This glossary covers the Marshal Beck series of stories – which I’ll be adding to!
Biltong
Dried meat eaten as a snack – similar to beef jerky
Bobotie
A South African dish made from curried minced meat and sultanas topped with an egg and milk mixture and baked in the oven.
Braai
Cooking meat over an outdoor fire – i.e. barbecue
Bushveld / veld
Grassland, typically wild and wide open, found throughout South Africa (and southern Africa)
Gentian Violet
A liquid disinfectant, purple in colour, which was a staple in first aid boxes in the 1980s alongside mercurochrome, which was red
Khakibos
Also known as wild marigold, this is a hardy weed with a particular smell and found all over the veld
Mampoer
Mampoer is a high-alcohol spirit made from fruit and typically homemade – much like moonshine
Shebeen
Historically an unlicenced tavern that served alcohol – nowadays in South Africa they are legal drinking establishments
Tikoloshe
An evil spirit / dwarf-like creature that can be summoned to cause trouble in communities – known for attacking people while they sleep