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.