Johannesburg – I was saddened to hear of the passing of Paula Blacking, a former Angela Day, as The Star’s food editor is known. She died of cancer on Monday, March 30.
Paula was involved with food and cooking for most of her life. She grew up on a farm where she helped her mother prepare cheese, jams, preserves, bake bread and cakes, salt beef and make sausages. A training ground like this had to turn out an accomplished cook.
While on treatment for her cancer last year, Paula produced her second cookbook, Recipes to Remember, dedicated to all her mother had taught her.
Paula was also a social anthropologist and did fieldwork in Venda, focusing on cooking methods and diet.
Her daughter Jessica Baker told me her mom referred to herself as “gastro-anthropologist” as she loved studying the food of other cultures.
She was probably most famous for her expertise in Indonesian cooking and was the first person to introduce the Indonesian rijsttafel (a Dutch word meaning rice table) to South Africa. She spent three months in Indonesia and developed a love for the country’s food and ingredients.
This extended to a love of all Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines and she became the expert one consulted if one needed information on the topic.
Jessica says Paula loved to teach and cooking was not the only subject she taught. Many students from McAuley House School in Parktown received distinctions in Afrikaans because of her enthusiastic teaching.
During her varied career, she was Ann Wise of the Sunday Times and Angela Day of The Star. She also worked for Mike’s Kitchen, developing menus, and was responsible for introducing its famous salad bar.
Paula then opened her own cookery school where she shared her knowledge with many students who were inspired by her passion.
In 2008 she published a collection of her recipes in a cookbook called A Lifetime of Cooking.
Paula was responsible for bringing famous chefs to South Africa as part of The Star Food and Wine Fair. Robert Carrier acquired many South African fans when she invited him to be the guest of honour at a dinner held at the Carlton Centre in the 1980s. She was also lucky enough to cook in the kitchens of notable chefs such as Paul Bocuse and Pierre Troisgros.
She will be sorely missed by all who knew her.
The Star