Foreword byAlexander McCall Smith

Author ofTheNo. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agencynovels

MmaRamotswe’s

Nourishment for the traditionally built

Stuart Brown

MmaRam

otswe’s

StuartBrow

n

“What a lovely smell itwas, the smell of food.Thatwas one of the great pleasures of life, inMmaRamotswe’s view– the smell of cookingdrifting on thewind; the smell ofmaize cobs

roasting on the open fire, of beef sizzling in its fat,of large chunks of pumpkin boiling in the pot.Theywere part of the smells of Botswana,of home, thatwarmed the heart andmade

themouthwater in anticipation.”

Alexander McCall Smith,Blue Shoes andHappiness

www.birlinn.co.uk

MmaRamotswe’sStuart Brown grew up in Fife with goodcooks and bakers in the family. He hasworked as a teacher, radio journalist and inthe not-for-profit sector. The author ofmany articles,MmaRamotswe’s Cookbook ishis first book.

Stuart lives in Edinburgh andworks withGALVmed (Global Alliance for LivestockVeterinaryMedicines) whose African officeis in Gaborone, Botswana. Millions of people,many of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa,depend on livestock for food, educationand the dignity of self-determination.

GALVmed is workingwith partners to upscaleexisting livestock vaccines and pioneer thedevelopment of new ones tomake themaffordable and accessible to the people whoneed themmost.

Royalties from the sales of this bookwill goto good causes in Botswana.

www.galvmed.org

Cover design by EmmaQuinn& James Hutcheson

Illustration by IainMcIntosh

Calligraphy by Ruth Rowland

SippingRedbush tea and stirring the richand fragrant stew thatwouldmake a finemealforMr J.L.B.Matekoni and the children,MmaRamotswe, Botswana’s foremost lady detective,reflected upon how lucky shewas to live insuch a beautiful country.

Woodsmokewafted through the open doorway,transporting Precious Ramotswe back toMochudi and childhoodwith her dear daddy,the late ObedRamotswe. Up and down thecountry, fires would be lit under great cast-ironpots, as women, towhommuch of theworkseemed to fall, conjured up delicious traditionaldishes. Flecks ofMopanewood ashwouldmixwith the tang of acacia, spiralling into the vastexpanse of emptiness, the Bush, where her heartlay and thewealth ofwildlife drew visitors toshare in the beauty of Botswana.

Therewould be comfortingmealiemeal,delicious ripe pumpkin, village chicken -so chewy and flavoursome and,when it couldbe afforded, some of Botswana’s delicious beef.How fortunate, also, she reflected, tastingthe stew thatwas thickening nicely, to be atraditionally built lady, at ease in one’s own skin,free to enjoy home-made biscuits withMmaMakutsi or some of the persuasive fruitcakeof the indomitableMatron of theOrphan Farm,MmaPotokwani.

Teawent sowell with all of these foods and gaveone time to think, it really did, particularlywhenthe tea in questionwas Redbush…

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Foreword by Alexander McCall Smith vii

Introduction ix

BushTeaBeginnings 1

On the Scent ofRoastingMealies 39

Stewand theComfort ofHeavenly Food 77

Dessert: The Stoep inMochudi 121

Acknowledgements 145

Index 147

Glossary 151

Contents

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vi

When you invent a fictional character you give a hostage to fortune: the character doesnot belong just to you – he or she belongs to readers and to the world at large. So othersmay propose to give your character a larger life, whether on the screen or in some othercontext. Most authors are wary of this – and understandably so; many literary charactershave been made to do and say things they would never dream of doing in the hands oftheir original begetter.

It was a happy day for me when Stuart Brown came to ask me if he could write a MmaRamotswe cookbook. I already knew Stuart and I was confident that he would producesomething with which I – and Mma Ramotswe – would be perfectly happy. I knew thathe had made a very detailed study of the books and indeed it seemed to me that he knewmore about them than I did myself. Authors often forget the details.

When Stuart showed me a draft of the book I was astonished at the extent to which foodis mentioned in the original books. I do not remember endowing these books with quiteso many culinary references, but there is no doubt that I did. That is not because MmaRamotswe is a glutton – it is just that she often thinks about things when cooking oreating, and so it was understandable, then, that there should be a fair number ofreferences to food.

The cuisine of sub-Saharan Africa is not widely known in the wider world. This bookis to be welcomed in redressing that situation and in bringing to the attention ofreaders some of the tasty dishes with which the cooks of Africa – many of them womenvery much like Mma Ramotswe – feed their families. Do not look for great culinaryelaboration here – look instead for good, nutritious fare, exactly the sort of food that wecan imagine gracing the table as Mma Ramotswe sits down to dinner with Mr J.L.B.Matekoni and the children after a hard day’s work in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agencyand Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. Can I smell pumpkin? I think I can. Do I hear thesound of cattle lowing in the distance? I think I do. Is all well in the kitchens ofBotswana? I think it is.

AlexanderMcCall Smith

Foreword

vii

viii

Letlhafula: harvest thanksgiving

This book began with a meal. In 2001, I found myself sitting next toAlexander McCall Smith at a conference dinner in Stockholm. There wasa great deal of laughter around the table and cooking was discussed, theconcept of ‘unreconstructed males’ touched upon and the name ElizabethDavid mentioned in exalted tones.

Upon joining the millions who appreciate Alexander McCall Smith’saffectionate and humorous tales, I was struck by the prominence ofcooking and eating in the stories. Sharing Mma Ramotswe’s relish forfood, I suggested a cookbook to McCall Smith who has been hugelyencouraging throughout the process.

The result has no pretensions to being a definitive guide to the cookeryof Botswana, but is written in a spirit of celebration for the people andthe place. It seeks to offer a flavour of the foods dear to Mma Ramotsweas well as an approving appraisal of the traditional build, the larger-sizedfigure that signifies prosperity and the enlightened state of being at ease inone’s own skin. The book also reproduces recipes from people in Botswana,keen to share their cuisine with others everywhere, because they arekind-hearted and love their country.

Whilst many of the ingredients required are to be found online andinternationally in African grocers and butchers, some remain elusiveoutside Botswana. Where possible, alternatives are suggested and aglossary of terms is provided at the back as well as an index.

I hope that you will enjoy this book, whether as a companion to McCallSmith’s stories; for the beautiful photography and design; as a stove-siderecipe guide; or a gentle encouragement to explore Botswana.

Stuart BrownAugust 2009

Introduction

ix

14

Picnic at Gaborone Dam

Persuasive FruitcakeIngredients:

9 oz driedmixed fruit 4 oz chopped almonds9 oz soft butter ormargarine 7 oz caster sugar4 eggs 11 ozflour4 oz cornflour 3 tsp bakingpowderGrated rind of 1 lemon Icing sugar

Method:

Grease a 10-inch baking tinwith somebutter.

Preheat oven to 1800C – fan-assisted oven to 1600C.

Creambutter ormargarine inmixer and add sugar.

Add eggs one at a time,mixing in thoroughly before adding thenext egg, and continueuntil all the sugarhas dissolved.

Sift flour, corn flour andbakingpowder over the buttermixture.

Once the flourmixture has been incorporated, add fruitmix, almonds and lemon rind.

Pour batter into baking tin and smooth over the top.

Bake cake for 1 hour and 15minutes.

Remove from tin and cool on a rack.

Before serving, cover cakewith sifted icing sugar.

CakeandtheArtofPumpMaintenance

Mr J.L.B. Matekoni saw the cake, and for a moment he frowned.He knewMma Potokwani, and the presence of a large cake, speciallymade for the occasion, was an unambiguous signal that she had arequest to make of him. A cake of this size, and emitting such astrong smell of raisins, would mean amajor mechanical problem.(The Full Cupboard of Life)

Mma Potokwani was herself an old hand at baking and stirredwith the same vigourwithwhich shechanged gear and generallymet life head-on. As far asMmaRamotswe knew, theMatron followedthe same recipe asMmaGotofede (but thewithholding of amagic ingredient or twowas notunknown in themost competitive of cake- and jam-making circles) and her cakewas spell-binding.BothMmaRamotswe andMr J.L.B.Matekoni knew that the formula for the cake’s richness and thesize of piece (or pieces) that slid hypnotically onto their plates, bore a direct correlation to the scale ofthe favour that would follow, yet eachwas rendered powerless in its presence.

Bush Tea Beginnings

15

The famous Orphan Farm pump

‘Cake,’ saidMma Ramotswe quickly. ‘That is Mr J.L.B. Matekoni’sgreat weakness. He cannot help himself when it comes to cake.He can be manipulated very easily if he has a plate of cake in his hand.’

MmaMakutsi laughed. ‘Mma Potokwani knows that, doesn’t she?’she said. ‘I have seen her gettingMr J.L.B. Matekoni to do all sortsof things for her just by offering him pieces of that fruitcake of hers.’(Blue Shoes and Happiness)

While she instilled a proper African strictness and sense of Botswana values in the Orphan Farm,Mma Potokwani would do anything for the children entrusted to her care. A formidable advocate forthem, she does not take ‘no’ for an answer from anyonewho can provide support. In one such instance,the persuasiveMatron, unleashing fruitcake upon an unsuspecting surgeon, had secured an operationon a child’s leg. ForMr J.L.B.Matekoni, the invitation to visitMma Potokwani and the subsequentsight of cakewas a sure sign that the Orphan Farm pump, which should long since have been retired,needed hismechanical skills.

That was her technique, he now understood; just as Eve had used anapple to trap Adam, soMma Potokwani used fruitcake. Fruitcake,apples; it made no difference really. Oh foolish, weak men!(The Full Cupboard of Life)

Bush Tea Beginnings

16

Motholeli’s Disappearing Banana CakeMotholeli has found that her younger brother Puso can polish off her cake in just two days.

Ingredients:

3 bananas (quite ripe onesworkbest, although anybananaswill do)2 eggs6 oz caster sugar8 oz plainflour1 tsp salt1 tsp bicarbonate of sodaDemerara sugar (to sprinkle on top)

Method:

Squish the bananas in a bowl andmix in the beaten eggs.Add the caster sugar, flour, salt andbicarbonate of soda (noneed to beat themixture, just stir itwell). Pour into a buttered loaf tin andsprinkle the topwith theDemerara sugar. Bake in the oven at 1600C for 1 hour (best to check it after50minutes by putting a skewer in to test if it comes out clean – although check a fewplaces as if youhit a lumpof banana itwon’t come out clean). Leave it in the tin for aminute or two, and then turnout on to a cooling rack. Best eatenwarm, spreadwith butter.

Mma Sechele’s Ginger Date LoafThis loaf comes out beautifully.

Ingredients:

1 lb dates 5 oz butter2 oz bicarbonate of soda 2 tsp cinnamon1 tspmixed spice 2 tsp groundginger4 cups plainflour or cakeflour 1 cup seedless raisins1½ cups sugar 2 eggs2 cups boilingwater

Method:

Take a large bowl and add cut-up dates to the raisins. Addbutter, eggs, sugar, bicarbonate of sodaand spices. Pour boilingwater over. Fold in and allow to cool. Fold in the flour.Bake in twobread tins at 1750C for 1 hour.

Bush Tea Beginnings

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18

Fresh produce, Mochudi

TheTraditionalBuildandThreats fromOutside

She enjoyed her food, certainly, but she was also very active . . . All women had been thatbuild, and it had brought them good fortune and success; there was no point, she felt, beinga thin and unhappy person when the attractions of being a comfortable person were soevident. Andmen liked women like that too. It was a terrible thing that the outside worldhad done to Africa, bringing in the idea that slender ladies, some of them as thin as asebokolodi, a millipede, should be considered desirable. That was not what men reallywanted. Men wanted women whose shape reminded them of good things on the table.(The Full Cupboard of Life)

The ‘traditional build’ is a stature that perhaps requires no explanation butwhichMmaRamotswe, whobuys size 22 blouses, once helpfully defined as: ‘ . . . the shape thatAfrican ladies are traditionallymeantto be’ (Blue Shoes andHappiness). Beingwell built equates towellbeing and prosperity, a symbol of successand status. Prior to gettingmarried,MmaRamotswe had looked forward to feeding her husband up sothat hewould quickly put onweight and, as she put it ‘lookmore like the prosperous garage owner hewas’. Feeding yourman properly is a sign of love, this proud formproving that a husband is beinglooked after and awell-built wife demonstrating that he, in turn, is being a good provider.

InAfrica, well-built ladies have always been appreciated.Whilst unfocused on theirwork, one thing forwhich the twoApprentices could be relied uponwas a frank appraisal of the appearance ofwomen andrepresentative of their countrymen, theywould attest to the importance of the large, traditionally builtbottom.MmaRamotswe felt a little uncomfortable bringing tomind the predilections of theseimmaturemen but, like a compliment from a child, such an unfiltered testimonialmade a compellingcase for the statelier seatwhich had to bemore comfortable than a bony bottom.

MmaRamotswewas not an admirer of form achieved through avarice or ill-gotten gains. She recalledthe spare partsman,HarryMoloso, with his beer belly (ample in its spareness), andMmaTsau’s greedyhusband,whose stomachwas so large from eating the best cuts ofmeat stolen from the catering college,that he could no longer see beyond his gut.

That would serve him right, thoughtMma Ramotswe. Being a traditionally built ladywas one thing; being a traditionally built man was quite another. And it was certainlynot so good.(The Full Cupboard of Life)

Importantly, toMmaRamotswe, the larger frame signifies that a person shares her appreciation ofthe good things on their plate, values the opportunities they have, andmakes themost of life, in all itsabundance. Such a carriage bestowed an appropriate physical presence for commanding figures suchasMmaPotokwaniwho had achieved, inMmaRamotswe’s eyes ‘an unusually traditional shape’.

Bush Tea Beginnings

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56

Pumpkin: a favourite of Mma Ramotswe

The yellow flesh of a pumpkin or a squash, boiled and then softened with alump of butter (if one’s budget stretched to that) was one of God’s greatest giftsto Botswana. And it tasted so good too, with a slice of fine Botswana beef,dripping in gravy. (The Full Cupboard of Life)

Mma Ramotswe is a great champion of the pumpkin, particularly large ripened ones that follow therainy season, which are just right for traditionally built ladies. A good pumpkin reveals itself whenyou pick it up. If it is heavy, then it is ready, and weight is more important than size in pumpkins, aswith melons. The white pumpkins are nice, but Mma Ramotswe favours the round, greenish oneswhich have such flavour. Prepared as a side vegetable, pumpkin can also be steamed or roasted with itsskin on, which, like the jackets of baked potatoes, contains much goodness. They can also be peeled ormashed with butter.

Pumpkin Leaves with Tomato and OnionServes 2

Ingredients:

Abunchof tenderest pumpkin leaves 4 tomatoes cut into ringsSalt and red pepper Cooking oil¾ cupwater 1 onion, sliced

Method:Clean the leaves thoroughly. Strip the thickest fibres from the stems and leaves. Cut the leaves andstems into desired size. Boil thewater in a saucepan, adding salt andpepper.Addpumpkin leaves andcover tightly. Simmeruntil pumpkin leaves are cooked thendrain off thewater. Fry onion in the oiluntil soft, add the tomatoes and cook for 5minutes. Add thismixture to the pumpkin leaves and cookfor another 5minutes. Serve.

Pumpkin Leaves with GroundnutsServes 2

Ingredients:

Abunchof tender pumpkin leaves (add ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda to the pumpkin leavesif they are not very young, to soften them).

1 sliced onion 3 chopped tomatoes

Salt andpepper 3 tbs of groundnuts, or peanut butter

Method:Clean leaves and cut into small pieces. Boil ½ cupwater and add salt to it. Addpumpkin leaves. Lowerheat to simmer.When leaves are slightly cooked add the onion, tomatoes andpoundedgroundnuts.Addpepper. Cook for 10 – 15minutesmore, stirring occasionally. Serve.

On the Scent of RoastingMealies

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Squash and pumpkin are favourites in Zebra Drive

Steamed Pumpkin SlicesServes 6

Ingredients:

Pumpkin

Water

Salt

Sugar (optional)

Butter

Method:

To steam, place slices of pumpkin in a panwith a littlewater, salt (and sugar, if you love your sugar asMmaRamotswedoes). Coverwith a lid, ensuring that thewater does not all evaporate. Cook for 30 –40minutes until the outer skin is soft (the greenish pumpkinhas a thicker skin). Servewith butter.

Themystery of life! thoughtMmaRamotswe. The mystery of pumpkins.Why are pumpkins the shape they are?Why is the flesh of the pumpkin thecolour it is? Can anybody explain that, or is it just something that is? Againshe struggled to stop her train of thought and concentrated on what TrevorMwambawas saying. (In the Company of Cheerful Ladies)

Roasting pumpkin slices in the oven takes longer and as with baked potatoes they can be cooked in tinfoil or not, depending on how you like the skin. Either way, you must put some dots of butter on theskin to avoid it drying out too much. It is very tasty baked in foil with a little bit of cinnamon stick orground cinnamon sprinkled over the butter. Pumpkins can also make lovely soup or fritters. One ofMotholeli’s favourites, pumpkin is among the repertoire that she and Puso and Mr J.L.B. Matekonihave cooked for Mma Ramotswe.

Mma Ramotswe was greatly impressed when Mrs Moffat explained how a great Scottish writer, RraBurns, who is now late, had written a poem honouring a Scottish dish and that school students todayall read about the haggis. The pumpkin deserves similar treatment and her countrymen could put ona suitable spectacle, Mma Ramotswe reflected, one in which Mr J.L.B. Matekoni could play a quietlyheroic role. But sometimes it is enough to celebrate things without too much fanfare. To appreciatedelicious, ripe pumpkin by enjoying it with family or friends, that is enough.

On the Scent of RoastingMealies

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Pumpkin and Sweet Cane

Curried Pumpkin SoupServes 6

Ingredients:

2 lb 4 oz pumpkinflesh (no skin or pips), roughly chopped

1 large potato, peeled and roughly chopped

1 large onion, choppedfinely

1 tspmediumorhot curry powder

4 cupswater

Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

2 skinned, seeded and roughly chopped tomatoes

Method:

Place prepared vegetables in a large pot.Add curry powder andwater andbring to the boil, stirringoccasionally. Reduceheat, cover and simmer for 20 – 25minutes or until vegetables are very tender.Remove fromheat. Spoonmixture carefully into an electric blender andblenduntil smooth.Return to pot, add salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Bring back to boil, stirring frequently.Thin downwith extra boilingwater if necessary.

It was time to take the pumpkin out of the pot and eat it. In the final analysis,that was what solved these big problems in life. You could think and think andget nowhere, but you still had to eat your pumpkin. That gave you a reasonfor going on (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency)

Butternut SoupServes 6

Especially good for an evening, this soup doesn’t take long to make.

Ingredients:

2 lb butternut 3 potatoes

1 onion (white or red), chopped ½ oz butter

6 tsp chicken stock powder 4 cups coldwater

Method:

Dice the butternut andpotatoes andmix together.Melt butter in pan and soften vegetables in it.Add thewater and stock powder and cook for 40minutes.

On the Scent of RoastingMealies

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76

Respect forCattle

They shared the landwith cattle andwith birds andthemany other creatures that could be seen if only onewatched. It was easy perhaps not to think about this inthe town, where there was food to be had from shopsandwhere runningwater came from taps, but formany people this was not how life was.(Morality for Beautiful Girls)

Mma Ramotswe is a true Motswana in her love of and respect for cattle. Her late father Obed Ramotswe,in common with many of his generation, had looked upon his cattle as if they were family and someimagined the ancestors and cattle in heaven. Such was their knowledge of their animals that they couldtell one member of a large herd from another, based on a partial sighting at an oblique angle moving atspeed in the bush.

It was essential, in Mma Ramotswe’s mind, both out of respect for these fine animals and for the tasteof the meat, that their end was as swift and dignified as possible.

Stew and theComfortofHeavenly Food

Chapter3

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78

Meat is theMainThing

. . . boys should have good appetites, and it was natural for them towantto eat large amounts of cake and sweet things. As they grew older, theywouldmove tomeat, whichwas very important for aman.(The Kalahari Typing School for Men)

Meat is themain thing andmeat, in Botswana,means beef. Yes, there is othermeat, but beef isNo. 1 by a longway. It is important for strength – that is a well known fact, thoughtMmaRamotswe– particularly when cooked on the bone. Batswana like theirmeat well done and are used totaking time over chewing it. If ameal did not containmeat,many Batswanamenwould statematter-of-factly that they had not eaten. Any side-salad or ‘green stuff’ that strays onto the plateof some traditional-minded Batswanamen is likely to be treatedwith some contempt. Protein ismuch prized andmenwho can afford it bank on a hefty portion.

. . . perfectionwaswhat Botswanawanted for its meat. After all,Botswana beef was fine, grass-fed beef, and tasted somuch better thanthemeat of those poor cattle whichwere kept cooped up orwhichwere fedfood that cattle should not eat.(In the Company of Cheerful Ladies)

TheBotswanaMeat Commission (BMC) has extremely high standards and thanks to the far-sightednessof those who took pre-emptive steps to protect Botswana’s cattle frommajor disease, such as Foot andMouth, is one of the fewAfrican countries today allowed to export their qualitymeat all over theworld, indeed it ismuch sought after. It is true that Botswana imports a great deal fromher neighbour,SouthAfrica, but it should be amatter of national pride that this thriving industry, founded onBotswana’s excellent cattle, enables people anywhere in theworld to experience Botswana’s first-classproduce. Better still, due to the affluence of the nation,more andmore people in Botswana arethemselves able to eat the excellent beef, produced in their own country.

An eighth of the income at Tlokweng Road SpeedyMotors came from a cattle transport firm ownedby a friend ofMr J.L.B.Matekoni’s andMmaRamotswewas sure that this success was due both toefficiency and to the standards of care accorded by this company to the animals. She had once had,fromher point of view, a rather unsatisfactory exchangewith one of theApprentices about the lastjourney of a chicken, tied to the back of a bicycle and this coalesced in hermindwith an image of adung beetle in the vegetable garden in theHouse ofHopewhich had struck her emblematically as:

a small bit of nature strugglingwith another small bit of nature, but asimportant as everything else in the world(The Full Cupboard of Life)

Stew and the Comfort ofHeavenly Food

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Rra Read’s Morula Steak

Serves 10 – 12

TheHead Chef at the Gaborone SunHotel, Rra Read, first enjoyed thismemorable dish undera huge oldMorula tree on a friend’s farm in the Tuli block, hence its name. He had given therecipe to Phuti Radiphuti’s aunt whowas known for her acuity ofmind and liked the fact thatthis is similar to a braai (barbecue) dish, but hasmore to it.

Ingredients:

7 – 8 lbs (2-inch thick) slice of beef buttock, bone in (your butcherwill have to prepare this)

Marinade:

Juice from 1 lemon

1 tbs olive oil

Coarse salt

Black pepper (freshly ground)

1 tbs crusheddried chilli

3 cloves crushedgarlic

Method:

Mix allmarinade ingredients and rub onto the steak, cover and rest for aminimumof 2hoursat room temperature. Flame-grill over hot coals on the braai (barbecue), until the 2 sides haveanice grilled colour. Place the steak onto an oven tray and roast it in a 2000Cpre-heated ovenfor 18minutes if you like itmediumrare or longer if youwant itwell done, asmost Batswanado.Whenyou take it out the oven let it rest at room temperature for at least 10minutes; thiswillallow themeat to relax and itwill become tender.

To serve – slice thin strips off the steak as youwouldwith roast beef, and servewith bakedsweet potatoes and a fresh green salad.

Stew and the Comfort ofHeavenly Food

81

Foreword byAlexander McCall Smith

Author ofThe No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agencynovels

MmaRamotswe’s

Nourishment for the traditionally built

Stuart Brown

StuartBrow

n

“What a lovely smell itwas, the smell of food.Thatwas one of the great pleasures of life, inMmaRamotswe’s view– the smell of cookingdrifting on thewind; the smell ofmaize cobs

roasting on the open fire, of beef sizzling in its fat,of large chunks of pumpkin boiling in the pot.Theywere part of the smells of Botswana,of home, thatwarmed the heart andmade

themouthwater in anticipation.”

Alexander McCall Smith,Blue Shoes and Happiness

www.birlinn.co.uk

MmaRamotswe’s

9 781846 971396

I

£18.99

978 1 84697 139 6

MmaRam

otswe’s

cover artwork printed case:cover artwork 16/10/09 15:14 Page 1