Tameletjie
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A tameletjie is a homemade
toffee Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepared, toffee ...
confection Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categorie ...
which features prominently within the Afrikaner and
Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...
cultures of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. The sweet is made from sugar and water which has been boiled until
caramelized Caramelization is a process of browning of sugar used extensively in cooking for the resulting sweet nutty flavor and brown color. The brown colors are produced by three groups of polymers: caramelans (C24H36O18), caramelens (C36H50O25), and ca ...
and then rested to cool to form a hard sweet. There are many variations to the sweet attained by adding almonds,
pine nut Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), pignoli or chilgoza (), are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are trad ...
s or coconut to the recipe.


Origin

The tameletjie is one of the oldest confections in South Africa. It originated as a result of importing
sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...
from China and the
East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
and
West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...
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 Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, 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>


See also

*
Almond Roca Almond Roca is a brand of chocolate-covered, almond butter crunch, hard toffee with a coating of ground almonds. It is similar to chocolate-covered English toffee. The candy is manufactured by the Brown & Haley Co. of Tacoma, Washington, found ...
*
Chikki Chikki is a traditional Indian sweet ( brittle) generally made from nuts and jaggery/sugar. There are several different varieties of chikki in addition to the most common groundnut (peanut) chikki. Each variety of chikki is named after the ingr ...
*
Frankfurter Kranz The Frankfurter Kranz (or Frankfurt Crown Cake) is a cake specialty of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Preparation starts with the baking of a firm sponge cake in a ring shaped baking tin. The cake is then sliced horizontally to divide it into tw ...
*
Gozinaki Gozinaki or Gozinaqi ( ka, გოზინაყი ) is a traditional Georgian confection made of caramelized nuts, usually walnuts, fried in honey, and served exclusively on New Year's Eve and Christmas. In the western Georgian provinces of I ...
*
Ka'í Ladrillo Ka'í Ladrillo is a typical dessert of the Paraguayan cuisine prepared mainly with peanuts and molasses. Origin of the name The name ''ka’i ladrillo'' is the result of the combination of two words, “ka’i” that means “monkey” and “la ...
*
Nougat Nougat ( , ; ; az, nuqa; fa, نوقا) is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts are common), whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. ...
*
Toffee Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepared, toffee ...


References

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