I am on a journey to learn how to cook with local indigenous plants. I am situated in what is called the Fynbos Biome, a plant kingdom with one of the most diverse species in the world. I think my own garden has more than 75 species of plants. Some have died, some will die, and others will take their place. Various species of these fynbos plants are medicinal but also edible. The problem is that most of these plants can only be found in this area of the world because of the winter rainy season and temperate climate. Only a handful of people know how to cook with it.
In many other posts, I have tried to document my cooking with these ingredients. For example, spekboom, African Sage (Salvia Chamelaeagnea), spekboom and purslane chutney, and so on. Spekboom, however, is actually not fynbos and not indigenous to the area, which is funny because the local municipality has been planting it all over the place.
In any case, some of the plants can also be used as herbs. And I found a plant that might just be better than thyme when paired with mushrooms!
The confetti bush (Coleonema calycinum or Coleonema album), sometimes referred to as aas bossie because the old-time fisherman used it to freshen up their stinky fish hands, is a wonderful plant. When it blooms, it is completely covered in flowers, hence the name confetti bush.
But it smells wonderful. I cannot for the life of me explain the smell, but for everyone I have asked to explain it, different explanations have come forth. Some have likened it to the smell of a mixture between black pepper and coriander seeds, to me, it has a unique artificial bubblegum smell (not taste), and to others, it is in some herbal sense similar to thyme. The sad thing is that few people will ever experience it because it is really unheard of being used in cooking. Even when I tried to ask locals, they looked at me funny. Some have tried to cook with it but I think most people do not even know that you can use it.
Before I ramble on too much, let me show you how I use it in a simple mushroom and white sauce pasta with chicken!
For this dish, I used:
The first thing, is to obviously collect some of the confetti bush. You get different kinds though. The more standard one has white flowers, but I also have one they call sunshine gold, for the obvious reason, but they have blue flowers. It is really beautiful.
It will be a happy day when we can buy some of these in the local shops, but until that day, I will trim my own plants and use them in my cooking.
I then brown the mushrooms:
Also, brown the chicken and make a very simple white sauce on the side. I added a lot of parmesan cheese to the white sauce.
After all this is done, mix everything together with the pasta and white sauce.
My main focus was on the confetti bush, so I tried to keep the ingredients very simple so that the unique flavor shone. Everyone who had some could not believe that I used fynbos and they just loved the unique flavor.
We are so enmeshed within western and capitalistic/globalist society that we cannot solely rely on indigenous food anymore. But this gives a unique opportunity to cook with these standard produce (brown mushroom, chicken, pasta) but to add ingredients that you cannot find anywhere else in the world (such as the fynbos and confetti bush). It really makes for a unique combination and unique flavor profile.
I really hope that you might try this one day. Even if only via someone who might grow this plant in your area. I know various plants have been so widely distributed that you cannot take it to only grow in South Africa.
All of the photographs are my own, taken with my iPhone, and the recipe is also my own. I really hope you cook it, and enjoy it! Happy cooking, stay well.
