Heritage Day on 24 September is a day where South Africans are encouraged to celebrate their culture. Having a braai (barbeque) is very much part of the South African culture so this day is also known as National Braai Day. Boerewors is probably the most “South African” meat that you can braai so we decided to make our own for the occasion.
Category Archives: Traditional
Twice cooked drunken beef short ribs
I got the original recipe from Jess Pryles for this twice cooked drunken beef short ribs from here, but I altered it quite a bit for our taste. Although this recipe is quite straight forward it does take some time to prepare. This dish is perfect for those cold winter evenings when you crave “comfort food”.
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Easy black mussel and white wine potjie
This black mussel and white wine dish is one of my favourite starters to make when we are having people over. It is very easy to prepare and the whole dish can be done under 90 minutes from scratch. As a starter this can easily serve 12 people if you add some bread. Obviously it can also be served as a mains, but be careful, it is very rich.
Braai Pie – Calzone style
It’s a well know fact that we South Africans will braai anything. Point in case – braai pie. Braai pie is a pie cooked over the coals – perfect for when you feel like something a bit different from chops and wors. It’s a popular dish to make during camping weekends away and usually prepared as a starter (anything made with pastry should really be prepared before the second bottle of wine is opened). Everyone contributes to the filling and the end result is shared. Adrienne and I like making this at home when it’s only the two of us so that we don’t have to share a single morsel of our braai pie.
Women’s Day 2018
As date night and Women’s Day were on the same day this year, I decided to make a three course meal for Tanya. The three meals consisted of sticky chicken wings, kudu sosaties and bread pudding.
Lamb Sosaties from”Kook en Geniet”
“Kook en Geniet” is the most successful South African cookbook ever published. First published in 1951 and over a million copies later, this is the cookbook to use if you are looking for authentic South African recipes. Adrienne received a copy as a gift a while ago and decided to make lamb sosaties.
1 Venison Loin, 4 Sauces
We’ve had a beautiful springbok loin in the freezer for a while now, just begging to be cooked. I could not decide on just one sauce to make for it, so ended up making four. My choices were a blackberry, chocolate, gin and juniper and whiskey cream sauce.
Venison Vindaloo Potjie
Here in South Africa we tend to be creatures of habit when it comes to making curry. Chicken, lamb and beef are usually the meat of choice, whether we are making an Indian or a traditional South African curry.
As goat curry is a very popular dish in India, we decided to make a curry with some of the springbok that we have in our freezer. Now I know that springbok meat and goat meat are not the same thing, but finding goat meat in South Africa is a bit of a challenge. To take the fusion food thing a bit further we decided to make a potjie (a traditional South Africa dish cooked in a cast iron pot over an open fire).
Chicken mango pasta potjie
I’ve been doing the chicken, mango and pasta potjie and various versions of it for quite a while, but never documented the recipe. So here goes. It is a very simple potjie that can be done in 2 hours’ time. It is delicious, but definitely not a banting option.
Date night sosatie extravaganza
Sosatie (pl sosaties) is a traditional South African dish of meat (usually lamb or mutton) cooked on skewers. The term derives from sate (“skewered meat”) and saus (spicy sauce). It is of Cape Malay origin, used in Afrikaans, the primary language of the Cape Malays, and the word has gained greater circulation in South Africa. Marinated, cubed meat (usually lamb) is skewered and braaied (barbecued) shish-kebab style. Sosatie recipes vary, but commonly the ingredients can include cubes of lamb, beef, chicken, dried apricots, red onions and mixed peppers. Source: Wikipedia
I think most South Africans will agree that sosaties are an essential ingredient for any traditional South African braai. I decided to make four types of different sosaties using different marinades and different meats for date night.
