We recently started making “grasbrood” at Klein JAN; long, thin bread sticks hidden in a bouquet of Kalahari grass that have proven to be a big hit. Our secret? They’re made of vetkoek dough, which lends them a delicious sweetness you wouldn’t expect from a savoury treat. Getting them reed-thin takes a lot of practice, but no matter what your skill level, they’re easy to make and go with almost anything. This last week in Cape Town, I’ve really been craving the taste of trout, so I whipped up a creamy trout pâte to go with my Kalahari-inspired bread sticks. Needless to say, they were all gone almost as soon as they landed on the table.
VETKOEK STOKKIES WITH A TROUT PÂTÉ
TIME: for the bread – rising of the dough around 2 hours + 5 minutes baking, garlic – 1 hour, trout pate – 30 minutes | SERVES: 8

for the vetkoek stokkies
500 g (890 ml) cake flour
60 g (75 ml) sugar
10 g instant yeast
10 g salt
320 ml water
polenta
for the baked garlic
3 garlic bulbs
olive oil
coarse salt
for the trout pâté
olive oil
250 g trout fillet
10 g chives, roughly chopped
10 g fresh dill
juice of 1 lemon
125 g cream cheese
45 ml cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper


for the vetkoek stokkies
Place the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a mixing bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the water and mix well. Knead the dough for 10 minutes. Line a clean bowl with a little sunflower oil, place the dough in the bowl and cover with a kitchen cloth. Leave to rise until double in size. Heat the oven to 180 °C. Divide the dough into small balls and roll them into long thin sticks. Line a baking tray with baking paper and sprinkle polenta on top. Place the dough sticks on the tray and sprinkle with more polenta. Place in the oven and bake for 5 – 8 minutes. Take out and repeat with the rest of dough.
for the baked garlic
Slice the tops off the garlic bulbs. Place the garlic on top of a large piece of foil. Drizzle a good amount of olive oil on top of each garlic bulb. Sprinkle with salt and close the foil. Place on a baking tray and pop into the oven for 1 hour until soft.

for the trout pâté
Heat the oven to 180 °C. Drizzle a little olive oil on a baking tray and place the trout skin side down on the tray. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Take out and let it cool. Remove the skin and place the trout in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and spoon into a serving bowl. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving. Serve with the bread sticks and garlic.