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Papua New GuineaFlavors · South Africa
Sweet shortcrust tart with a creamy filling of milk, eggs, sugar and flour, dusted with cinnamon. It is considered a national treasure in South Africa, found at fetes, bakeries and family tables across the country, and there is a national day dedicated to it.
Traditional sweet from South Africa
Also known as: milk tart, torta de leite sul-africana
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Melktert — South Africa
Melktert means milk tart in Afrikaans. It consists of a shortcrust or flaky pastry base with a filling of milk and eggs, thickened with flour or starch and scented with cinnamon, sometimes with cardamom. After baking or setting, it is topped with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon. The result is lighter and milkier than other cream tarts.
The South African English Dictionary records the word in the country’s texts from the late 19th century: a 1891 cookbook already listed the milk tart as a specialty of Dutch origin, and citations from the 1930s to the 1990s show it at fetes, train menus and tea tables. In 1971, a Cape Town newspaper praised the melktert made by Cape Malay confectioners, with cardamom and cinnamon.
The origin is debated. The most repeated story links the dessert to the tarts that Dutch settlers brought to the Cape. A history dissertation at the University of Pretoria, based on cookbooks mostly written by women, concluded that the belief in a solely Afrikaans origin does not fully hold: the tart had several roots and was adopted and adapted by women from different cultures, until it became a national treasure, regardless of who makes it.
That is why melktert represents the whole country rather than a single town. It appears at church fetes, charity sales, bakeries and supermarkets in all provinces, and the country celebrates National Melktert Day in February.
South Africa
Milk tart is made in all provinces and treated as a national treasure, with no documented city of origin.
Sweet pastry (shortcrust or flaky); filling of milk, eggs, sugar, flour or cornstarch, butter, cinnamon stick; ground cinnamon on top. Some recipes include cardamom.
In slices, cold or at room temperature, with tea or coffee. It also appears in small, individual portions.
All year round, for snacks, family gatherings, fetes and charity sales. National Melktert Day is celebrated on February 27.
Your questions
Milk tart, in Afrikaans. It is a tart with a creamy filling of milk, eggs, sugar and flour, topped with cinnamon.
That is the most repeated story, but research at the University of Pretoria concluded that the tart had multiple roots and was adapted by women from different South African cultures.
On February 27.
Generally cold or at room temperature, in slices, with tea or coffee.
Flavors of South Africa
Stew of mutton or lamb with waterblommetjie flowers, an aquatic plant native to the Western Cape, onion, potato and sorrel. It is a winter dish, made in the short season when the flowers are harvested from the province's lakes and marshes.
Cracked white maize (samp) slow-cooked with beans until creamy, seasoned with onion and butter or fat. It is the everyday dish of the Xhosa of the Eastern Cape and was Nelson Mandela's favorite.
Minced meat seasoned with curry and spices, mixed with bread soaked in milk and dried fruit and baked under a milk-and-egg topping. It is a well-known dish of Cape Malay cuisine from Cape Town, served with yellow rice and chutney.
A long roll filled with fries, meat, fish, or chicken, salad and sauce, cut into pieces for sharing. It originated in a fried-fish shop in Athlone, in the Cape Flats, and is Cape Town’s sandwich.
Fried dumpling with a soft dough, seasoned with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, fennel and tangerine peel, dipped in hot syrup and coated in coconut. It is the Sunday breakfast of Cape Malay families in Cape Town.
A hot amber-colored beverage made from the oxidized leaves of a shrub that only grows in the Cederberg mountains and surrounding areas. Clanwilliam, at the foot of the range, is the center of cultivation and processing, and the name rooibos has a protected geographical indication.
Curry served inside a sliced loaf of white bread cut into a quarter or half and hollowed out, with the removed crumb placed on top. Created by Durban’s community of Indian origin, it’s the dish the city uses to introduce itself.
A quarter loaf of sliced white bread hollowed out and layered with fillings: fries, sausages, mortadella, a burger, cheese, achar and sauces. It’s the street food of Johannesburg’s townships, like Soweto, and of the whole Gauteng province.
Homemade fermented drink made from the juice of marula fruits, from January to March. In Limpopo, the season opens with the festival of the first fruits, and Phalaborwa hosts the annual marula festival where the drink made by local cooperatives is served.
Pinotage red wine, a grape variety created in Stellenbosch, South Africa, from crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsaut (which in the Cape was called Hermitage). It has a dark color, aromas of red and dark fruits, and soft tannins.
