Roger's View of the World, Love and Seafood Gumbo!
Seize the Day! Put no trust in the morrow! — Horace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBJu12DIh6E
This 15 minute video gives you a great look into hunting in the Free State in South Africa. I hunted with the professionals at Likhulu Safaris a couple of years ago and had a great time!
Here’s one of the posts I made from South Africa!
[vimeo width=”440″ height=”330″]http://www.vimeo.com/46577337[/vimeo]
My daughter Karen produced this short 3minute video on my wonderful hunting and dining experience with Lukhulu Safaris in the Free State of South Africa!
We dined on what we hunted… what could be better than that?
South Africa is definitely on every American hunter’s “bucket list” that I know… and honestly, I want to go back!
My quest to experience a great ‘Braai” ( similar to our barbecue) and travel to South Africa on “Chefari” started with a few comments and experiences of my daughters. Karen had an internship in South Africa and brought back some “biltong” ( a South African meat Jerky) made of Kudu and some from Springbok. I was intrigued. My eldest daughter Kristin is a fan of Chef Gordon Ramsey who is known to raise or hunt his own food, which I can personally identify. Karla thinks I should just find something edible and go to it!
Well, some folks can just grab their equipment , passport and head off on adventure; however, taking the time to plan out one’s trek is worth the effort. Needless to say, I had a few things to do before I leave. I needed a professional hunter and found one via Friends of the NRA… Likhulu Safari! Also, I needed a particular rifle for this trip and purchased an Interarms Mark X 375 caliber. Recently, I upgraded the scope to one from Swarovski Optik that I had a chance to inspect at a recent SFI Convention. Oh yes, I bought some boots from an excellent South African store called M Gordon Footwear!
Going to South Africa is getting very easy for Americans because all you need is a passport for most visits. Hunters need import permits from South African and a permit to bring your rifle back into the states from Homeland Security. No particular inoculations are needed to enter South Africa, unless you are entering from a country where various diseases are problematic.
My daughter Karen provided a number of wonderful suggestions on her blog on things to think about before you take your trip:
South Africa — 10 things to know!
Karen’s collection of blogs on South Africa
I am certainly looking forward to my CHEFARI later this summer… and I will blog about it as it occurs!
Boys and Girls, I am now going to tell you a story much like Chef Gordon Ramsay might do… but without the required expletives. Steaks do not come a steak tree, turkeys are not grown without heads and virtually everything that we prefer to eat once roamed, flew or swam somewhere. Oh yes, they may have also slithered or slimed there way along.
The article I wrote for a local on-line news service is on the joy of hunting for a great meal and how it can go from the wild to your dinning table. Although I am a hunter, I never thought I would have the opportunity to go on a Safari for really large game… but thanks to well timed events… here I go!
There is no secret that certain parts of the world have food that I find intriguing, delicious and worth the effort. Sometimes old recipes find modern day adherents because the food is timeless and wonderful. In other posts I have talked about the ‘one pot’ cooking method that is duplicated around the world, although I am most familiar with recipes of European origin. In Europe, at one time, a pot continually was cooking and things were thrown in and periodically a portion was drawn out for a meal. I love the story of the famous French tavern that cleaned out their famous pot once a year to the loud objections of their regular patrons!
The early Dutch settlers of southern Africa brought with them in the 1600’s, a large three legged iron pot and a meal they called ‘Potjiekos’ pronounced pot·jie·kos [ póykee kàwss ]. In America our electric ‘crock pot’ does much the same sort of thing, although cooked in the outdoors near or around a fire with hot coals makes a big difference n the final result.
I wanted a Potjie recipe designed with wild game in mind, particularly Elk or Moose and I knew who exactly would be able to give me a start and that was Africhef Michael Tracy. I smiled when I saw one of the ingredients was ‘Rashers’, a term for a particular type of bacon that I haven’t seen since I was a kid…. but I found some and plan to use!
Another favorite of mine is Boerewors… or a nice Afrikaner sausage of beef and pork. I will make plenty of this for the holidays …when we all can sit back over a fire and pour down a cold ‘Castle’ …if I can find a case or two.