The quest for good boerewors continued....

I did a previous post quite a long time back about the boerewors one buys in and around Cape Town. I am on a continual look out for decent wors to have with my braai, or indeed, have a boerewors only braai.

A few years ago we went on holiday to Mpumalanga. We stayed over for a few nights in Graskop at a self catering establishment and bought some of their local wors to braai. It was delicious and we had some more the next night and the night after that. Since then I have been looking for wors of the same standard. 

When I had a "normal" job I used to travel the whole of the Western and some of the Northern Cape for business. One time I took a cooler box along and bought a small piece of wors at the butchers shop in every dorpie that I visited. I labelled them all so I would know which was which. When I got home, I lit the braai and had a boerewors "taste off". Sad to say, most of them were disgusting and not one of them was really nice. 

Forget about any supermarket wors. I  have tried Checkers "Championship" wors. Nasty stuff. I thought Woolworths might have good stuff and tried a few different ones of theirs. Definitely not.

In May this year we spent a week in Prince Albert and I bought some wors at the local butcher there. It was delicious, the best I had eaten in many years. When I went back for more, I complimented the butcher on it and he advised that his wors is 100% meat with no additives such as cereal and water to bulk the weight up. I did bring a couple of kilo's home but sadly that did not last long. Unfortunately Prince Albert is 400km away from me, so it is not feasable to quickly shoot up there to buy more. Believe me, I have actually considered it!

I have spent hours on the Internet researching forums etc on the best places to get your boerewors.
I came up with a few and the fist one was Rudi's wors, sold at the Stellenbosch slow food market. It was "interesting" but maybe a bit too "Heavey" for me. (Heave is what you do just before you throw up). The next was Joey's wors from his outlet in Brakenfell. Not bad but I did not like the texture of it. The texture was a bit like sawdust. However it was well spiced and seasoned. The last was from Eatwell Butchery in Bellville. Quite a few people raved about it and I bought some on the way to a camping trip a few weeks ago. Now this one had a perfect texture and balance of fat to meat. However it lacked a bit in the seasoning and spice dept.

While on the same camping trip, my brother in law, Robert, who is an ex Gautenger, mentioned that he had heard that the butcher in the little town of Wolsley made good boerewors. He said that he was passing there on his way home to Riebeeck Wes and would stop and buy some. A few days later my sister in law, Cynthia texted me to say that at last she had found a wors as good as anything in Gauteng.

Now, I do not know if any of you know Wolsley well, but in my opinion it is a bit of a hell hole with no attractions or the charm of many small dorpies like Darling or the 2 towns in the Riebeeck Valley. However, I was champing at the bit to get hold of some of this boerewors and yesterday we went on a leisurely drive over Bains Kloof with the sole purpose of obtaining said wors in Wolsley. When we got to the butchery it was a bit of a traumatic experience as the local farm workers had obviously just got their Xmas bonus and pay and it was crowded with at least 150 people buying meat. Anyway I persevered and walked out with 4 kilograms of their thick wors. I took a camping fridge along to keep it in.

Video of our drive.

Anyway last night after we got home and I had cut it up into portions, vaccuum packed and put all but one into the freezer, I fired up the braai. I am happy to report that the results were great. Just as good as the Graskop wors and if slightly different to the Prince Albert wors, also as good. Lovely texture, well seasoned and spiced and very juicy. Had some more for breakfast today to just a "double check".

A Perfect Braai.

Yesterday was a lovely day in terms of weather after a spell of a few days of rain and cold, which is usual for our winter here.

Colleen suggested we take advantage of the nice day and have a lunch time braai.

A month or so ago we had spent a week camping in Prince Albert in the Karoo and had bought home a few kilograms of the local boerewors with us. I had tried it out while we were there and it was undoubtedly the finest wors I had tasted in 20 years. I froze it in vaccuum packs to use as and when we needed it. 

I decided some nice lamb loin chops would go down well with the wors, so after taking a pack of wors out the deep freeze went down to our local Pick n Pay supermarket to see what they had to offer. Sadly the few packs of chops that they had on display did not appeal to me. However I noticed that the butcher behind the meat counter was busy cutting up a lamb and got her attention. I asked her to cut me a couple of nicely trimmed and very thick cut loin chops. She really did a good job, so armed with the pack of chops, I went home and fired up the braai. Colleen picked some salad greens and some baby beetroot out of the garden and proceed to make the salad and some baby boiled potatoes.

Here is a photo of the chops going on the braai.

Now one advantage of having the chops cut thickly is that you can cook them on all sides. I like my lamb "medium rare" and the thickness of the chops also helps one achieve this.

I also like my wors just cooked through and not dried out, so I only add it to the fire when the chops are almost done.

Meal served up and ready to eat.

You can click on the images to see a larger version. 

~Potjieskos~

It is ages since I have posted anything here and a friend sent me a link to a very funny video by the comedian Barry Hilton on youtube which reminded me of a similar experience to my original post about braaing with my friend Deon.

Anyway this involved a friend of mine called Lourens a few years ago. It was an experience I shall never forget.

It started off with a phone call from Lourens, who lived a few blocks away from me asking us to come around the next Saturday to watch Rugby and enjoy an oxtail potjie. For those of you who do not know what this is, it is a slow cooked oxtail stew in a three legged cast iron pot on the fire. There is quite a lot of technique involved keeping the temperature right and ensuring a good supply of coals for the 4 to 5 hours that is takes to cook.

Anyway, the Rugby game was at 5.00pm and we arrived at around 4.30. I expected to see a potjie simmering away in Lourens' braai area with delicious smells  coming from it while we enjoyed (or not) the game. I should have been suspicious right then as nothing was happening. Anyway, I thought that maybe he was doing the potjie in his back yard or something.

At 7.00pm after watching the game, Lourens announced that now we may as well start cooking and then mentioned that he forgot to ask me to bring my potjie along as he did not own one. He said that he had to go to the local shop anyway as he had also forgotten to buy wood and we could pass by my place on the way. We set off in his car to run our erands. Anyway to cut a long story short, the fire and potjie was ready at around 9.00pm to start the cooking process. That is almost the last thing I remember about the evening as as I went to sleep on Lourens' couch or rather passed out from too much beer and hunger.

At around 12.30am on Sunday morning, another friend, Andrew, who was also there, shook me awake to tell me that the food was still not ready!

At around 2.30am I was again woken up to say that the meal was now being served. I have a vague memory of forcing it down in my sleepy stupor.

I think I am still scarred from this.
 
 


 

The Snoek Braai

It is a long time since I posted anything here.

It is now mid winter in cape Town (O.K. next week is the start of spring BUT the weather is very cold and wet) and the catches of Snoek in the past few weeks have been excellent.

Snoek is the main winter commercial catch in the waters here, often in huge numbers. The snoek is from the Barracuda family and is a voracious feeder. The fish is very oily and high in Omega 3. It is also excellent to braai. It is also one of the most contraversial.

I used to work with a guy who once invited me around for a snoek braai and to quote him, he added "I really know how to braai a snoek!" I arrived at his place with great anticipation and left afterwards bitterly dissapointed. It was the usual gooi the food on the braai story. Consume 5 Brandy and Cokes. Turn the food over and down another 5 Brandy and Cokes (Poliesie Koffie as opposed to Irish Coffee). Baste the overcooked and dried out fish with a mixture of butter, garlic and apricot jam to try and make it edible and serve.

Now, for a change, I will agree that there is nothing wrong with the basting sauce. It is perfect for a snoek braai. The fish was just plain overcooked.

One of the debates is whether to use tin foil in the braai grid. I do prefer to use this on one side under the skin of the butterflied snoek ("Flecked" is what we call it) to stop it sticking to the grid. Place the skin side down on moderately hot coals and braai for no longer than 12 minutes if you are using foil. 8 to 10 minutes if you are not. Baste the open flesh side with the aforementioned basting sauce and turn, leaving it no longer than 3 minutes to brown and the fish is ready.

Serve with fresh bread and jam (Konfyt) and a salad. The fish has long thin bones which are easily removed while eating. One of the best ways is to eat the snoek with your fingers in order to find the bones.

Lamb on the Spit

A South African favourite for any special occasion with a lot of people is the Lamb on a Spit Braai. This can feed anything from about 25 to 40 people, depending on the size of the lamb and the participants appetites.


It can be an absolutely wonderful meal, accompanied by fresh bread and salads. However it has been many years since I have experienced a really good one. It is such a simple meal to cook that I am always amazed at how people can get it horribly wrong.


O.K. the first things are the fire and the actual spit. The fire needs to burned down to a good bed of coals and then the coals need to be heaped into both the shoulder and leg area's as these parts take longer to cook the the middle of the lamb. You need to have another fire burning so that you can add more coals as necessary. The spit should be made of Stainless Steel. A mechanized rotating spit works much better and requires much less basting than a hand turned one. As it is turning the fat from the lamb bastes itself as it is cooking. A word on the basting sauce. A simple basting sauce of sunflower oil, lemon juice and some braai spice is all you need. Forget about all these "secret" concoctions containing mayonnaise or whatever.


You need to braai for 4 or 5 hours until the lamb is ready. The cooking time is dependent on several factors such as the size of the lamb, the heat of the coals and the height of the lamb above them. I once went to a spit braai and the lamb had been braaied from 10.00am. The cook had placed the lamb too high above the fire and at 10.00pm that night it was still raw. It is trial and error and good judgement.


O.K. sounds simple. This is usually where things start to go horribly wrong. A lot of people, after carving the lamb up then start to do terrible things to it. A common error is putting it in serving dishes and then pouring some or other disgusting "secret" concoction over it.Usually containing mayonnaise, barbeque sauce, tomato sauce and a few other weird ingredients or a combination of all. You are left with a greasy disgusting mess. The perpetrators of the these crimes should be strung up and beaten. One guy I know wraps the whole lamb in tinfoil and braais it. When it is cooked, he cuts it up and immerses it in his own recipe sauce, probably containing all of the above and serves. It is one of the worst things I have ever eaten. At another work Xmas party there was a spit braai done by a "professional" caterer. The lamb was braaied somewhere else and bought to the party. Cold and congealed fatty crap was what I remember. I have yet to have one decent lamb on the spit prepared by one of these Professional Spit Braai specialists and believe me, I have had plenty.  


On a last note. A 1st grade lamb is often better than a "Super" grade one as there is less fat. Because you are cooking it for a long time, the 1st grade one is just as tender.
    

Weapon of Mass Destruction - The Braai Bak

The worst culprit in ensuring that the food at your braai is inedible.

O.K. this is actually a roasting pan, often made of aluminium, that some people say will poison you as well. This has become a popular utensil that people use to store the cooked meat in while busy braaing another batch or having another dop before eating. It is usually left at the side of the fire and sometimes even on top of the grid to keep the food warm.

What it actually does, because of the lid on it, is to steam the usually already overcooked meat while it is standing. This causes whatever juices are left in the meat to run out even more. Even if the meat was not overcooked before placing it in this diabolical utensil, by doing so, will guarantee that it will be ruined.  

What I recommend for keeping the meat warm while standing is either a good old fashioned wooden board, if the weather is not cold and the standing time short, or a hot tray with an open serving plate on it.    

Whole Loin of Lamb on the Braai.

O.K. enough whinging and whining now!


Last night I stayed over with family in Riebeeck Wes and we did a lovely braai. We actually cooked some Wors as well. The other day my neighbour gave me 3 packs of Kudu Wors that he had made himself after a hunting trip. It was probably one of the nicest Wors I have eaten for many years.


Anyway, this is a favourite of mine. Get the butcher to cut you a whole piece of loin of lamb and then just cut through the bone so that you can carve it up after braaing. Cut slits into the top of the loin and stuff these with slivers of garlic and fresh rosemary.


Get the fire ready. We used Vine Stumps (Wingerd Stompe) and added a few more as well once the fire was burning nicely to give a good bed of hot coals.

Place the meat on the braai while the coals are still very hot. This will seal the juices in and give a nice charred effect.

Braai for about 25 minutes, turning frequently, and remove from the fire. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. This helps the juices set and not all run out as soon as you carve it up. It is still a bit pink and juicy on the inside as can be seen in the image below. I was going to post an image of the carved up Loin, but had had too much wine by then to hold the camera. Braaing is very thirsty work.