creating of my recipes. Number One Goddess, Verushka Louw (lover of culinary mysteries and word tattoos), tested all the recipes, and in some cases adapted or helped create them.

Many published cooks kindly gave permission for me to use their excellent recipes. Lemoni's Moussaka is in fact Penny's Moussaka, published by the legendary Ina Paarman (
Cook with Ina Paarman
, Struik, 1987). Novuyani Dingalubala suggested a few small amendments to this. This recipe is so divine I invented a character in order to include it in the book. Ouma's Karoo Lamb Pie is a recipe from the same book by Ina Paarman. Fatima's Lamb Livers and Rice is based on the Somalian Lamb's Liver and Somalian Rice recipes created by Sydda Essop in
Karoo Kitchen
(Quivertree, 2012). The West African Chicken Mafé was inspired by a number of traditional recipes, then developed by Karen Hultzer and perfected by Verushka.

The Venus Cake was invented by my character, Tannie Maria, because she loves chocolate cake, coffee, peanut butter and apricot jam. It builds on the Perfect Buttermilk Chocolate Cake provided by Martin Mössmer in
Recipes for Love and Murder
. Martin also
suggested the idea of peanut butter as a layer of icing. Verushka created the first divine Venus Cake. Then Tova Luck threw herself into the cake – almost literally. When every surface of the kitchen was spattered and powdered with buttermilk and cocoa, her mother threw her out of the house. She continued to experiment in the kitchens of her neighbours. The result (version number nine) is phenomenal. Truly out of this world.

Candy's Cheesecake was created by me in a charcoal Cobb oven in the Karoo (and fine-tuned by Verushka). It is inspired by many traditional recipes. (Did you know the ancient Greeks fed athletes cheesecake at the Olympic Games? And that New Yorkers William Lawrence and then Albert Reuben invented the ‘modern' cream cheese and cheesecake in the 1800s?) It is the best cheesecake that I – and everyone I have fed it to – have ever eaten.

My Sweet-Potato Cake is from Annette Human's
Winning Recipes 2 from Huisgenoot
(Human and Rousseau, 1987), with a tiny amendment (from cottage cheese to cream cheese) by me. Henk's Favourite is Trix se Likeurpoeding from Dine van Zyl's
Agter die Lekker aan
(Dine van Zyl Publikasies, 2007). Pikkie's Pumpkin Pie was from the same book (Pikkie se Pampoenpaai), along with the related anecdotes (i.e. how a pumpkin pie can make a grown man cry). The ambrosial Van der Hum Liqueur, and the inspiration for the Mosbolletjie Bread and Rusks (including the anecdote about mosbolletjie dough rising best in a thunderstorm), are from Dine's book
Nog 'n Stukkie
(Dine van Zyl Publikasies, 2010). Hildagonda Duckitt also gave mosbolletjie ideas (
Hilda's ‘Where is it' of Recipes
, 1891). The final mosbolletjie recipe was developed by Verushka. Aunt Sandra's Malva Pudding was provided by Martin Mössmer (with a sauce-quantity adaptation by Verushka). Lassie in Love's Shortbread is a recipe from my nonagenarian Scottish friend, Jean Salmon, which was given to her by her mother.

The idea of botterkluitjies with brandy sauce was provided by Rita Trafford (with thanks to her ma and grandma, Rosa von Thelemann and Ouma Griets). I am grateful to all the above books for providing
ideas for other recipes mentioned in the book. I was also inspired by
Knuppeldik aan Koningskos
by Pretoria Polisie Offisiersvroueklub (self-published, 1988),
Kook en Geniet
by S.J.A. De Villiers (self-published, 1955),
Bakboek: Huisgenoot Wenresepte
by Carmen Niehaus (Human and Rousseau, 2010),
Fig Jam and Foxtrot
by Lynn Bedford Hall (Struik, 2003),
Veld to Fork
by Gordon Wright (Struik, 2013),
Cooked in the Karoo
by Justin Bonello and Helena Lombard (Penguin Books, 2014) and
Tjailaresepte 2
by Amore Bekker (Naledi, 2013).

Much thanks to the readers of my first Tannie Maria book,
Recipes for Love and Murder
, who expressed their enjoyment and asked for more.