Vinette
Ingrid Jones asked the award-winning actor about her komvandaan (where she comes from) and got a few cheeky answers.
IJ: What are the smells and aromas you remember from your childhood kitchen, and how did it manifest in your own kitchen?
VE: As a young family, my parents as well as my two brothers and I, lived with my grandparents. That was the start-up place for all of my uncles and my aunt. Glamorgan was a big house, or so it seemed to me. The kitchen was always a hive of activity, but there was only one cook, my ouma. My childhood sensory memory takes me back to pumpkin bredie and fritters for the kids, “oumense onder die kombers”, soup with dumplings, sago pudding, chocolate cakes (I was the only one to lick the bowl). The comforting aroma of ginger biscuits filled the kitchen. All the cooking was done on the coal stove, which was “gestook” at 4.30 a.m.
I’ve been a single mother for most of my life, and although it wasn’t fun and games, I had my parents’ support for a large part of it. My children were well fed – when they came to live with me, things changed. Quick fixes – I tried to get at least one veg in. The girls had fun, though – cake for breakfast, because it’s made of
