Buying a bakkis for breadmaking

One of the most important pieces of furniture in a traditional Cape kitchen from the earliest times up to the early years of the 1900’s must be the bakkis or baking trough. Up until at least the 1920’s many remote farms in the Cape had to be self-sustainable, and the kitchen was the heart of the farm complex. Bread was baked for everybody working and living on the farm. As large-scale baking was a laborious process made more challenging by a scarcity of wood fuel for the ovens, baking was centralised either in a bakhuis (bakery) or in the kitchen of the homestead. The wood-fired oven was generally situated to the rear left in the hearth in larger homesteads or in a freestanding outside oven for smaller houses. Every homestead would have the necessary equipment for the purpose of making bread. This would include, amongst other things, a meelkis (flour chest) and a bakkis (baking trough).

The bakkis (dough trough) in the foreground

The meelkis was a large chest with three or four compartments for storing different kinds of flour. According to Dr Mary Cook in her book “The Cape Kitchen”, published in 1973, the compartments were used for storing coarse meal, fine (sifted) meal, bran and perhaps some other meal.

The meelkis (flour chest)

The meelkis on the Towerwater loft is made of Oregon pine and has a sloping lid with hinges. It houses three compartments and is 750mm high X 1350mm long X 500mm wide. It stands flat on the floor although one does find meelkiste which are raised off the ground on low feet.

The compartmentalised meelkis (flour chest) for storing different types of flour

The Towerwater meelkis was sourced at an auction of Paul Roux’s shop contents in Ashton, after his death in December 2005. Although the woodfired oven in the kitchen can accommodate many loaves for baking, I doubt if the meelkis will ever need to be used for the storing of flour at Towerwater.

The demand for loaves of bread has shrunk like the farm the house stood on that many years ago. We might not have a need for storing large quantities of flour, but it felt right that the house should once again have a meelkis as a point of reference for its restored large wood-fired oven.

The bakoond (wood-fired oven) door in the hearth

We were lucky to find a Cape meelkis on auction when we did. We were not so lucky when it came to a bakkis. When Keith started to explore the making of authentic Cape sweet sourdough yeast and bread, the need for a bakkis escalated. Keith believed that the ancient micro-organisms captured in a well-used bakkis will aid in the making of the perfect traditional Cape yeast and bread.

A close-up of the typical dovetailing detail

The sides of the bakkis slopes inward. This feature aids in the kneading of the dough in the trough. The lid of the bakkis is loose so that it can be removed to allow for the kneading of the dough. According to Dr Mary Cook, the lids in the earlier bakkiste typically had stinkwood edging.

A view from above showing detail of the lid trim

An example of hinged "bakkis", source: Ou Kaapse Meubels, Dr Mathilda Burden, 2013

The bakkis that has hinges is probably a broodkis (bread chest) for storing bread (DR Mary Cook, The Cape Kitchen, 1973 – p68), or a meelkis that had legs added to it (Dr Mathilda Burden, Ou Kaapse Meubels, 2013 – p35, or a wakis (wagon chest) on legs (M Baraitser and A Obholzer, Cape Country Furniture, 1971 – p255).

Bakkis, lid removed for kneading dough

I was fortunate enough to buy a bakkis at an auction in Robertson recently. At last Keith will be able to pursue his breadmaking passion with the aid of a traditional bakkis.

Bread, from flour in the meelkis, kneading in the bakkis to baking in the bakoond

I doubt if anybody else has bought an antique bakkis to use for its intended purpose. The bakkis is a proud addition to the collection of Cape furniture at Towerwater. Currently, the bakkis is used to proof the regular fresh yeast dough before baking the bread and to store the bread after it has been baked. The plan is to use it to grow the sweet sourdough culture and then to mix and knead the dough in it for a true Cape sweet sourdough bread. 

Images of bakkiste, source:Cape Country Furniture, M. Baraitser and A. Obholzer, 1971

Images of bakkiste, source:Cape Country Furniture, M. Baraitser and A. Obholzer, 1971

Sources:

Cape Furniture, M. G. Atmore,1965

Cape Country Furniture, Michael Baraitser and Anton Obholzer, 1971

The Cape Kitchen, Dr Mary Cook, 1973

Cape Antique Furniture, Michael Baraitser and Anton Obholzer, 2004

Ou Kaapse Meubels, Dr Mathilda Burden, 2013