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The present morning room, cooler than the kitchen with its open
hearth, was a spot where heat-sensitive food might be prepared on a
marble-topped table, or where the final touches would have been added
to dishes on their way to the dining room. There is a 19th century
Frisian tail clock, a common sight in the kitchen area of many a Cape
home.
In the kitchen itself, one can visualise the displayed equipment
display in use. A slave, the "houseboy"
July, might prepare a fire in
the hearth early every morning, and hang a kettle of water over it,
poured out of the water-vat in the corner. Later he might pour the hot
water into a washing basin to bring to his mistress upstairs for her
ablutions, keeping some aside to make himself a warm drink. He might
sit for a while on one of the simple spindle chairs kept for the less
grand areas of the home while he had the time.
The fire needed to be kept going all day long in order to prepare food
for the various meals. Meals were large, considering that there were
five children in the family, and at least seven slaves in
addition to this.
The cook, Kito of Mosambique, might prepare and boil a ham in one of
the pots hanging over the fire, or he might be preparing a stock,
simmering on a trivet close by. At the same time loaves of bread could
be baking in the oven to one side of the hearth.
Preserving food was an important ongoing activity, changing with the
seasons. During late summer Kito might look out for extra local fruits
to preserve for winter; or he might buy an extra-large quantity of
fish going at a bargain price, in order to pickle or dry it for the
leaner months. Such food would be stored upstairs in the pantry, in
earthenware jars such as the martavaans, or wooden vats on display.
And in addition to all this, young July would probably still need
constant supervision as he performed one of any number of tasks:
washing dishes in one of the wooden tubs; polishing the silver;
churning the butter; mincing the meat; skimming the fat off the stock;
or adding some more wood to the fire.
Other activities might spill over into the courtyard. If his craft
wasn't being rented by someone else, the slave
Jonas van de Kaap, a
cooper, might be making vats in order to augment the income of the
family, with one of his little children looking on. And
Lafleur and
Lendor, the slave woodcutters, might just be returning home with loads
of wood that they had gone to fetch, bringing with them some of the
local gossip they picked up on the way. If it was Sunday, Lafleur and
Lendor would perhaps take the mistress to Church in her sedan chair,
with Jonas trailing behind, carrying her special church chair. The
church chair on display has the names 'D W Willem Marais' and 'P H du Toit' carved into it.
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