Lizel Salter Profile and Articles

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1). "Pampoenmoes", South African Food!
Pumpkin is one of South Africa’s favourite vegetables. Most restaurants serve pumpkin and spinach as vegetable side dishes with main meals and all mothers buy it for their families. There are many ways in which you can serve the great varieties of pumpkin available like butternut squash, herbert squash, “boer” pumpkin or red pumpkin, to mention just a few.

2). After lunch desserts and snacks . . .
The highlight of South African living is the breakfast, desserts, snacks and drinks. Easy to please anyone. Breakfast varies between “mieliepap” and “beskuit”. “Mieliepap” is the same consistency as polenta and served with a teaspoon of sugar, butter and milk. A great creamy and healthy breakfast to see you through the morning hours. “Beskuit” is rusks, dough baked in the oven, broken apart and then places back in the oven to dry out.

3). Cango caves, Oudtshoorn
The Cango Caves are situated 26 km north of Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo, a very hot part of the country in the Western Cape Province. These caves are an underground wonderland and one of the great natural wonders of the world, sculptured by nature through the ages. They are limestone formations in a wide variety of colours. The shapes mainly compose of calcium carbonate that developed as lime water dripped from the stones and evaporated.

4). Hydroponic Vegetable Gardening Basics
The article is a covers an introduction to hydroponic gardening.

5). Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, South Africa
Kirstenbosch lies about 13 km from the centre of Cape Town and only grows native South African plant species. What grows here is limited though, due to the damp winters with around 1 500 mm of rainfall, of which all of this occur in about 140 days in the year, during the winter months.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden was founded in 1913 by the botanist Henry Pearson, and is world-renowned for the beauty and diversity of the Cape Flora.

6). My thoughts on food today
What happened to the old days where you would rotate your crops from year to year, eat food you could grow yourself in the country you live in and having fruit and vegetables only when they were in season? Today when you walk down the isle of any supermarket, certainly in England, you can buy ANY fruit and vegetables at ANY time throughout the year.

7). Recipe for Brandy Pudding
Recipe for Brandy Pudding

The recipe I am going to share with you today is about 350 years old! A great favourite from the Cape where the first brandy from Cape grapes were distilled in 1672! We have come a very long way since then when it comes to the quality of our brandy, but still, Cape Brandy Pudding remains an old time favourite :) Growing up.

8). Robben Island, a treasure
This is probably the most famous island in South Africa. If you hear the word Robben Island, your first thought and association is with Madiba (as Nelson Mandela is known to South Africans). Robben Island is an island in Table Bay and lies about 8 km from Cape Town and measures around 3.4 km by 2 km. The name was given to the island because of the seals (robben is the Netherlands for seal) that lived here.

9). South African corn and small grains
South Africa has a very diverse rainfall, allowing many fruits, vegetables and crops to grow throughout the country, all year round. Crops are just one of South Africa’s most important production of food, not only to South Africans, but also the rest of Africa. Of South Africa’s total cultivated area (approximately 10 million hectors), around 36% is planted with maize and 21% has small grains.

10). South African main course cuisine
The food from South Africa is as diverse as the people that live there, influenced by many countries and cultures over the centuries. They have been able to combine all the great ingredients introduced to the country and making it their one, UNIQUE. Nothing tastes as great as South African food! Maybe I am just bias, but why not try it and judge for yourself.

11). Visit Gold Reef City
If you ever plan a trip to my home country, South Africa, make sure you have plenty of time to see everything! If you don’t have that much time, make sure to visit more than once, planning your trip around all of the provinces.

South Africa covers around 4% of the continent’s land mass, but getting around is very easy. You have two great options available: either hire a car and drive around yourself (which might take some time!) or make use of one of the 10 airports in the country.

12). Visit Table Mountain
Table Mountain is probably the biggest tourist attraction in the Western Cape Province. Whenever anyone lands, the first port of call is most definitely this magnificent mountain with its “table top”.

The base of Table Mountain consists out of granite while most of the mountain is sculpted from sandstone and rises about 1 086 m above the bay. Its flat summit measures around 3 km from one end to the other.

13). What to see in Pretoria, Gauteng
Pretoria didn’t develop as quickly as Johannesburg did over the years but two of the most impressive buildings are located in this beautiful Jakkarandastad (city, filled with the most beautiful purple flower trees called the Jakkaranda).

The first building is The Union Building that was built on Meintjieskop, Arcadia, named after Stephanus Jacobus Meintjies.

14). What’s in season in South Africa?
South Africans live from season to season, eating what the earth gives them. A variation in latitude and height above sea level as well as the effect of ocean currents causes a great variety of climatic conditions throughout the country. There are three main rainfall-regions, divided into a winter rainfall in the south western part of the country including the Western Cape, rain all year round along the southern coastal belt and a summer rainfall in the rest of the country.