UP-AND-COMING chefs celebrated Kaapse food icon - the koesister - to kick off Heritage Month and mark World Koesister Day yesterday.
After a four-year hiatus, World Koesister Day (WKD) returned on Sunday with a special gathering held at the Sun Square Hotel bringing together media, food lovers and cultural enthusiasts over koesisters and coffee, a proudly South African tradition that embodies the warmth of our heritage.
This koesister is, of course not to be confused with a koeksister - the plaited syrupy confection of Dutch origin.
Cape Malay slaves used to eat an unsweetened version of the donut we know to today as breakfast.
Today, we enjoy the spicy, citrus and coconut favourite any time of the day.
Yesterday, that tradition was celebrated by 20 differently abled youth and learners from various schools had to create their best koesister recipe at the Sun Square Hotel on Mill Street innie Kaap.
And it had a special twist - adding the indigenous ingredient of ‘spekboom’ to a judging panel of seasoned chefs who selected three winners for the Best Indigenous-Infused Koesister.
All participants will be fast-tracked into an eleven-month programme into the hospitality and tourism industry.
Originally conceived by Mark Jacobs the Co-Founder of Vannie Kaap but is now the founder of weRproudly NPC said World Koesister Day has always been about culture, craft and community.
He said: “The objective is to take the winning recipe and package it with the endorsement from Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth and Tourism James Vos and work alongside the City of Cape Town to see how we can grow it as a sustainable business.”
"What unifies us together as a culture is our love for food.
“If we can leverage the impact a koesister has had over the many generations being part of the Cape Malay community and everything else it has extended to, the people is the most important ingredient. Without the people there isn’t a love for koesister.”
Coming through with the winning recipe is Abduraghmaan Jassiem, 17 who is studying hospitality at the Mitchells Plain School of Skills who took first place.
Abduraghmaan said he was inspired by his ouma’s recipe.
He said: “There were a lot of emotions going into the competition but I am very happy with the outcome.
“I used my granny’s recipe and I have my own small business so baking is nothing new for me.
“I created a spekboom jam which I injected inside the koesister and I made coconut syrup filling and a cream with ginger spice and chopped up spekboom inside.”