Woolworths_Taste__January_2019

PHOTOGRAPH

TOBY MURPHY

PRODUCTION

HANNAH LEWRY

PORTRAIT

MICHAEL LE GRANGE

PUFFY CHEESE

TOASTIES

This is just the way my ma made

them.Doubleupifyou’reeight

for breakfast.

Serves 4

EASY

GREAT VALUE

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking: 10 minutes

grated cheese240 g

(I used a mix of Emmentaler

and mature Cheddar)

Hellmann’s mayonnaise3T

free-range egg 1

baking powder1t

bread4slices(Ilikelow-GIseed

wholewheat brown bread)

butter,for spreading on

your toast

1 Turntheoven’sgrilltohigh.

Mix the cheese, mayonnaise, egg

andbakingpowderwellusing

afork. 2 Toastthebreadina

toaster, then butter. 3 Place a big

tablespoonofthecheesymixture

onto each piece of toast and

spread evenly. Place under the

grill and bake until golden brown

and puffy. Eat immediately.

CARB-CONSCIOUS,

MEAT-FREE

O

ur weekend breakfasts are leisurely,
decadent affairs. Food market
splurges that last way past lunchtime,
or freshly baked bacon-and-cheese
croissants from Jason Bakery, or warm
almond croissants and creamy flat whites
andhotchocolatefromGiovanni’safter
acoldswimatClifton.Asafamilyof
three, these breakfast indulgences are
ourweeklyreminderofhowluckyweare.
We are grateful for the life we have and
the lives we share.
Weekday breakfasts, on the other hand,
arerushed,oftenshoutyexperiences.
Tryaswemight,wenevermanagetosit
downatatabletogetherandcalmly
prepareourselvesforthedayahead.
There are occasional warm, fuzzy family
momentswhenwedrinkteainbed
in the morning for a few minutes before
the hysteria kicks in. But mostly the hysteria
just kicks in.
Whenitcomestobreakfast,I’mcontent
withcoffee.OragreenjuiceifI’mfeeling
particularly virtuous. If I can’t eat sugary
carbsasIdoonweekends,I’drathergo
without. Jacques eats a wonderful home-
made granola that he makes on Sunday
nights.Inanidealworld,Sebwouldjoinhis
father in eating double-thick yoghurt,
crunchygranolaandaswishofhoney.
But no. We don’t live in an ideal world.
Andoursonhastakenadisliketothe
textureofgranola.Texture?Noonewarned
meaboutthis.Seblikessoftthingsfor
breakfast. He eats scrambled eggs with
Parmesan shavings; sweet, softened milky
Weet-Bix;soggy,sugaryRiceKrispies.
Thelasttwofillmewithguilt...
So,ongooddays–thosedayswhen
we have all managed to wake up a bit
earlier than usual and the school lunchbox
is packed with healthy treats and Jacques
and I can do more than gulp down our
coffeesandgruntatoneanother–Imake
puffy cheese toasties. Just the way my
mother did. With shortcuts and affection.
Puffy cheese is similar to Welsh rarebit
I suppose, or a croque monsieur, but

withoutthefussandtheham.Grated

cheese,eggsandadollopofmayonnaise(I

grew up in the seventies after all) slathered

on slices of bread and popped under the

grillforafewminutesuntilit’sallpuffedup

and warm and soft inside. Kind of like you

feel when you eat it.

Otherthanthemayonnaise,puffy

cheese ticks all the boxes that should be

ticked to ensure that a small boy has had

asensiblebreakfast.But,moreimportantly,

it’satreat.Anutritious(andyes,calorific)

treat, but the fact that I’ve gone to the

troubleofmakingpuffycheese feeds

theheartsofthoseIlove.

Together we sit in the courtyard,

enjoying the early morning sun, drinking

fromafreshpotofhotteaandeating

warmtoastedcheesebeforewetakeon

theday.Makingprovisionforanadditional

20minutesinthemorningforbreakfast

isallthatisrequiredtocentreourselves

by focussing on one another. Eating puffy

cheese toasties together in the morning

is the culinary equivalent of the group

hugthatSeblovessomuch.

Myin-lawscametostayrecently.

They are familiar with our early morning

weekday shouting shenanigans, but on

that particular Tuesday I decided to get

up a bit earlier and make puffy cheese

toasties so that we could all eat together

before everyone went their separate ways.

“Aunty Phumla!” Seb shouted when our

helperandfriendarrivedforwork.While

making her some coffee and putting the

breadinthetoaster,andmixingthe

grated cheese and egg, I noticed

Phumla laughing at me. “What?” I asked

defensively.“Vroeg opstaan. Kos maak.

Goeie makoti.”(Wakeupearly.Makefood.

Good daughter-in-law.) She teased me

affectionately, referencing her own Xhosa

cultural traditions and the effort a new

bridegoestoinordertoimpressher

in-laws. I laughed. Puffy cheese toasties

and laughter. And family and a friend.

That was a very good Tuesday morning.W

confessionsofahungrywoman.com; @samwoulidge

“Eating

puffy

cheese

toasties

together

in the

morning

is the

culinary equivalent

of the group hug that

Seb loves so much”

Weekendsaremadeforlaid-backfamilybreakfasts,butwithalittleextraeffort(andmayo)

SAM WOULIDGEhasfoundawaytoorchestrateasit-downbreakfastonschooldays, too

Toast mastered

TASTES THAT BIND

52 TASTE JAN/FEB 2019