Grazia Barletta

On August 23, we mark the feast St Rose of Lima. Her father was a Spanish soldier from Puerto Rico, and her mother was of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent. Rose herself was mestiza, a child of both worlds, which made her canonisation in 1671 as the first saint of the Americas all the more significant. Born as Isabel Flores de Oliva on April 20, 1586, in Lima, Peru, she stood out from childhood for her piety and as well as for her striking beauty.

In 1905, Anna Jarvis of West Virginia in the US stood at her mother’s graveside, reflecting on her mom’s work with Mother’s Day Work Clubs — groups dedicated to educating families on health precautions, such as boiling drinking water to prevent disease. To honour her mother’s legacy, Anna vowed to establish a day celebrating all mothers and their sacrifices. She fulfilled this promise on May 10, 1908, with the first official Mother’s Day.

Every month in her Cape Town kitchen, Grazia Barletta prepares a recipe inspired by the saints, and shares it with our readers in text and photos taken exclusively for The Southern Cross by the chef herself. Kris Kringle is a cherished figure in Christmas tradition. His origin lies in German-speaking regions where the Christkindl, or Christ-child, traditionally delivers Christmas presents on December 24.