Ginger & Spice

An Irishwoman, a kung-fu black belt and a confectioner walk into a bar… Plot twist! They’re all the same person. Rebecca Timkoe, founder of Gqeberha’s now legendary Ginger Pops, talks sweets with Khanya Mzongwana

- By Khanya Mzongwana. Photography by Jan Ras

We either don’t speak for months, or we talk on the phone for hours, occasionally interrupted by our lives, pets or things we forgot on the stove.

We first met in 2012 at a night market at The Granary in Gqeberha, where she had a stall selling peanut butter-swirled brownies, cupcakes and French macarons. Markets were just a burgeoning concept in the city at the time but Rebecca, who founded Ginger Pops in 2010, would outsell all the other vendors at the markets she frequented.

Surprisingly, she says she never really had a sweet tooth, but since childhood has understood the value of good cake – she’d turn up her freckled nose at the saccharine, dry offerings she encountered at birthday parties in favour of the lush versions baked by her mother, Liz Lilley. “I was eight when I made my first chiffon cake and she lovingly nudged me into the deep end, teaching me step-by-step to crack the eggs, sift the flour, fold the batter.”

Rebecca was a fussy eater; tastes, smells and textures were all so pungent and overwhelming. As it would turn out, the difficulty she had in finding her food rhythm early on made a strong impact on the adventurous eater she is today. With a palate that would put famous US foodie Andrew Zimmern to shame, Rebecca, and her husband Greig are serious about stepping out of their food comfort zones.