BY Aurelia Mbokazi-Kashe
For over 20 years Chef Xoliswa Ndoyiya was Madiba’s personal and family chef serving sumptuous meals at the Mandela households and hosting international dignitaries and celebrities. Chef Xoli, as she is fondly known, continues to serve Madiba magic on plates at the Sanctuary Mandela, the boutique hotel that was once Mandela’s home in Houghton, in the same kitchen where her journey as the presidential chef began.
Despite the contemporary surroundings, her meals are hearty and served with love, and have inspired a new cookbook, Made with Love, recently launched at Sanctuary Mandela.
Food brings people together and makes them happy. My approach to cooking is to take traditional African food and give it a contemporary take without it losing its soul.
I was very fortunate that Madiba loved traditional African food, especially the food that he ate as a child growing up in the villages of Mvezo and Qunu, in the Eastern Cape. That food reminded him of his mother’s cooking. Umphokoqo na masi (maize meal porridge served with sour milk); umngqusho (samp and beans) and umleqwa (organic, farmed chicken) were his favourites. I was comfortable preparing these dishes for him. In fact, they took me back to my childhood in the Eastern Cape where I learned to prepare them from my mother as a young girl. Working in a professional kitchen, I had to elevate my presentation skills.
I carefully selected the 50 recipes found in “Made with Love”. They are at the core of my culture and heritage. I do deviate here and there from traditional South African cuisine, but I have kept to the concept of Ubuntu as the core of each recipe. My aim with this book is to touch people from different parts of the world and be part of their celebrations and milestones.
I took my time with this book, which is my second, and chose the recipes carefully. I was sharing pieces of myself from the depth of my heart with the world through my food, hence the title Made with Love. Working on this book taught me patience as I tried to condense over two decades of recipes into only a few meaningful ones.
RECIPE
Umsila Wenkomo (Slow-Roasted oxtail)
Serves: 8–10
Ingredients
3 kg oxtail, excess fat removed 6 celery stalks, chopped
6 large carrots, chopped1 large onion, chopped3 garlic cloves, crushed 3 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves 3 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp barbeque spice, or substitute with 1 tbsp salt and 1⁄2 tbsp pepper
1 cup red wine
1 cup tomato paste
60g (1 packet) oxtail soup powder (available from your supermarket or grocery store)
boiled baby potatoes and steamed baby carrots and green beans, to serve
Method
Put the oxtail in a large pot over medium-high heat with enough waterto cover. Bring to a boil, add the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic together with the rosemary, thyme, paprika, and barbeque spice, and simmer for30 minutes until vegetables are soft, then reduce the heat and cover. Braise for 1 hour with lid on until the meatis soft and starts to brown in its ownfat. Add wine, tomato paste, and more water to cover.
Mix the packet of soup with a little water to make a paste, then add to the meat. Cook for a further 1 1⁄2 hours with the lidon, until the meat is soft but still on the bones, checking regularly to make sure that there is still enough liquid to cover.
Remove from the heat, separate the meat from the vegetables and sauce, and use a strainer to strain the vegetables out of the sauce to get a thick, smooth sauce. Discard the vegetables and add the meat back to the sauce.
Serve with baby potatoes, steamed baby carrots, and green beans.
