A tameletjie is a homemade toffee confection which features prominently within the

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...

and Malay cultures of South Africa. The sweet is made from sugar and water which has been boiled until caramelized and then rested to cool to form a hard sweet. There are many variations to the sweet attained by adding

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

s, pine nuts or

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

to the recipe.

Origin

The tameletjie is one of the oldest confections in South Africa. It originated as a result of importing sugar cane from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the East and West Indian islands. The Malay settlers in the Cape were the first to popularise and add different ingredients to the recipe such as pine nuts, which were readily available due to the vast vegetation of pine trees in the Cape. Although sugar was a relatively expensive commodity, the tameletjie was the only 'sweet' settlers had, or could make so it became common. The Malays were known for selling food in the streets of Cape Town, and so the tameletjie become a popular treat among Europeans and other settlers. As the sweet became more popular it was adopted in different cultures which resulted in variations of the tameletjie. It is popular in different cultures and has a history unlike the sweets found in stores today.

Metaphorical use of the term

"Tameletjie" is a widely used word in Afrikaans-language South African media publications and academic articles. The word is mostly used within the body of the articles but is also common within titles. It is also widely used within publications on varying subjects ranging from economic, agriculture and environmental affairs, legal and political affairs, to education, language and religious matters to describe a sticky/tough situation.

Ingredients

The sweet is made of sugar, water, and pine nuts or almonds. Pine nuts were originally used, although almonds are a popular alternative. oetzee, R. 1977. Spys en Drank: Die Onstaan van die Afrikaanse eetkultuur gedurende die 17de en 18de eeu, met 167 reseppe van tradisionele geregte. C Struik Uitgewers: Cape Town & Johannesburg/ref>

References

{{South African cuisine South African confectionery Toffee South African snack foods

Origin

Metaphorical use of the term

Ingredients

See also

References