40 | PICKLES, HOT SAUCES & PESTO 2-3 packets small cucumbers/1- 1 ½ kilo small cucumbers A few sprigs of dill 1 1/4 cups vinegar 4 1/4 cups water 1 ½ Tbs coarse salt 6 cloves garlic 10 peppercorns 6 bay leaves 3 cloves, whole 1 Tbs mustard seeds (Optional) Wash small firm cucumbers and cut off both ends. Place in heatproof bowl. Place a few sprigs of dill over cucumbers. Bring rest of ingredients to a boil and pour over cucumbers. Cover with a plate and something heavy, making sure all cucumbers are covered by vinegar. Ready to eat the next day. GRANNY WRITES: Growing up in Apartheid South Africa, I never went into the kitchen except to ask the cook to make me something to eat or bring me a cup of tea. We had a separate dining room where we ate all our meals. Although most (white) South Africans had a small bell to call the maid from the kitchen when needed, we had a buzzer that you activated by pressing on it with your foot. It was considered very smart. Could my mother cook? I don’t know as I have no memories of her in the kitchen or cooking with her, although when she came to Israel she was always collecting recipes. So when Saba and I got married I had to learn to cook, and quickly. No internet, no TV shows then. I learnt from recipes books. Fortunately I could usually tell whether a recipe would be something we’d like. Grandpa Hayman suffered from diabetes and was always asking me to make him a sugarless cheesecake. The sugar-free ingredients then were very sparse and I never made a cake that I liked. Today it is much easier. I find that when using a sweetener, it is important to mix various sweeteners together so that there is no aftertaste. I’ve had some awful failures. The first time I had to make a meal for my late dad- _ great grandfather Maurice, I decided to make something with sausages – what could go wrong? Poor guy, he had heartburn for a week. The only time I remember Saba refusing to eat something that I made was when I made him cold vegetable marrow soup. Since I was used to thick soups, I threw away the liquid and gave him the mush of marrows. Ugh! He wouldn’t eat it.
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