Sy volg die kookboek nie presies nie, maar die hoender proe tog goed.

Afrikaans normally uses a double negative pattern. In many ordinary negative sentences, you get:

• a first nie near the part being negated
• a second nie near the end of the clause

Here the negative idea is nie presies nie = not exactly.

So the sentence does not mean a logical double negative like in English. It is just normal Afrikaans grammar.

The word presies is being negated.

So the idea is:

• she does follow the cookbook
• but not exactly

That is slightly different from saying she does not follow it at all.

Compare:

• Sy volg die kookboek nie presies nie. = She doesn’t follow the cookbook exactly.
• Sy volg nie die kookboek nie. = She does not follow the cookbook.

Because nie ... nie often wraps around the part that is being denied or limited.

Here:

• nie presies nie = not exactly

That placement makes the meaning very clear: the problem is not the whole action of following, but the exactness of how she follows the recipe.

Yes. Volg means follow, and Afrikaans uses it for following:

• a person
• advice
• instructions
• a recipe or cookbook

So sy volg die kookboek is natural Afrikaans. In context, die kookboek can mean the cookbook itself or, more practically, the recipe/instructions in it.

Here tog means something like:

• still
• anyway
• nevertheless

So maar die hoender proe tog goed means:

• she does not follow the cookbook exactly,
• but the chicken still tastes good anyway

It adds a nice concessive feeling: despite that fact, the result is good.

Because maar joins two main clauses.

In a main clause, Afrikaans usually keeps the finite verb in the second position:

• die hoender = subject
• proe = finite verb
• tog goed = rest of the clause

So die hoender proe tog goed has normal main-clause word order.

If this were introduced by a subordinating conjunction such as omdat, the word order would be different.

Yes.

Proe can mean:

• to taste something deliberately, as in trying food
• to taste in the sense of having a certain flavor

So:

• Ek proe die sop. = I taste the soup.
• Die sop proe goed. = The soup tastes good.

In your sentence, die hoender is the subject, so proe means tastes.

In Afrikaans, proe goed is a normal way to say tastes good.

Even though English learners may want to compare it directly to well, that is not how it works here. Goed is the natural word after verbs like proe.

You could also hear:

• Die hoender proe lekker. = The chicken tastes nice/tasty.

But goed is completely natural and means the result is good.

Because die is the normal definite article in Afrikaans for the.

Afrikaans does not change the article for gender the way some other languages do. So:

• die kookboek = the cookbook
• die hoender = the chicken

Also, die is used for both singular and plural nouns, so it is a very common word.

Sy can mean either she or her, depending on how it is used in the sentence.

Here it is the subject at the start of the clause, so it means she:

• Sy volg ... = She follows ...

It is capitalized simply because it starts the sentence.

Yes. In normal written Afrikaans, a comma is commonly used before maar when it joins two full clauses.

So:

• Sy volg die kookboek nie presies nie, maar die hoender proe tog goed.

The comma helps show the contrast clearly:

• first clause: she does not follow it exactly
• second clause: but the chicken still tastes good

Yes. A very common alternative is:

• Sy volg nie die kookboek presies nie, maar die hoender proe tog goed.

That version is also natural. The main difference is one of focus:

• Sy volg die kookboek nie presies nie puts the spotlight strongly on not exactly
• Sy volg nie die kookboek presies nie is also natural and may feel a bit more broadly negative

In both cases, the overall meaning is essentially that she follows the recipe, but not in an exact way.