Page 37 - Through the eyes of an African chef

MUSSELS – EASTERN CAPE TO PORT ELIZABETH
XHOSA PEOPLE WERE ONCE described as “one of many primitive, indigenous tribes whom the church once felt should be exterminated during early colonial history to avoid future conflicts. As such, Xhosas could partake of unclean food without harm”. The unclean food indoctrination taught Christians at the time that no crustaceans or shellfish should be eaten, citing that they are rotten, foul matter shed by life in the sea.
Famous South African fiction author Zakes Mda narrates how women harvested oysters and mussels from the sea at Qolorha-by-Sea, in Port Elizabeth. Mussels were harvested by Xhosa women as a source of food for their families. With babies on their backs, they cooked them on the beach in pots of boiling water over fires lit from twigs and wood taken from the dense narrow path along the boundaries of the bushes leading to the ocean. This ties up well with the history of how the Khoisan and Xhosa people exchanged more than love notes.
Scientific studies suggest that by 25 000 years ago, the beginning of the Later Stone Age (LSA), people were hunting small game with bows and poisoned arrows. Furthermore, the numerous shell middens that dot the coastline in the Cape attest to the exploitation of marine life in different seasons.
Mussels – the Xhosa way
It’s fun to cook this recipe on the beach. Harvest enough fresh mussels for you and your company to eat at mealtime. Collect wood or buy it from a service station. Bring along your 3-legged pot, matches, cutlery and crockery. Ideally, take two tripods to help control the heat.
INSTRUCTIONS
Light a fire.
Harvest the mussels and fetch seawater to cook them. Bring the water to a boil, then dump the mussels into the pot. Lift the pot off the fire and place on the second tripod off the fire to reduce the heat to moderate, then cook, stirring occasionally until the mussels open wide and make a distinctive sucking sound.
TO SERVE
Serve in your camp plates and eat straight away.
INGREDIENTS
Mussels Seawater
THROUGH THE EYES OF AN AFRICAN CHEF
COOKING TIME 15–20 MINS
[ chapter one ] STARTERS AND CANAPÉS 35