Indulgences

1. Witblits

   Witblits (unaged clear grape spirit)

   Usage

   A clear, strong spirit distilled from grape skins and other winemaking by-products. It is not matured in wood, so it stays colourless. Made at the Cape since the 19th century; museums such as Kleinplasie near Worcester still distil it. Strong: sold to over-18s only

2. Mampoer

   Mampoer (clear fruit spirit)

   Usage

   A clear spirit distilled from fruit fermented for 2–3 weeks. Yellow peaches and figs are considered the best; apricot, cherry, lemon, plum and pear are also used. Around 64% ABV is held to carry the fruit best. The Groot Marico district of the North West province is the known source. Very strong: sold to over-18s only

3. Brandewyn

   Brandy

   Usage

   Spirit distilled from grape wine and matured in wood. It sits in a different part of the list from witblits and mampoer, which are not wood-aged. Sold to over-18s only

4. Amarula

   Amarula (marula fruit cream liqueur)

   Usage

   A trademark, not a common noun. A cream liqueur of marula fruit (Sclerocarya birrea), cream and sugar at 17% ABV, sold by the Southern Liqueur Company (Distell) since 1989. Drunk over ice, or poured over coffee and desserts. Sold to over-18s only

5. Springbokkie

   Springbokkie (layered green-and-cream shooter)

   Usage

   A shooter of crème de menthe with a cream liqueur floated on top, giving green and cream layers; proportions vary by bar. The top layer is usually the trademarked product. Sold to over-18s only

6. Koeksister

   Koeksister (plaited fried dough soaked in syrup)

   Usage

   Dough rolled 1 cm thick, cut into strips, plaited, deep-fried and plunged straight into cold syrup flavoured with cinnamon and ginger. Crisp outside and full of syrup inside. Not the same sweet as the koesister, despite the similar spelling

7. Koesister

   Koesister (spiced fried dough ball rolled in coconut)

   Usage

   Dough of flour, sugar and yeast spiced with cinnamon, anise, ginger, cardamom and dried citrus peel, shaped into balls, fried, cooled, then boiled in sugar syrup and rolled in coconut. A different sweet from the plaited koeksister, and spelled differently

8. Beskuit

   Beskuit (hard twice-baked rusk)

   Usage

   Bread baked and then dried out in a low oven until hard, normally dunked in the morning coffee or tea and also served at afternoon and evening tea. Varieties include karringmelkbeskuit (buttermilk), anysbeskuit (aniseed) and hawermoutbeskuit (oatmeal). Also called boerbeskuit

9. Mosbolletjies

   Mosbolletjies (aniseed buns leavened with grape must)

   Usage

   Sweet bread leavened with grape must (druiwemos) and flavoured with anise. Torn apart and eaten fresh, or dried into rusks. Served with preserves such as green fig

10. Ystervarkie

    Ystervarkie (sponge cake square in chocolate and coconut)

    Usage

    Sponge cake cut into small squares, dipped in chocolate sauce and rolled in coconut — the same thing as a lamington. Sometimes split and filled with fresh cream. The name is the diminutive of ystervark (porcupine)

11. Tameletjie

    Tameletjie (hard caramel toffee with nuts)

    Usage

    Sugar and water boiled until it caramelises, then left to set hard. Pine nuts, almonds or coconut are stirred in. Hard enough to be risky for teeth — suck rather than bite

12. Spookasem

    Candy floss

    Usage

    Sugar melted and spun out through fine openings so it sets as threads, usually with a little colouring or flavouring. Sold at festivals, fairgrounds and circuses in bags, on sticks or in paper cones

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