Growing up in a small Central South African ‘plattelandse dorpie’, which only recently acquired a big franchise takeaway chicken outlet, ‘padkos’ was an essential part of any road trip with the amount and variety required dependent on the distance traveled.

Early morning excursions saw copious amounts of coffee and tea ‘premix’ carefully poured into canisters fitted with pile-on plastic cups meticulously screwed to the top. The challenge to ‘uncap’ these curious contraptions, without spilling any of the contents all over yourself and the car, of course separated the proverbial ‘men’ from the ‘boys’ in the family. But usually it was only mum who could master that task. Hence, we also had to stop at one of the many road side ‘boompies’ furnished with said tree and cement table and stools lest any spillage should occur.

Then out came the rusks. Wait, first a red-and-white chequered plastic table cloth is spread over the cement table top and weighted down with the various flasks and containers before breakfast is served. If you were lucky a ‘kaasbroodjie’ also came out.

After the refreshments were consumed the younger ones in the family were treated to a ‘veldtie’ behind the tree and we sped off towards our next stop, which hopefully boasted proper facilities for the older family members.

Lunch would usually be preceded by a quick stop at a filling station and then the ‘picnic’ location would be descended upon either at the rest stop or in the vicinity. Once the chequered covering was spread, paper plates fitted in wicker baskets were handed around while juice was poured into more stackable plastic cups, which were only used for this occasion.

We would wait expectantly for lids of the tuppers to be cracked to reveal the lavish lunch lovingly prepared the night before. Meatballs, drumsticks, cocktail tomatoes, sandwiches and pickles all laid down carefully on a bed of shredded lettuce to keep it fresh. If we were really lucky, traveling a long distance like to the coast, we would also be treated to a sweet or two - homemade chocolate macaroons if it wasn’t too hot. Watermelon was also a favourite.

After tucking in we’d wipe our hands on a moist rag carted along for the purpose (refresher towels were not that big those days) and discard the paper plates carefully in the facility provided on site or mum would again place in one of her special car dustbin bags for disposable at the next best opportunity.

I can’t quite recall when last my family went to the trouble of preparing ‘padkos’ as there is a service station or at least ‘padstal’ every so often en route.

Although it takes a bit more effort, prepping your own food certainly is a healthier alternative and provides an opportunity for the family to bond, so your holiday already starts before you embark on the journey. It’s also good for the driver to stop and rest. And, if you can do this in a peaceful environment, all the better.

I’ll certainly be giving ‘padkos’ another go on my next road trip.

What’s your favourite kind of padkos? Let us know in the poll in the right pane on the Holiday Blog homepage.