This is HAPPY

Marie biscuit-marshmallow sandwiches, hot chocolate after a cold swim, jewelled pink slices of juicy watermelon, melted salty butter on warm, homemade bread and wholesome vegetable soup with dumplings. Together, these make a pretty strange combination of food. Individually, they each hold something incredibly special to me: happy memories. It’s true, happiness is a feeling. Where this happy feeling comes from is totally up to you. For me, it comes from experiences, fleeting moments and, most definitely, food.

My whole life, I’ve been exposed to the importance of food. Not just the quantity but, more importantly, the quality. It’s a well-known fact that Muslim families always cater to the nines when it comes to special occasions. We’re having 5 people over for dinner? That means 3 mains, roti, salad and rice, a couple desserts and samosas to start (obviously). Sunday tea? Cakes, fruit platter, biscuits, masala tea, and maybe a milk tart. Oh, and don’t even get me started on Eid.

Taste in food is totally subjective. The emergence of health trends, raw eating and veganism would inherently influence this subjectivity. I’m not vegan or even vegetarian, nor do I think I will be any time soon. I do, however, tend to eat a vegetarian diet about 3 days of the week and I steer clear from pork and red meat completely. I’m clearly not a ‘health bunny’, but I do know what food makes me happy, and a lot of the time it just tends to be pretty healthy (chocolate is healthy, right?). Here’s a list of foods that make me happy, categorised for your pleasure.

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This is HAPPY: vegetarian edition

Cheddar, Tomato and Basil Quesadillas

As my go-to lunch when I’m home from campus, quesadillas are the quickest thing to whip up when you’re in the mood for a toasted cheese but don’t want something slathered in butter. Also, you can easily pimp it up with different cheeses and vegetables, even throw in grilled chicken if you’re into that. These are also great as a pre-braai snack.

This is HAPPY: vegan edition

Vegetable Soup with Dumplings

I remember watching my granny make this soup when I was little. After she peeled and grated the carrots, she’d clean her fingers by fearlessly scraping off the carrot shavings with her knife. The smell of this cooking in the kitchen, coupled with the reassuring sound of a big pot of soup joyfully bubbling away, makes me so so happy.

This is HAPPY: savoury edition

Sugar Bean Curry with Roti and Sambal

I must confess, I wasn’t always much of a bean fan. It wasn’t until recently that I appreciated the warmth and flavour that these little creations can take on. This is something we usually enjoy for Sunday lunch around the table on the patio. If there’s roti with it (my mom is a roti WIZZ) I won’t have rice as I’d have to be rolled away from the table. Serve it with a spoon of tangy onion, tomato, cucumber and chilli sambal.

 

This is HAPPY: sweet edition

Apple Crisp

Apple crisp is one of those things where, if you buy it ready-made, it can be vile. This one, however, is pure perfection. The lemon zest and juice perfectly balances out the sweetness of the apples and the sugar. When baked, the crust, containing rolled oats and chopped almonds, takes on a golden-brown colour that makes this dish so welcoming. Serve it warm with a dollop of creme fraîche or marscapone and you’ll be in for a heavenly treat.

This is HAPPY: drink edition

Masala Tea

Sometimes known as chai tea, this beautiful mix of ceylon tea, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger is the ideal Sunday afternoon cuppa. Always make an extra pot as everyone will be sniffing for seconds, and remember to get out a plate of biscuits!

South African Sugar Tax To Curb Shocking Sugar Levels

As South Africa’s Finance Minister proposes sugar tax in the latest Budget speech, UK organisation finds shocking amounts of sugar in café chains’ hot drinks.

Last month, the UK-based campaign group, ‘Action on Sugar’, conducted research on the amounts of sugar that high street cafe chains put in their hot drinks. Out of the 131 hot flavoured drinks that the group analysed, 98% were found to contain excessive levels of sugar while 35% were found to contain as much as, or even more than, 9 teaspoons per serving, the equivalent to that of a can of Coca-Cola.

The findings of ‘Action on Sugar’ were distributed just ahead of South African Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan’s, delivery of the 2016 Budget speech in mid-February. In the speech it was announced that, as of April 2017, a tax on sweetened sugar beverages (SSBs) will be levied. This proposed sugar tax “adding much-needed revenue to the National Treasury”, said the Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA) body. fin24 went on to say that it will also help curb the country’s growing rate of obesity, diabetes and stroke, by encouraging South Africans to become more health conscious by reassessing their lifestyle choices.

In the UK study, it showed that the drink with the third highest amount of sugar is a ‘Chai Latte Massimo’ from Costa Coffee with 20 teaspoons per serving while the ‘Chai Tea Latte Venti’ (extra-large) from Starbucks contains 13 teaspoons per serving, placing it 16^th on the list.  Both drinks exceed the recommended maximum daily intake of 7 teaspoons of sugar for adults and teenagers.

Popular high street chains in South Africa, namely Vida e Caffe and Seattle Coffee Company, pride themselves in their good quality, “espresso based coffee” (see their websites) and flavoured drinks. At both stores, customers add their own sugar to their purchased coffee-based drinks. These include drinks such as cappuccino, cafe latte, Americana, macchiato and flat white. Both companies also offer sweetened drinks.

“A tall size is about 354ml. There is about 230ml of steamed milk, two shots of espresso (60ml) and 60ml of hand-made butterscotch. It would be hard to estimate the exact quantity of sugar in that, since our butterscotch recipe uses cream, butter and sugar. …It contains no flavourants, colourants or preservatives.” – Taryn at Seattle on their most popular flavoured drink, the ‘Butterscotch Latte’.

As for hot chocolate, Seattle offers a healthier alternative called the ‘Malted Carob Steamer’: “The ingredients include barley malt, carob powder, fructose and vanilla. It is gluten-free, sucrose-free, caffeine-free and preservative-free.”  The amount of sugar used in the regular hot chocolates and mochas was not revealed, but it was expressed that the company had halved the amount of sugar used in their chocolate syrup in recent years.

According to the UK study, the average number of teaspoons of sugar in a chai latte is just more than 10 teaspoons, while the average hot chocolate and mocha contain 8 and 9 teaspoons respectively. Seattle said of their chai latte option, “We also offer a spiced chai steamer which is made with organic cape honey, instead of white sugar.”