My canvas today is in honour of an age-old Cape Malay tradition of koesiester-making that begins with the drying of naartjie peels.

We pay homage to our great-grandmothers, grandmothers, aunts and moms who would save the naartjie peels and leave it out to dry in a sunny spot or, as my Ouma in Bo Kaap would, on the kitchen windowsill.

Once dried, they’d use a pestle and mortar to pound it into a fine powder. For those of us who remember this would agree that all we could think of were the smell and taste of hot koesiesters every time we saw those dried naartjie peels in the kitchen!

Here in Dubai, I leave the peels out on a cake cooling rack to dry out in a sunny spot, sometimes inside our apartment and sometimes on the balcony outside.

The dried peels are ready when you can easily crack them in half. I place the peels in a spice or coffee bean grinder and grind them until I’m left with a zesty, citrusy powder. The powder can be used in a variety of cakes, bakes and well just about anything that calls for a citrusy flavour. I’ve used it in Moroccan tagine dishes when roasting chicken and to enhance the flavour of spiced leg of lamb and lamb chops.

It’s found its way into my aromatic carrot cake, banana loaf and an array of spiced biscuits … but that’s for another post.