Potjiekos 101

In South Africa a braai (and please note how I say braai and not barbecue as barbecue is a chips flavour) is as part of the nation's heritage as ice is part of the North Pole.  In my opinion a braai is also just a proper braai when you start with burning wood to create coals.  But that is a discussion for a whole other day.  Something that is very much part of the braai culture is potjiekos.  Potjiekos literally translates as "small pot food" and is a stew prepared outdoors and traditionally cooked in a round, three-legged cast iron pot.  

 

When the Dutch first came to the Cape they brought with them their ways of cooking food in heavy cast iron pots. These pots would hang from the kitchen hearth above the fire and was used to cook and heat water. The black people of South Africa also used cast iron pots to cook in, something they learned from Middle Eastern traders and later Portuguese colonists.

 

During the Great Trek in the 1800's the Voortrekkers hung their pots from their wagons and when they got to their over night stops they would put the pots straight onto the fire to cook or heat their food in. The beauty of cast iron pots is that they are able to retain heat well and only a few coals are needed to keep the food simmering for hours as the heat and steam doesn't escape from the lid. 

  

This post isn't about the origins about potjiekos though but rather to show you more about making a potjie and also what a potjiekos competition is.  The pictures were taken at a potjiekos competition I was part of a little while ago. A potjiekos competition is something like Ultimate Braaimaster or Master Chef where groups of people prepare meals in potjies to be judged. In this case its just not for television but rather done during festive weekends and often in plattelandse dorpies. Ok, not just little towns as you get to see it in the cities as well.



The most popular pot to use is the no 3 pot which makes enough for about 4 to 6 people to eat from. and what you make with it is only limited by your own imagination. Let me explain why. Well, you can make just about anything in the pot. I normally have a small pot on the side in which I make chicken livers while another favorite is making pot bread to eat with the potjiekos. The potjiekos itself range from meat potjies to vegetable, seafood to chicken and pasta to desserts.

 

The way to make your potjiekos is to start off with some oil in the bottom of your pot.  Remember how Shrek said that ogres have layers like onions? Well, potjiekos is also made up of layers.  You start off with your meat in the bottom of the pot, browning it on both side to seal in the flavour.  Cook the meat for a little while longer and then add the onions followed by the vegetables which get placed in the order it takes them to be cooked.  Start off with potato and carrots followed by pumpkin, mushroom, peas and tomatoes right at the top.  This is obviously just a suggestion as you add whatever tickles your fancy.  Some people add their sauce or wine straight after their meat.  I like to add mine after the veg.  A watery potjie is never good so don't add to much water.  Importantly, and this is the main difference between a potjie and a stew, don't stir until right at the end.

 

One of the best parts of being at a potjiekos competition is taking a walk around past the competitiors to see what they are preparing and to get some ideas for your own future creations.  The competition in question was at the Montagu Caravan Park in the Western Cape and there were probably about 20 entries with a huge veriety of pots and side dishes on offer.

 



The judges really had their jobs cut out for them moving from pot to pot tasting everything, taking notes and deliberating.  Even though there were some outstanding dishes there could only be one winner.  

The lamb shank pot close to where I was sitting smelled and looked outstanding but eventually it had to bend the knee to a couple of guys from the West Coast with their Abelone (yes they had a permit for it) pot and it's side dishes which included crayfish tails.  Yum yum yum...  South African cultural food at it's best.

I am an African

I am an African.  My ancestors may have come from Europe in the late 1600's but that doesn't mean I still have links with that continent.  My parents were born in Africa and so was my grandparents and great grandparents and so I can go on.  I am of the African soil and is as much an African as any other person who lives on this continent.  In 1996, Thabo Mbeki, then vice president of South Africa under Nelson Mandela, did a speech in parliament on the occasion of the passing of the new Constitution of South Africa.  The speech was called I am an Africa.  SA Tourism used part of the speech in a promotional video and every time I see it I get quiet, contemplate and realise just once again that, even though I am white, I truly am an African. 

  

 

Earlier in the week I was invited to a musical at Diaz Primary School in Algoa Park here in Port Elizabeth.  The play was called I am an African.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect but went with an open mind.  I was blown away!  The 1 1/2 hour production consisted of nearly 200 kids and told the story of South Africa's democracy.  Starting with Mandela's arrest the storyline includes the Soweto uprising, Mandela's release, inauguration and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, SA hosting and winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  The kids threw everything into it and I have to highlight at least one boy and one girl with exceptional singing talents.  The school is currently trying to get a spot at a theatre in the city to expose the play to more people and I really hope that they get the support (both financially and in audience numbers) they need to pull it off successfully.

 

 

Die Uilhuis in Nieu-Bethesda

Suid-Afrika is vol van klein dorpies met interessante verhale en plekke om te ontdek, maar een van die wat baie hoog op enige iemand se lys behoort te wees is die Uilhuis in die Karoodorp Nieu-Bethesda.  Nieu-Bethesda lê so 50km noord van Graaff-Reinet en is in 1838 deur Charles Murray, 'n Nederduitse Gereformeerde dominee van Graaff-Reinet, gestig.  Met die stigting van die dorp het hy gesê, "En laten wy deze plaats nu Bethesda noemen" vanwee die vrugbaarheid van die plek en die aanwesigheid van voldoende water.
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Nieu-Bethesda was die tuiste van Helen Martins (1897-1976) wat haar ouers se huis op die dorp geêrf het na hulle dood.  Miss Helen het verveeld geraak met haar lewe en omgewing en begin om die huis en tuin te versier met sement, glas en draad.  Sy het later standbeelde in die tuin begin bou en is geinspireer deur tekverse uit die bybel, die poësie van Omar Khayyam en verskeie kunswerke deur William Blake.  Koos Malgas het in 1964 vir haar begin werk en haar gehelp om standbeelde van uile, kamele en mense op te tower.  Die meeste van die mense in die tuin kyk en wys oos omdat Miss Helen so 'n fasinasie met die Ooste gehad het.
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Al die jare se werk in en om die huis met gebreekte glas het Helen Martin se oê aangetas en sy het begin blind word.  As gevolg van dit het sy in 1976 op die ouderdom van 78 selfmoord gepleeg deur bytsoda (caustic soda) te drink. Haar wens was dat die huis behoue sou bly as 'n museum en dit is hoe dit vandag nog is.  Die Uilhuis is regtig 'n plek waar jy jouself in jou eie gedagtes kan verloor.  In my eie tuin het ek 'n uil wat ek oorkant die pad van die Uilhuis gekoop het en dit herhinder my daagliks aan my besoek aan hierdie spesiale plek.

Walkie Talkies

In yesterday's post on the corner butcher in the township I mentioned chicken heads and feet.  The heads and feet, referred to as walkie talkies, is a township delicacy and can be bought from the ladies selling chickens.  The chickens are sold live or plucked (as in the picture).  Once the chicken have been slaughtered and plucked by the ladies they are sold very much like you would buy them in the shop with the only difference being that they are freshly slaughtered with the innards still in them and not in a little bag. 

The heads and feet are sold separately and not along with the rest of the chicken and when you want to buy them just ask for walkie talkies.

Your friendly corner township butcher

There is always something new and interesting to see around the next corner for somebody from the suburbs when visiting a township.  This is even more so the case when you have a camera in hand and looking for those unusual photos to post.  Although there are many of these around the townships, I have a particular butcher / take-away that I like to pop by (to look, not to buy from) when I'm visiting the Red Location Museum.  Just down the road from the museum a couple of pots are cooking away in anticipation of the lunch time or going home crowd to come by and purchase a meal.  The contents of the pots range from chicken pieces and chicken heads & feet to cow liver and offal.

As you walk around the corner you will find the butcher shop's "display window".  It seems that the meat (or offal, fat, liver, etc) doesn't get sold by weight, but rather by quantity with the meat being wrapped in newspaper for you to take with you.  We asked the lady if we could look inside...

... and this is what we saw.  The butcher hacking away at a cow's head trying to split it open, I imagine to try and get to the brain.  I know that half a sheep head with the brain in it (called smileys) is a township delicacy, so my guess is that its the same with half a cow's head. 

Traditional healer ceremony

Life has a tendency to throw little surprises your way every now and then.  I was accompanying a journalist from Argentina around Port Elizabeth for five days and as we were walking along Shark Rock Pier at Hobie Beach I spotted a couple of people next to the pier on the water's edge performing some kind of ceremony.

We approached and respectfully waited for them to finish before we asked them what they were doing.  They were traditional Xhosa healers performing a ceremony whereby they talk to God and their ancestors.  The Xhosa are Christens, but they also believe in their ancestors and that they ancestors watch over them as well.  Even though they go to church on Sundays they also come to the ocean at times to connect with God and the ancestors without the congregation around them.  During the ceremony they also throw beads and coins into the ocean as offerings to their ancestors while asking for their blessings.

The senior traditional healer leading the ceremony was a very friendly lady called Nombolelo.  She was more than willing to explain to us what they were doing as well as to pose for a photograph.

Freedom Park Part 2 - Isivivane

The part of Freedom Park that touched me the most was the sacred place of Isivivane.  Isivivane is an isiZulu and isiXhosa word and is the spiritual resting place for all those who played a part in the freedom and liberation of South Africa.  It is inclusive of all religions and faiths and invites all South Africans to come and celebrate their shared spirituality and heritage.

At the centre of Isivivane is Lesaka and its circle of 11 stones.  The circle is the symbolic resting place for the spirits of those who played a part in the the struggles that the history of South Africa has seen.  Soil was brought to this spot from areas all over South Africa where conflict has occurred and it was deemed sacred ground after representatives all off faiths and church denominations took part in a Cleansing, Healing and Return of the Spirits ceremony.  A stone was brought here from each of the 9 provinces of South Africa, while the other two stones represents South Africa as a country as well as the international community.  A fine mist spray adds to the atmosphere of the stone circle and all visitor are asked to please remove their shoes before entering the area.

To the one side of the stone circle (in the background of the first photo) is Lekgotla.  Lekgotla is a semi-circle seating structure built around an Umlahlankosi Tree (Buffalo Thorn Tree) and it allows visitors to meet and hold discussions in the same way as many has done in various African traditions.

There are another nine smaller Umlahlankosi trees surrounding the stone circle, each donated by one of South Africa's nine provinces.  The trees symbolise one of the mediums through which the spirits of South Africa's fallen heroes and heroines has been brought to Isivivane.  Water also plays a big role at Isivivane through water features and water points to wash your hands when leaving as water represents cleaning and healing in many believes.

In my humble opinion I truly feel that each of the provinces should develop a site similar to Isivivane that is spiritually linked to the one at Freedom Park as it would become a great place to remember the past and celebrate the future.

Today is 21 March which is Human Rights Day in South Africa and I hope that the posts of the last two days have also played its part in celebrating human rights..

Drakensberg Rock Art

One of the reasons that the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site is the fact that it has the biggest concentration of rock paintings in Africa south of the Sahara.  These rock paintings were left behind by the San people and shows off their way of life and believes.  There are a number of rock art sites in the Royal Natal National Park with one of them only accessible on a walking tour with a local guide.

The walk is about a kilometer in distance and takes you into the hills to a sheltered rock overhang.  The is only the second time that I have had the opportunity to see rock art in its original environment.  The other time was at a site near Alicedale in the Eastern Cape.  Looking at the photo above you can see some of the rock art about a meter or so above the guide's head.

This is just a closer look at the rock art seen in the previous picture

Our guide, Mduduzi Shabalala, is very knowledgeable in his subject.  We asked him what the grooves in the rocks were and he demonstrated to us how the San people would have inserted sticks into those grooves to rest their elbows on while painting.  In addition to all the rock are information Mdu also told us about the Zulu people, the villages in the area as well as the flora of the Berg.

This painting shows a San figure running

 This is an Eland with, if I remember right cause I could be wrong, a baby eland underneath it

 Eland featured quite prominently in most of the rock art sights all over Southern Africa which shows that they were quite common in those days and played an important part in the lives of the San.  An interesting addition in this picture is the cobra beneath the eland.

I got extra excited when Mdu pointed out a couple of fossils next to the rock paintings.  I have a particular interest in fossils and even wanted to be an archaeologist at one stage in my life.  I have a small collection of fossils and other pieces and the Indiana Jones in me would love to be able to add to it, although I would never damage a site like this to get my hands on more.  The problem is that some people would and that is why these kinds of sites has to be protected and preserved. 

CJ Langenhoven

When we visited Oudtshoorn in December I got to go to the museum in the home of the former Afrikaans writer CJ Langenhoven for the first time since I was in primary school. His house, Arbeidsgenot ("the pleasure of work") was left to "all people with a love for Afrikaans" by his widow after her death in 1950 and was opened as a museum in 1955.

Cornelis Jakobus Langenhoven was born on 12 August 1873. He started out working as a teacher and later as a lawyer. Somewhere around 1907 CJ Langenhoven found his purpose in life and that was to fight for the rights of Afrikaans as a language as well as to create literature that will enhance Afrikaans.


Some of CJ Langenhoven's best known work includes "Die Stem van Suid Afrika" (the original South African anthem, part of which is still used in the new anthem), Die Vlaglied (the old South African flag song) as well as a number of stories and poems. He also had an imaginary elephant named "Herrie" (Harry).

CJ Langenhoven died on 15 July 1932. He and his wife Magdalena Maria (Vroutjie) was both reburied on the grounds of Arbeidsgenot in 2003. Every Afrikaans speaking person should make an effort to visit this museum at least once in their lives, but its well worth a stop for anybody who is interested in the Afrikaans language and culture.

Traditional drummer

During my visit to Tourism Indaba recently I photographed a drummer at the Lesedi Cultural Village stand playing. I have a thing for cultural drumming, so I stood listening for a while.

His outfit also intrigued me, specially the plume of ostrich feathers on his head.

Beading

Beading hands

Beaded curios

Potjiekos

When you think of traditional South African foods, a couple seems to put up their hands. But the two that must be right up there in the top three or four must be braaivleis (barbecued meat) and potjiekos (stew made in a cast iron pot on the coals as well). Now I'm not the world's best cook, not by a long shot. My ranking would probably be somewhere in the top 500 million, but I would be able to help myself if my life depended on it. While on our holiday camping trip, I decided to make potjie for Christmas lunch.

This is how I did it. There are hundreds of different recipes and ways of doing it. This is mine.

• The fire gets lit and when there are sufficient coals, the black three leg cast iron pot gets put on it.
• Put in some olive oil. Just a bit. Not too much. Just enough. (Get the idea?)
• We decided on a chicken potjie and had about 4 drumsticks, 4 wings and 4 pieces of white meat. Put in the pieces and just do a quick fry on both sides of each so that it gets a bit of colour, then take out.
• Put in one onion (sliced into rings) and fry till light brown
• Put chicken on top of onions
• Add baby potatoes, slices carrots, pieces of butternut, mushrooms and peas (or any other vegetables your heart desires)
• Then I add my concoction, I mean sauce (can somebody explain to me how to do that typing thing with the line through?) It consist of a packet of spare rib marinade, some chutney, tomato sauce, tin of tomato puree, salt, pepper and water - can't remember what else we had, but at home I'll also add worcester sauce, sweet chili or whatever else you have in stock.
• Don't add more water. It makes it's own water. In this case the Damselfly added more water and the sauce didn't get thick enough.
• Now leave it to do its thing for two hours or so. Important: DON'T BOTHER THE POT SO DON'T STIR IT! UNDERSTAND? Trust me (and thousands before me) it won't burn and it will all be cooked.
• Towards the end you may want to take out some of the sauce to add corn flour to it to get the sauce thick. Don't forget to pour it back in after mixing the flour in.

Here is the end product. Don't criticise the presentation. It wasn't a food fancy dress party. It was just supposed to get our tummies full. The bread is beer bread. One 500mg self raising flour and a tin of beer. Mix well and stuff in three standard tins. Cover with foil and bake on the coals. The tins can be see in the first picture on the right hand side.

The Damselfly couldn't resist (ok, so I had to ask her) taking a picture of me with my new springbok horn pot opener in hand. I'm not really a hat guy, but the temperature came close to 40C (104F) that whole week and my receding hair is leaving my forehead a little exposed.

So that is the end of today's cooking lesson. LOL. Next time I'll do one on a braai (barbecue).

The Owl House

Very few people would have heard of the little dusty Karoo village of Nieu-Bethesda if it wasn't for The Owl House. Nieu-Bethesda is situated about 3 1/2 hours north of Port Elizabeth close to the town of Graaff Reinet.

The house belonged to a woman named Helen Martins. Martins became bored with her "dull" life and resolved to transform the environment around her. She began an obsessive project around 1945 to decorate her home and garden and used cement, glass and wire to decorate the interior of her home and later build sculptures in her garden. Almost all the walls of the interior of the house were covered in decorative and colourful crushed glass.

In 1964, she was joined in her work by a Coloured man named Koos Malgas, who helped her build the sculptures in her garden.Martins drew on inspiration from Christian biblical texts, the poetry of Omar Khayyam and various works by William Blake.

The sculptures were predominantly owls, camels and people, mostly pointing toward the east as a tribute to Martins' fascination with The Orient. Her work was a source of suspicion and derision within the village and during her time, Helen Martins received very little support or enthusiasm about her work.
Her lifelong exposure to the fine crushed glass she used to decorate her walls and ceilings caused her eyesight to start failing in 1976. She committed suicide in 1976 by ingesting caustic soda, aged 78.

The Owl House has since been kept intact as a museum per Helen Martins' wishes and is now managed by the Owl House Foundation (founded 1996). Athol Fugard published a play in 1985 about the house called The Road to Mecca which was later made into a film of the same name. I've only had the pleasure to visit here once, but would go back again if I get the opportunity. As you can see in the last picture, it truly is a spot where you can just stand quietly and contemplate.

Most of the above information I got off Wikipedia.