Willie Strauss Never an idle moment

A variety concert... that is how to approach your life and career when you want to survive as an artist living in the platteland. So says singer, lyricist and radio food expert Willie Strauss, who entices visitors to Die Sinkstoor in Cullinan with traditional offal and his mother's Bushmanland boerekos.

- JOHAN VAN ZYL

Forget about poor Alice, who first had to take a clumsy tumble down a rabbit hole before she discovered her subterranean wonderland. In the mining town of Cullinan, it takes just the blink of an eye before you are launched into Willie Strauss's unique solar system. Simply step through the green door in an equally green corrugated fence.

Prepare yourself for what lies behind this unremarkable portal: a farmyard scene that includes seven adopted dogs (Kosie, Gerda, Bella, Hester, Thembi, Rentia and her son, Frikkie, that all come from Wet Nose Animal Rescue Centre in Bronkhorstspruit), four sphynx cats (with which Willie once bred and entered cat shows), two British shorthair cats, two swans and a platoon of noisy ducks and flamboyant Polish chickens. A variety of comfortable spaces has been created in shady spots and, on certain Sundays, guests gather here at Die Sinkstoor tea garden and trading store to enjoy traditional boerekos. The food is prepared exactly as Willie's late mother once cooked it on her green-and-yellow Jewel wood stove at the family's Vyfbeker sheep farm, situated in the Kenhardt district. The menu almost always includes offal, along with other traditional hits such as chicken or venison pie, marrow bones, rolled pork, and mutton stew.

"It's mostly older people who come here, people who no longer have the strength for, or interest in, malls," says Willie, but he immediately adds that he is surprised by the younger generation who eat the offal just as enthusiastically, even though it's not something they ate while growing up. Many visitors come here specially for the offal. "Just as surprising is the number of English-speaking guests; you won't believe how many of them listen to RSG or Pretoria FM," says Willie, who often shares entertaining stories and mouthwatering recipes on these radio stations. (He is not remunerated for this but says that the exposure is invaluable.)