How to Make Traditional South African Melkkos: A Winter Comfort Food
I have written so much about how "traditional" recipes are never standardized or set in stone. Every family has their own recipe and method even though the dishes have the same name. Melkkos is yet another of these recipes. Every family has their own method and recipe, even though we all call it the same thing. I have seen some weird recipes out there, but I guess with a name as vague as "milk food" (the direct translation of melkkos) you can literally make anything with milk in it and call it milk food. As this is not a linguistics post and a foodie post, let me explain the method and teach you how to make melkkos (milk food).
All that you need have for this recipe is milk, salt, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. In some loose sense, this is basically a roux mixture without the butter. But for those of us who grew up with this food, it is memories of cold winters we cherish. In any case, please see below how my mother makes this awesome dish!
The Ingredients
(Sorry for the egg carton in the image, this recipe does not contain eggs.)
Heat the Milk
My mother uses a microwave for this recipe, but you can easily use a stovetop. Heat the milk in a separate bowl. In the flour bowl, add cold milk and stir till all the lumps are out. (As you can see, this recipe is more "eye balling" than working with precise measurements.) Mix the hot milk with the cold milk-flour mixture. Place it back in the microwave and stir every couple of seconds until the mixture thickens.
Finishing the Dish
Some people in the family have a sweet tooth. Others prefer it without sugar. But the classic way to eat this dish in my family is to put a layer of cinnamon sugar on the extremely hot food. This will in turn melt the sugar to later form a type of crust. It is one of the best tasting and smoothest foods there is. I envy my mother's ability to get the food so silky smooth. In any case, with sugar or without sugar, it is awesome.
Do you have a similar dish in your culture or family? Please let me know! I hope you try this recipe or method, and try this awesome dish at home.
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