"Sea Spray and Cherry Peppers"
A memoir of a farmlet on the sea
Written by Zuretha Roos
Published by: Oshun
ISBN-13: 978-1-77020-013-5
Reviewed by: Pixie Emslie
Genre: Fiction
The starting point of this little autobiography — "yerr cattle's all overr the rroad!" sets the tone for the story and will have many readers sympathising with both the irate neighbour and the wannabe new farmer, who is actually still a city slicker.
Plenty of city people dream of "retiring" to the countryside somewhere and acquiring a smallholding, with maybe a few cattle or chickens and pigs while they spend their days writing the ultimate novel or dreaming of ways of selling sea sand to make a living. Daniel and Zuretha Roos had planned to retire to the sea, but were launched into running a small farm after Daniel inherited it. The story of how they managed (it would be stretching the imagination to say 'succeeded') makes for a fun read.
Their farmlet, as they call it, is situated near Cape St Francis — about half way between Port Elizabeth and Plettenburg Bay on the south coast of South Africa. It is a windswept coastal plain, probably not renowned for anything much more than surfing and summer holidays in nearby St Francis Bay where their small beach house served as their retirement house — in between running the farmlet. As Zuretha says plaintively, being on holiday in a house is quite different from actually living in it. Likewise the romantic idea of a small farm is something quite the opposite of the reality of cattle, water, pumps, boreholes, dead chickens and worse.
Compensations of course came in the form of the local people, and the many kindnesses shown to them. After leaving her credit card at the local co—op Zuretha phoned them on a Saturday when she discovered the problem. Alas the co-op closed at 12 noon, but not to worry, the postmaster knew the manager, who said he recalled the cashier on duty at the time was Bennie. But Bennie lived with his parents near Kareedouw and they didn't have a phone, but his friend's in-laws did. So they could phone them. Yes, they said, Bennie and their son-in-law had gone to the pub in Jeffrey's Bay — and yes, they found him there and yes, he had seen the card and yes, he had carefully put it away so that 'tannie' could get it safely on Monday.
Sometimes local words get lost in translation, one such being a well-known plant commonly called "perdepis" because of its smell. (Botanical name is Clausena anisata). It is also commonly used as a herbal remedy. In translation it is usually called Horsewood, but here has been directly translated as "horse piss" which is not quite the same... Nevertheless the story of how it is used as a remedy for colds and flu makes for a good read.
And the universal complaint of those who live in these sleepy coastal dorps is that visitors arrive in summer. Oh how they complain, while putting up local prices, and depending on 'the season' to survive through the lean months. Zuretha describes this annual phenomenon perfectly, how they watch with jaundiced eyes as the four-by-fours complete with trailers, bikes and boats come pouring into town, where they not only take the locals' regular seats in the coffee shop, but have the temerity to fish from their favourite rocks. Or worse, to fish where the locals know there are no fish — but of course no-one tells them that.
With many charming anecdotes about life on their farmlet, Zuretha then leads her reader into her culinary world. The second half of the book is, as she says, a collection of recipes rather than a formal cookbook. And indeed she offers some delightful gems and insights into local cooking. From some light and easy 'finger foods' like radish canapés to slightly more adventurous starters, she adds her own comments and advice. She gives some helpful tips on cooking fish, adding comments on certain fish that are now on the endangered species list.
Getting more adventurous she ventures into French cooking, even giving a recipe for Burgundy pasta with snails, a combination that I definitely did not try and cook at home. Her "Best chocolate cake in the world" looks rich and delicious-looking, but with at least two days in the making it is far beyond the culinary limitations of this reader. There are some superb handy hints on things like freezing excess sweet basil and making your own pesto, though the thought of putting together all those spices to make my own curry powder defeats me.
Altogether a delightful holiday read, and a useful addition to the coastal cook's kitchen.
Pixie Emslie is a South African journalist and communication consultant. She was on newspapers for years, worked on women's magazines in London and then ran her own communication consultancy for about 12 years. She was President of IABC Southern Africa (International Association of Business Communicators) and was given their Chairman's award in Toronto in 1995. She is currently a stringer for local newspapers.