I have an ambitious idea to write a book that will be a food memoir of growing up in South Africa under Apartheid. It would pay homage to my dead grandmother (maternal) who was an outstanding cook and a great inspiration to me and others passionate about food.
Milly Susan Tirumal was once a housekeeper to a wealthy Jewish family that lived in the plush suburbs of Durban North and who had relatives that had been on the Titanic. Her first language was Afrikaans and her maiden name had been Kelly and she claimed her parents had been army personnel that hailed from St Helena island, and who had died of tick-bite fever in South Africa after WW1. She claimed they were buried in Potchefstroom cemetary, and my mum and I plan to make a little trip there the next time I am in South Africa.
Milly's story is fascinating and exotic because we were an Indian family living under Apartheid and in her experience, she inhabited a world alien to anything I could have known, or thought I would know. Under Apartheid, to be white or inhabit a white world was seen as a privilege. While a lot of her background is shrouded in mystery and all who may have known any more about her past have since passed on as well, what we do know is her love of food surpassed all expectations anyone can have of a doting grandma, and if anything her recipes and memories of her food continue bring pleasure to intrepid cooks in the family.
Another reason I think this is a unique tale is that while most families in our area were eating Indian food, ours was sampling European/ Australian/ Afrikaans/ Jewish/ Indian cooking at its best. This book would hence be a tribute to those who have grown up in the melting pot of cultures that is South Africa, to Milly Susan and grandmothers like her – unsung heroes of the New South Africa, of all that is South African.
More to follow...
