The English Lesson 4 theme is CAPE MALAY COOKING

Part One: Cape Malay Cooking

Read the following text and answer the questions that follow:

Cooking in South Africa changed forever with the arrival of slaves from the Far East. Malay and Indonesian slaves were brought to the Cape Colony towards the end of the 17th century.

The slave women were expert cooks who included a variety of spices in their dishes. They brought aniseed, fennel, turmeric, cardamom and ginger. The slaves also brought a variety of masalas (mixtures of different spices used for spicy cooking).

Delicious fresh fruit and vegetables had been grown since the arrival of the Dutch in 1652 for the ships that travelled between Europe and the Far East around Africa. This was excellent raw material for the Eastern cooks.

Popular Cape Malay meals are sosaties, bobotie and bredie. Sosaties consist of meat and vegetables which are grilled on a thin stick. Bobotie and bredie are both types of stew that are unique to Cape cuisine.

Elements of the cuisines of France, Holland, England, India and the Xhosa people have all been added to the range of the original slaves. The result is a delightful range of interesting and tasty food. 

Your Turn

1. What had a great influence on the Cape colony's cooking?
    
2. Name three of the spices that were brought to South Africa by the slaves.
    
3. What are "masalas"?
    
4. Find a word in the text that means "very nice".
    
5. What is a "stew"? (tip: use your dictionary)
    
6. Genius Question: What English proverb can you think of that relates to food? (hint: especially concerning "broth")

Part Two - Grammar Groans

"According to..." and "In my opinion, ..."

We use the structure "According to..." to say that we are repeating information that comes from another person, a book, the television or another source.

For example:

According to this book, vegetarian food is very healthy. Although it is not an actual mistake, we would not normally say "According to me...". This is highly unusual in English.

In order to give our own view, we use the form "In my opinion, ...". For example: In my opinion, soya beans are an excellent substitute for meat.

Your turn

Rewrite the following sentences using either "According to..." or "In my opinion...". The first one has been completed for you.

I think that spicy food kills germs.
Answer: In my opinion, spicy food kills germs.

1. I think that restaurants in Cape Town are very affordable.
    
2. In the travel guide it says that there is a wide variety of food in Cape Town.
    
3. Hindu people believe that cows should not be eaten.
    
4. My view is that Cape Malay food is very tasty.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense (For more advanced students )

The present perfect continuous tense (for regular verbs: have been verb + ing)

You use the present perfect continuous tense to describe actions that started in the past and continue into the present. The actions have not stopped.

Examples:

"People have been playing cricket for hundreds of years." (They still play cricket today.)

"She has been living in South Africa for three years." (She still lives in South Africa.) 

Your turn

Can you put the following sentences into the present perfect continuous tense? (Some of the verbs are irregular.)

1. We _____ (play) cricket for hours.
    
2. You _____ (work) since early this afternoon.
    
3. He _____ (dance) with her all evening.
    
4. She _____ (sleep) all day.

Part Three: Cook your own Cape Malay meal

Ingredients:

• 1 slice of white bread
• a half a cup of seedless raisins
• a half a cup of peeled almonds
• 250ml milk
• 1 kg minced beef
• 3 eggs
• 4 bay or lemon leaves
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped herbs
• 2 teaspoons medium strength curry powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons oil
• 3 teaspoons apricot jam
• 3 teaspoons fruit chutney
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (25 ml)

Directions:

1. Put the bread in 125ml of milk. Squeeze the bread dry and mix it with the minced beef.
    
2. Mix in all the other ingredients EXCEPT the remaining milk, the oil, the eggs and the bay leaves.
    
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the meat mixture at a low temperature until slightly brown.
    
4. Transfer the brown mixture into a casserole dish (an oven dish).
    
5. Beat the eggs together with the remaining milk and pour it over the meat mixture.
    
6. Place the bay leaves on top.
    
7. Bake the mixture in the oven at 180'C until the egg becomes solid.
    
8. Eat with plain or yellow rice.

Part Four: Funnies

Two single men sat talking in the kitchen. Their conversation drifted from sport to cooking. "I got a cookbook once," said one, "but I could never follow any of the instructions." "Was there too much difficult work in it?" asked the other. "Oh yes! Every one of the recipes began the same way - 'Take a clean dish...'" 

Part Five: Famous Words

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food." - George Bernard Shaw

"Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." - Ogden Nash ("Dandy" is a word that means "an excellent thing".) 

Part Six: Links

Free Online Translation Service

There is an excellent free automatic (by machine) translation service at:

http://www.worldlingo.com/

You can translate web pages or e-mail in seconds! The translations are never perfect, but are good enough to understand. 

Answers

Answers to Part One

1. The arrival of slaves from the Far East.
2. Any three of: aniseed, fennel, turmeric, cardamom, ginger.
3. Masalas are mixtures of spices used for making curries or in spicy cooking.
4. delightful.
5. A hot meal usually containing meat, potatoes and vegetables.
6. "Too many chefs spoil the broth".

Answers to Part Two

1. In my opinion, the restaurants in Cape Town are very affordable.
2. According to the travel guide, there is a wide variety of food in Cape Town.
3. According to Hindu people, cows should not be eaten.
4. In my opinion, Cape Malay food is very tasty.