For Cape Town resident and digital content creator Tasneem Waggie, some recipes are about more than what ends up on the dinner table.

One dish in particular takes her straight back to the warmth of her grandmother Amina Holmes’ kitchen: Ou mense onder die komberse, a much-loved Cape Malay family favourite featuring tender stewed beef alongside beef frikkadels wrapped in cabbage – all cooked in one pot.

The name itself tells part of the story. The beef frikkadels, meatballs made with ground beef and soaked bread, are the ou mense, or ‘old people’, while the cabbage acts as their kombers, or blanket, wrapping them up as the dish cooks.

But for Waggie, the real story behind the meal is one of love.

“I remember that when she made this dish, it felt like home,” she says. “The kitchen would be filled with warmth, and the aromas of the food would fill the whole house.”

Her grandmother, she recalls, expressed her love through the small things she did for others, and cooking was one of them.

“She poured love into her cooking, and you felt it when you ate her food.”

Ou mense onder die komberse wasn’t reserved for a special celebration or particular occasion. It was simply something the family loved, making its way onto the table because it was comforting and familiar.

And while Waggie was too young to learn the recipe directly from her grandmother, the tradition found another route through the family.

Holmes taught Waggie’s mother, who eventually taught Waggie.

One of the little touches that made Holmes’s version special was the addition of beef bones to the pot, which enhanced the flavour and gave the dish extra depth.

“When I eat it now, I always remember her and cooking it with my mom really keeps her memory alive,” Waggie says.

It is perhaps one of the most beautiful things about family recipes. Ingredients may be measured differently over the years, techniques may evolve, and the people around the table may change, but a familiar taste can bring generations together in an instant.

“Food has a way of connecting us to the past and bringing us closer as a family in the present,” Waggie says.

And that connection is something she hopes won’t end with her generation.

She wants to teach her own daughter how to make the dish, with the hope that one day she will prepare it for her own family.

“This dish goes back generations, and we need to keep on cooking it and passing it down so that we can keep the heritage alive.”

Ou mense onder die komberse recipe

Waggie says that her family never measures ingredients, so if you try it, measure with your heart.

Ingredients:
Marrow bones
Stewing beef
Onion
Garlic
Green chilli
Cloves
Allspice
Salt
Black pepper
Cabbage leaves
Beef mince
Egg – beaten
2 slices of bread dipped in water (not too wet)
Butter
Nutmeg

Method
Heat oil in a pot.
Add the onions, cloves, allspice and fry until translucent.

Add garlic and chilli and cook a little longer.
Add beef pieces and marrow bones and fry until browned.
Add salt and pepper and stir.
Add water and leave to cook until the beef is soft.
Add cabbage leaves on top and let them soften (quick), then remove.
To make the frikkadels, form balls with the beef mince, egg and bread.
Wrap the frikkadels inside the cabbage and add it to the pot.
You can also add frikkadels to the pot, without cabbage leaves wrapped around them.
Add some butter and a little nutmeg and let the dish simmer until the frikkadels are cooked through.
Serve with white rice, atchar and pickled beetroot.

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