MEET YOUR HOST 

MEET YOUR HOST 

 

Jasmina Davids has called Bo-Kaap home for more than 40-years. Prior to that, she and her family were residents of District Six, one of many communities in South Africa declared a “whites-only” area under the country’s apartheid dispensation. Her family were some of thousands forced from their homes under the Group Areas Act, a law that imposed segregation of different races to specific areas, often to the outskirts of the city, and restricted ownership and the occupation of land to a specific group of people.

 

The avid cook says her love for the kitchen stems from her childhood when she and her sisters spent school holidays learning to cook and bake under their dad’s guidance. “There really wasn’t much for us to do those days, when we were tired of playing outside, we’d come inside to my dad, he was often in the kitchen,” she says. Jasmina’s dad schooled her on the ins and outs of cooking traditional Cape Malay dishes, right from dicing onions to flipping a roti. “He could do it all, and today I still use his techniques in my kitchen,” she adds. 

 

Of the Malay Cook-Up she says it gives guests the opportunity to come into her home in this “beautiful and culturally rich” area to learn first-hand about the culture and traditions of the Bo-Kaap; the authentic dishes synonymous to the Cape’s Muslims; the art of mixing spices and a step-by-step guide on how to prepare some popular dishes. “It’s not a history lesson, it’s history in the making. We get our hands dirty and there’s lots of engaging and interacting. I am privileged to travel the world through my kitchen,” she says.