Malva Pudding: A Sweet Mouthful of History

   A massive Sunday lunch followed by malva pudding; the weekly dining ritual, and cause for a small flare of excitement in the humble lives of ordinary Namibians. 

   The problem with a massive (hearty) good old-fashioned, traditional Sunday lunch, laid out to perfection on a cotton damask tablecloth (not polyester, mind you), is that it is a considerably generous spread (across the plate) and discerning Namibian diners instinctively know they have to make extra space in the belly because there must be room for a mouthful or two of malva pudding. 

   Malva (pronounced ''malfa'' like ''alpha'') pudding is rumoured to be almost 800 years old and while some claim it is named after a mysterious South African woman called ''Malva'', another group keeps it simple and propose that since the Afrikaans word for marshmallow is ''malva'', and the pudding is rather soft...that must be it. I'm of the opinion a casual bit of historical research delivers the best last course on the subject. 

   It is said malva pudding was first brought to Africa by Dutch settlers in 1652 and was served after lunch or dinner (in the evening) to the Dutch ''upper-class'', living in and around the Cape of Good Hope. 

   At the time, the story goes, the pudding didn't have a name at all but merely accompanied a sweet dessert wine called ''Malvacea'' (also known as ''Malvasia'' but more commonly known as sweet ''Malmsey''), which traditionally came from the tiny Portuguese archipelago of Madeira, and was considered something of a civilised delicacy, to be enjoyed civilly. It happened quite often, I can imagine, in these scenarios, that (Coloured) governor Simon van der Stel didn't have the required abdominal space to finish his serving of pudding (and Malvasia wine), burped loudly, spat genteelly and ordered for the ''malva'' to be removed while pointing in the general direction of a glass and a pudding bowl; and that's probably how a bit of soft, brown confectionery became known as malva pudding. 

(Image: Wikipedia, Portugal - dark green; green circle - Madeira)

   South Africa colonised the area known as German South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia) in 1917, and during the ensuing 73 years of colonial rule, malva pudding somehow snuck onto unsuspecting Sunday lunch menus, into glass or ceramic oven-dishes, crawled into porcelain pudding bowls, and onto tablespoons aimed at curious mouths north of the Orange River; an arduous journey no doubt. The point being, no one really knows when the first malva pudding was actually baked and eaten in pre-independence Namibia. What we do know now, the situation being thus, is that malva pudding is a fact of eating in Namibia.

   The dessert is currently as common as sand in southern Africa. It is a staple on every decent and self-respecting caterer's menu, found in every restaurant, a dependable stainless steel dish filler at every buffet, in addition to serving as the symptomatic sweet course to nasty bickering (with a variety of root causes, naturally), often followed by hurt silences as friends, wives, husbands, extended family (cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, parish priest, Lisa the dachshund) amateur chefs and aspiring cooks compare notes as to who, in their esteemed opinions, makes the best malva pudding south of Madeira and north of the Western Cape. 

   There are several versions of instant malva pudding on the shelves of local retailers and interestingly, some microwave oven varieties (just add water / milk), too. And, there's definitely the possibility in there somewhere, of having bad malva pudding (for some unknown reason). The latter, however, shouldn't be the main reason for ending a romantic liaison, once the prospect of a lifetime of bad malva pudding becomes a certainty. So too, enduring foul-tasting malva pudding should not be an excuse to terminate a friendship, although it may lead one to wonder about other aspects of the association. If there's a lesson to be learnt, it is that one should never allow one negative experience to blight the possibility of enjoying the wonderful selection of malva puddings ''out there''...in Namibia. 

   To get back to the subject matter at hand, malva pudding is indeed a special dessert. We're under a ''new dispensation'', democracy, in southern Africa. Colonialism remains for many Namibians a bitter childhood memory, and therefore, we're just now starting out on that special journey to assess what's culturally valuable and worth keeping for future generations. One of these, without a doubt, is good, reliable old malva pudding. 

   Sweet, soft, excellent served hot, warm or cold, made with the simplest of ingredients and easy to make, every mouthful of malva releases a myriad of memories with a comfortable familiarity and while it bakes, the aroma emanating from the oven, filling the kitchen, wafting into every chamber of the house is as wonderfully fragrant as the week before Christmas. The next time you bring a tablespoon of (great) malva to your mouth, take the time to savour the aroma, enjoy the soft stickiness and of course, the history behind a rather decent, colonial dessert. 

   Ingredients: 
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2 x large eggs (room temperature)
1 x cup of castor sugar (250ml)
1 x table spoon full of smooth apricot jam (nice heap)
1 x 185g of cake flour
1 x teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1 x half a teaspoon of salt
2 x tablespoons full of butter
1 x teaspoon of vinegar
1 x half a cup of milk (125ml)
Small cube of butter for greasing

   Sauce: 
1 x cup of fresh cream (250ml)
1 x half a cup of butter (125ml)
1 x half a cup of soft, brown sugar (125ml)
1 x half a cup of water (125ml)
2 x teaspoons of vanilla essence

   Batter and Bake: 
1) In a large mixing bowl, mix together the 2 x large eggs and cup of castor sugar thoroughly. Add tablespoon of apricot jam. Mix thoroughly again. 
2) In a separate bowl, sift together 185g of cake flour, teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and salt.
3) In a small saucepan, melt the 2 x tablespoons of butter, over low heat (setting 3-4). Stir in the half cup of vinegar and the half cup of milk. Remove from heat after 5 minutes. Do not allow to boil.
4) Fold into large mixing bowl, cake flour mixture and then pour in milk mixture from saucepan. Mix / blend together thoroughly.
5) Grease a medium-sized baking tray (30cm x 8cm high x 20cm) with butter and pour in pudding batter. 
6) Bake on middle shelf for 40 - 45 minutes. If inexperienced, leave oven light on while baking. 

   Sauce: 
   In a saucepan, melt together fresh cream, butter, soft, brown sugar and water over medium heat (setting 4 - 5). Do not let boil. Stir continuously. When butter and sugar are melted, remove from heat and add 2 x teaspoons of vanilla essence. Set aside. 

   Eat and Enjoy: 

   When pudding is baked, remove from oven and pierce top with a fork, spacing piercings regularly (lines or columns). Immediately, pour sauce over the pudding. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. Serve hot with custard or whipped cream. Alternatively, serve cold with vanilla ice-cream or cold custard. 

   First published: 25 February, 2014

   Written by Anya Namaqua Links: anyalinks@gmail.com. No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.