When Hart Land Market opened for business on Feb. 1, it made a lot of people in the local South African community very happy.
Patricia Oosthuizen had been baking and selling South African treats from her home for a few years before opening a food market, bakery, and gift shop in Dundas.
“There’s a big South African community in Burlington, Oakville, and the Waterdown Hamilton area. I’ve been supplying a lot of them with the products because I used to bake in South Africa as well," said Oosthuizen. "When we moved to Canada I was just at home with my two young boys. Now that both of them are settled in school, I decided to take this adventure.”
Hart Land Market features many homemade sweets, like rusk, similar to biscotti, and koeksisters, a traditional South African pastry of fried dough soaked in syrup or honey.
Hertzoggie is a sweet, jam-filled tartlet topped with a coconut meringue that's moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. Peppermint Crisp is a scrumptious dessert tray-tart made with layers thof coconut biscuits, dulce de leche cream filling and Nestle Peppermint Crisp chocolate crumbles.
However, Oosthuizen says melktert, is the most famous of all. It’s a shortbread crust with a pale, creamy custard pudding dusted with cinnamon. “I haven't met any South African who doesn't love it."
The shop, located in the Kirby Avenue plaza, also features a selection of takeout meals. “A boerewors roll is a South African street food consisting of a grilled boerewors, a type of coarsely ground beef sausage with distinctive spices like coriander, nutmeg, and cloves, placed inside a hot dog bun, often accompanied by toppings like tomato, onion, chili relish, or chakalaka sauce," sasy Oosthuizen. "Essentially, it's the South African equivalent of a hot dog, but with a unique sausage flavour profile."
Another favourite is biltong, which is like a dried meat sliced thinly and is very high in protein. "It’s a snack you can eat just as is or pair it with a charcuterie board, which is also very popular," said Ooshuizen. "It was something that we tested out on Saturday to see if people would like it’s definitely something you’ll find at Hart Land in the next couple of weeks."
There’s a wide range of South African imported food products, from soups, sauces and spices, to cookies, crisps and chocolates, and a selection of crafts like mugs and birthday cards featuring the African Big Five animals, (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo if you’re wondering), as well as knitted handbags, earrings and wooden protea flowers, the symbol of South Africa.
In addition to sweet and savoury platters for parties or other functions, which can be ordered 24 hours in advance for pickup, Hart Land Market will also have a weekly rotating takeout menu featuring things like sandwiches, boerewors rolls, sausage roll pies and jaffle, two slices of bread with a curry ground beef mixture toasted in a pocket, so it comes out like a round pie.
“We just need to figure out what people would prefer and like," says Oosthuizen, who is part of a Facebook group of 6,000 South Africans in Burlington and Oakville. "I don’t want to just cater to the South Africans. I would like everyone to try it and hopefully get Canadians to fall in love with the products too."
Hart Land Market is located at 59 Kirby Avenue in Greensville. It's open Tuesday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit them on Facebook or Instagram.
