{
  "id": 14376203,
  "title": "BOOK EXCERPT: Kitchens of the Karoo – how cooks of old mastered stone, sourdough and coffee",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/book-excerpt-kitchens-of-the-karoo-how-cooks-of-old-mastered-stone",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-14T05:32:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily Maverick",
    "slug": "daily-maverick",
    "url": "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-14-kitchens-of-the-karoo-how-cooks-of-old-mastered-stone-sourdough-and-coffee/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the Karoo region, elegant devices such as peach peelers, coffee roasters, and candle moulds were commonly found in old kitchens. These kitchens, often embedded with peach pips to strengthen the clay floors, showcased the resourcefulness of Karoo cooks. The first settlers in the Karoo, trekboere, built corbelled houses from stone and cooked outside in kookskerms. As time progressed, they constructed clay ovens for baking and roasting. The Boers, who developed a strong fondness for coffee, improvised by roasting the shepherd's tree root and using roasted peas, peaches, or prickly pear peels in their coffee. Kitchens were typically located off the main lounge area, with massive hearths for cooking and smoking. To deter pests, walls were painted blue-green with arsenic. To maintain a cool environment during hot summers, evaporative fridges were placed outside.",
  "summary": "A hundred years ago, people had elegant little devices to peel peaches, grind coffee and sieve their flour. And weren’t those peach pip floors something?",
  "key_points": [
    "Kitchens in Karoo featured peach peelers, coffee roasters, candle moulds",
    "Trekboere built corbelled stone houses, cooked outside in kookskerms",
    "Boers improvised coffee with shepherd's tree root, roasted peas"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The evolution from outdoor cooking to permanent clay ovens reflects how early settlers adapted their culinary methods to the harsh Karoo environment through resourceful improvisation and local materials.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}