Lavender, Travel Stamps and a Potjie: Part 3

Potjies on a fire in a village in the Eastern Cape 

Potjies are traditional cast-iron 3-legged pots which have been used to cook over a fire for centuries in South Africa. Usually a stew is made with whatever meat is available and vegetables and spices are added. Of attraction to me, is the fact that after initial preparation, it requires little looking after and you can socialize while it cooks for hours, stewing and blending all the different tastes. I like that you can throw a little bit of everything in and out comes something wonderfully harmonious. 

When I was deciding on the blog-header, the idea of a cultural melting pot to represent South Africa, came up. I thought it was quite appropriate to represent what I wanted to blog about and could also be a metaphor for my views on spirituality and religion, and indeed on life. 

When my son completed junior school at the end of last year, one of the traditions that he was involved in, was a Potjiekos Competition. There was great excitement as they were placed into groups and discussed recipes. He is a meat-and-potatoes man in the great South African tradition, of course, and we adapted his favourite meal - the Cape Malay tomato bredie. He was delighted that his team came in at third place. Here's the recipe that my mother used when we were growing up:

Tomato Bredie
Ingredients:
1 kg Mutton pieces (knuckles are great)
2 large onions
1 kg ripe red tomatoes (use canned if you have to)
1 tin of tomato paste
4-6 medium potatoes
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons of sugar
salt to taste

Braise the onions until golden brown.
Add the meat and braise until soft.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic and cook for 15 minutes.
Add the potatoes and cook until soft.
Add the sugar to balance the tartness of the tomatoes.
Season to taste.

Best served with white rice.

(A vegetarian potjie is of course perfectly possible, too.)

For more on Potjiekos click here

So, these three blogs on potjiekos, lavender and travel, more or less explain the design of my blog-header, and a little about me. Hope you stick around for more.

For the two previous blogs, see here:
Lavender, Travel Stamps and a Potjie: Part 2
Lavender, Travel Stamps and a Potjie: Part 1