Springbokkies

With national pride bursting from South Africa's seams, it seemed only fitting to indulge in one of our best-kept secrets - marula cream liqueur*. And really, you'd have to be made of stone not to feel patriotic once you've downed a Springbokkie. But wait, what exactly is a marula? And what the heck is  a Springbokkie?

Let's start from the beginning. Marula is the yellow berry from a tree that grows only on African soil - if you want to get proudly South African it really doesn't get much better than this. Urban legend has it that elephants used to get drunk on the fruit that had fallen from the trees and fermented on the ground. Whether this is true, I don't know, what I do know though is that adding the marula fruit to a creamy liqueur base results in pure magic. It is heavenly served simply over crushed ice, but of course us South Africans just love to mix things up and this is how this shooter was born.

The name Springbokkie (which literally means small Springbok), is a reference to the colours of this shooter which resembles that of the Springbok's (the South African national team) jersey colours - green and gold. Mention the word Springbok and many South Africans (especially expats) will get teary-eyed. Little wonder then that when we feel a burst of national pride or are simply feeling nostalgic we often reach for the ingredients to make this proudly South African shooter. And, like the Pringles ad, once you pop, you often find that you can't stop.

===========<() Paaaaaaaaaaarppppppp! Enjoy the SA-Uruguay game tomorrow.

* Overseas readers - visit the Amarula website for details of a supplier near you. Jeanne from Cook Sister has also done a great post on marula cream liqueur - hop on over for more background info.

Springbokkies

1 part creme de menthe

1 part marula cream liqueur

1. Pour creme de menthe into a shotglass, filling it up halfway.

2. Now carefully and slowly pour the marula cream liqueur against the side of the shotglass, filling the glass up. You can also use a spoon to aid you in this process, as its quite tricky to do it right. Hold the spoon against the side of the shotglass and pour the marula cream liqueur directly onto the spoon and into the shot glass. Again, go slowly.

The result should be a clear layer of green peppermint liqueur at the bottom topped by a creamy layer of marula cream liqueur. The trick is to ensure that the layers do not mix in the glass, this is achieved by the slow pouring of the cream liqueur.