Braai 4 Heritage 2010 - Sosaties

My tweede Afrikaanse post. Net betyds vir Nasionale Braaidag. Ek het nou al soveel keer op hierdie blog gebrag met die sosatie kompetisie wat ek in die Sarie-Kos gewen het, maar ek het nog nooit die resep gepos nie. Hier is die storie wat ek bygeskryf het om die redakteurs se aandat te trek en die resep aan die einde Sarie het my storie bietie ge-edit, maar hier is die oorspronklike soos ek dit ingestuur het. As ‘n mens darem op ‘n Saterdag so by ‘n kleindorpie Boeremark rondloop, kan die reuk van sosaties wat braai by die Hervormde Kerk se stalletjie jou lelik honger maak. Synde dat die Susters by die Hervormde Kerk egter nie hulle geheime resep wil deel nie, het ek besluit om my eie te ontwikkel vir hierdie kompetisie. Ek wou al lankal deelneem, maar ek het nie ‘n lekker melktert resep nie en hoewel ek ‘n lekker tamatie en uiesmoor maak, is dit niks uitsonderlik nie. Ek het wel ‘n ou beproefde familieresep vir sosaties, maar ek het besluit om ook aan die voete van Gamaliël te gaan sit en kers opsteek. Ja, ek het besluit om die Groot Gewere te raadpleeg. So vervolgens die Groot Gewere wie ek geraadpleeg het en hoekom: 1. Mevrou S. Van H. Tulleken. Haar boek, Die Praktiese Kookboek vir Suid-Afrika was die eerste resepteboek wat, sover as wat ek kan agterkom, in Afrikaans gepubliseer is. Die voorwoord deur Tannie Isie Smuts is gedateer Desember 1922. Ek kry partykeer ‘n baie groot knop in my keel as ek my kopie van hierdie boek deurblaai. Dit het oorspronklik aan my Ma se Tannie Debora Baasden behoort. Tannie Debora, of Tan soos ons haar genoem het, se teenwoordigheid is aanvoelbaar in die boek. Oral val ou poskaarte van Rhodesië en troukaartjies van vergete familielede uit waarop Tan haastig resepte neergeskryf het. Ook het Tan ‘n baie duidelike regmerk gemaak by resepte van Mev. Van Tulleken wat sy gereeld met sukses gemaak het. Mevrou van Tulleken het drie pond vleis gebruik haar resep en sy praat nog van knoflok. 2. S.J.A. de Villiers. Jou Ouma se Kook en Geniet was blou-groen, jou Ma s’n was rooi en joune het ‘n volkleurfoto van gebraaide skaapboud op die voorblad. Daar is twee resepte vir sosaties in – een gewoon en een grootmaat. 3. Sannie Smit. Sannie was die destydse hoof huishoudkundige by die Vleisraad gewees. Sy kon nou vir jou ‘n stuk vleis gaarmaak! Ek wens ek het die Afrikaanse uitgawe gehad, maar ek is steeds dankbaar vir my All Colour South African Cookbook wat ek in ‘n tweedehandse boekwinkel opgespoor het. Voor in die boek in blou ink drukskrif staan geskryf: “To our Mother on the occasion of our first Christmas 1985 in South Africa. All our love. David and Ian.” Te wyte aan die baie spatsels op die bladsy vir Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding was die Tannie helaas meer partydig teenoor die kos van die land van haar herkoms. Ewenwel, Sannie se resep was die inspirasie vir die ‘dubbel gemarineerd’. 4. Cass Abrahams. Die oorsprong van die sosatie is immers Kaap-Maleis. Cass het Kaap-Maleis weer op die map geplaas en blykbaar is Madiba gaande na haar kos. Cass bedien die sosaties op rys met die marinadesous bo-oor geskep. 5. Annette Human. Hier praat ons van snelvuur grofgeskut. Hier praat ons van een van die heel grootste invloede van wat op tafels reg oor die land verskyn het. Sonder Annette Human het ons almal nog elke aand rys, vleis en aartappels met two veg geëet. Annette het voormalige kontinuïteitsaanbieder en TV persoonlikheid Rita van den Heever se sosatieresep met ons gedeel. Intussen het Carmen Niehaus Wenresepte bewonderingswaardig opgedateer vir die Nuwe Millennium. 6. Shirley Guy & Marty Klinzman – Die Suid-Afrikaanse Braaiketel-Kookboek. Ons Afrikaanse mans is koning agter die rooster, maar hier is twee Engelse Anties wat ook kán braai! Hulle maak hulle sosaties eers op die indirekte metode in ‘n braaiketel gaar, waarna hulle dit vinnig direk op die kole sit vir die “tradisionele swart puntjies”. 7. My Tannie Julie. Hare is die familieresep. Volgens Tannie Julie is die geheim dat die uie goed moet braai. Tannie Julie gebruik ook blatjang in haar resep. 8. Skoonma Toekie. Nie haar sosatieresep nie, maar die sous vir haar kerrievis. Ma Toeke se kerrievis is selfs lekkerder as wat my Ouma Rosie s’n was! Nou moet julle weet! 9. Cook Sister. Jeanne Horak-Druif is ‘n Suid-Afrikaner wat in London woon en haar internet blog genaamd ‘Cook Sister’ is ongelooflik suksesvol. Sy neem ook watertand fotos van haar disse en ek-wens-ek-was-daar fotos van die plekke wat sy besoek. Cook Sister is al verskeie kere bekroon by die jaarlikse South African Blog Awards. In 2009 het sy weer met die prys vir die beste kos-blog weggeloop. In Cook Sister se fassinerende blog inskrywing van 15 September 2006 deel sy ‘n ene Cecil se sosatieresep met haar lesers en skryf sy oor die etimologie van die woord ‘sosatie’ asook oor die oorsprong van die sosatie self. Boerekos met ‘n naam wat Indonesies klink en wat Midde-Oosters proe? Cook Sister het ook háár ghoeroe geraadpleeg en hulle bespiegel... Gaan lees gerus. http://cooksister.typepad.com/cook_sister/2006/09/scenes_from_a_b_1.html Van die wat ek hier genoem het leef nog, ander is al dood. Van hulle is trendsetters gewees en ander die trendsetters van môre. Van hulle lewe voort in vergeelde bladsye en ander sweef in cyberspace. Van hulle is bekend en ander nie, maar dis by hulle almal wat ek inspirasie vir my resep gekry het. Daar is nog baie ander groot kos gewere in Suid-Afrika... Nettie Pikeur, Peter Veldsman, Pieter Pieterse, C. Louis Leipoldt, Lannice Snyman, Braam Kruger, Nataniël, Topsy Venter, Reuben Riffel, Prue Leith, Leatitia Prinsloo, my Ma By en nog te veel om op te noem. ‘n Ander dag vir bobotie of koeksusters of ‘n ietsie anders hoor ek weer by hulle. Mens moet jou bronne op die internet ook mooi kies. Wikipedia reken dat daar tamarinde pasta by die sosatiemarinade kom. Nee wat, sê ek, hou die tamarinde pasta vir Denningvleis. Selfs die Larousse Gastronomique maak melding van sosaties in die inskrywing oor Afrique du Sud. So na al die verstommende inspirasie wat ek by die Groot Gewere opgedoen het, het ek my hart gevolg met die resep en gehoop ek verstaan vir Sarie reg – ons soek iets wat duidelik herkenbaar is as ‘n sosatie en nie ‘n ander gerygde ding soos ‘n kebab of espatada nie, ons soek ietsie uniek en ons soek daardie persoonlike stempel. So gaan kuier vroulief, Lam en my rooikop baba by Ouma Ooi in Klerksdorp. Ek sit met my Tupper Marinade bak vol sosaties alleen by die huis. Kennelik is my homeboy Oorwinnaar, mos die beter braaier en kort voor lank staan ons voor sy braai en die wonderlikste sosatie rook vul Vereeniging se winterkoue aandlug. (Gits, nou klink ek soos Riaan Cruywagen in die Bronx!) Die glas Laborie Shiraz in my hand is voorbarig diep en spesery en laat hom nie deur ‘n sosatie intimideer nie – die perfekte drink en eet kombinasie! En die sosatie? Hy proe soos sosatie met nog iets mistiek en subtiel en absoluut murgsag! Die ‘dubbel gemarineerd’ te danke ja! Ek is tevrede en ek en Nico sit tot laatnag en vertel Langenhoven stories en wens ons het ‘n Mercedes Gull-wing of ‘n lekker muscle car Chev of Ford gehad wat hard brul. Ons bly nie verniet in V-Town nie. Vriend Oorwinnaar se vrou Rowwe Eiland het vergeet om vir Belinha te laat weet ons eet sosaties vanaand en sy moenie kook nie, so vir bykos het ons gestoofde skaapnek, patats, wortels en aartappels gehad en tuisnywerheid melktert vir nagereg. Hoekom nie? So, na ek hom nou ook geproe het, uiteindelik my resep: Wenke: · Moenie die blokkies vleis te klein sny nie. (Maar nou ook nie hompe nie) · Gebruik eerder hout of bamboes stokkies (skewers) as metal (die vleis gly rond op metaalpenne en draai dan moeilik om). · Onthou om ook die stokkies oornag in water te week – dan brand hulle nie maklik nie. · Moenie die blokkies vleis te styf op die stokkies ryg nie. · Braai op ‘n rooster oor ‘n vuur. Jy gaan nie naby dieselfde resultate in ‘n pan, in die oond of op ‘n braaiplaat kry nie. Resep – Vleis (gebruik goeie gehalte vleis, daar is niks so teleurstellend soos taai seningrige sosaties nie) 1 kg lamsboud ontbeen en in blokkies gesny 1 kg bees kruisskyf in blokkies gesny (ons rek hom – ontbeende lamsboud is baie duur) 200 g varkspek in dun skyfies gesny Marinade 1 (hiermee doen ons ‘n bietjie opdatering met ‘n effense Indiese inslag) 500 ml natuurlike ongegeurde joghurt 2 huisies knoffel fyngedruk 10 ml garam masala sap en gerasperde skil van ‘n halwe suurlemoen (my stempel – ek is gek na suurlemoene en gebruik dit graag in kos) Marinade 2 (vir daai lekker outydse sosatie smaak) 3 groot uie in ringe gesny 125 ml fyn appelkooskonfyt 250 ml perske- of vrugteblatjang 500 ml bruin asyn 250 ml rooibostee (vir ‘n bietjie balans, die marinade is baie skerp) 45 ml matige kerriepoeier 20 ml borrie 10 ml fyn gemmer 20 ml koljandersade fyngestamp 5 heel naeltjies 3 lourierblare gebreek sap en gerasperde skil van ‘n halwe suurlemoen (ons stempel hom sommer weer) 10 ml sout 75 ml kookolie Gedroogde appelkose vir tussenin (opsioneel – party hou daarvan ander nie) Metode Meng al die bestandele vir die eerste marinade. Gooi die vleis by en maak seker dat die marinade al die blokkies vleis goed bedek. Marineer oornag in die yskas. Maak solank die tweede marinade en hou in ‘n lugdigte houer in die yskas tot die volgende dag benodig. Braai die uie in die olie stadig oor lae hitte tot deurskynend, maar nie bruin. Voeg kerrie, borrie, gemmer, koljander, naeltjies, sout en lourierblare by. Volg dan met suurlemoen sap en skil, appelkooskonfyt, blatjang, asyn en rooibostee. Prut stadig vir so 15 minute en laat goed afkoel. Sodra die vleis oornag in die eerste marinade gelê het, meng tweede marinade by en marineer weereens oornag. Ryg die blokkies vleis op sosatiestokkies en probeer om die bief en lam blokkies af te wissel en ‘n skyfie varkspek so tussen elke tweede, derde blokkie. Weereens, dis sosaties die, nie kebabs nie, so persoonlik sal ek nie nog pynappel, uie, groen- of rooipeper stukke tussenin sit nie. Dalk nog gedroogde appelkose, maar onthou om dit ook in rooibostee te week as dit nie van die sagte Turkse soort is nie. Ek het lang stokkies gebruik en so ‘n dosyn lekker groot sosaties uitgekry. Braai die sosaties stadig oor matige kole tot deurgaar maar nog sappig binne en mooi bruin buite. Onthou die baie suiker van die appelkooskonfyt en blatjang in die marinade brand maklik aan. Nog bietjie sout kan oorgestrooi word terwyl die sosaties braai. Bedruip ook met nog ‘n bietjie van die marinadesous terwyl dit braai. Dien op met jou gunsteling braai bykos.

Braai 4 Heritage

The Braai 4 Heritage initiative started off as National Braai Day on the 24 of September (I think 2 or 3 years ago), coinciding with Heritage Day (SA public holiday). This became a politically tinged issue in the press and subsequently the initiative was re-named Braai 4 Heritage. I’ve never been one for celebrating public holidays (Exept the Christian holidays of Christmas & Easter). I did not celebrate The Day of the Vow or Republic Day in the old SA and I am not celebrating any of the ‘New SA’ holidays. I just couldn’t be bothered. To me they can call it Bank Holidays like they do in the UK. The only benefit to me is a day off, especially if it falls on a Friday or Monday, so one can have a lekker long weekend. However, having a day to celebrate the South African Braai... now that is worthwhile commemorating and celebrating. For the past two years we’ve been a group of friends that comes together on the 24th of September and have a good and proper SA braai with all the trimmings. We do it in the form of a cook-off, but no one takes the competition part seriously – it is done just for fun and for the braaiers to mock each other. This year we will be doing it again and I can’t wait and guess what I will be braaiing. Please check out the site http://braai4heritage.co.za/ for interesting bits and for a good laugh (especially the braaictionary. Also check out this site dedicated to the wonders of the braaibroodjie http://braaibroodjie.co.za/. Are you having a get-together something on Braai Day? Well, start arranging and may the wors be with you (and the chops, and the steaks, and the pap & sous, and the braaibroodjies and the potato salad...)

Cubes of meat on a hard spear

I am not going to be able to NOT blog about this, so (and I hope I won't regret this) but here goes: I, J. Hardspear de la Azotea, am officially South Africa's Sosatie champion. The Afrikaans women's mag Sarie has a seasonal food edition, the Sarie KOS. In this they have been running competitions where they ask the readers to send in there recipes looking for SA's best. So far the emphasis has been on very traditional SA fare. The first one was melktert (a traditional SA tart with a baked egg custard filling in a flaky- or short crust and cinnamon sprinkled over), the second one was - tamatie-en-uie-smoor (warm tomato and onion relish) which are served with pap at a braai. The winning entries were exceptionally good. Sarie food actually prepare the entries and have a panel of foodies select the winner. They then do a spread in the Sarie KOS on the winning recipe and a photo of the winning entrant. In the winter 2009 edition they announced that they want SA's best Sosatie (curried lamb kebab). Sosatie is as traditional South African as you can get. Very popular in the braai culture and has it's roots firmly in Cape Malay cooking. I decided to enter. I developed my own recipe, made it and tested it. The result was PERFECT! I e-mailed my entry and waited. The other day I had a call to say that I won! I am over the moon! So - unfortunately not in time for Braai 4 Heritage Day, please buy the Spring Edition of Sarie KOS - on the shelves 30 September 2009. It is one of the best food mags around (Sarie Food Editor Barbara Joubert won a speciality editor award) and their website publish the recipe's in English as well.

Computer Generated Café de Paris Sauce for Steak

One of my favourites at a local restaurant is steak with Café de Paris butter. Now according to Wikipedia a vast difference exists between Café de Paris butter and Café de Paris sauce. Café de Paris butter is the most wonderfully savoury, deeply satisfying sauce you can possibly have with steak. It does not overpower the taste of the steak, it greatly enhances it. So when I checked on the net, there were too many recipes all claiming to be the authentic Café de Paris sauce (but meaning butter). I downloaded loads of these recipes and put the lists of ingredients into an Excel Spreadsheet. I then ran it all through a Pivot Table, which gave me the amount of times a specific ingredient featured in my collection of recipes. I decided on a arbitrary cut-off point and only used the ingredients featured in a certain percentage of recipes. I read through the original recipes to get a feel for amounts and method of preparation. The result was staggeringly delicious and unspeakably good. It was delightfully first class and just so satisfactorily mouth-wateringly tasty! I have made it many times since and always makes extra to keep in the freezer. So when Lamb and Image visited Grandma last week this was definitely on one evening’s menu for one. I bought a nice juicy piece of rib-eye steak which I sizzled in a griddle pan. It was a large piece of steak and I was not in the mood for starch, so I only had steamed broccoli with a lime-coriander dressing with my Café de Paris steak. Lamb had the camera with her, so the photo below is not my own – got it from the web. When one looks at the list of ingredients, one would think that this cannot possibly taste good. It’ll certainly spoil the taste of the steak, but look at amounts and method and I promise you, you will not be disappointed. Hey it is me, J. Hardspear de la Azotea, will I ever post a recipe which is not good? I ask you?

Here is my computer generated recipe then:

Filet Café de Paris 250 g Butter (Soft) 4 tbsp (in total combined) Fresh Parsley, Tarragon, Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Basil, Sage (At least 5 of the above) Try to get as much fresh as possible and use dried only for those you cannot get fresh. The Tarragon and Sage is very important, so use dried if you must. 2 Cloves Garlic 2 Lemons (Juice and Zest) 1 Chopped Shallot or red onion 1 tsp Curry Powder 8 Anchovy Fillets 1 Small glass Madeira/Sherry/Port Season with salt & Pepper Finely chop shallot and sweat till soft in a little oil. Add Madeira/Sherry/Port and cook till evaporated. Add anchovies and stir till dissolved into the mixture and add the curry powder. Remove from the heat and let cool. Chop the fresh herbs as finely as possible. Mince the garlic, grate some zest off of the lemons and squeeze the juice out. Thoroughly mix everything with the soft butter. Can be prepared well in advance and kept in refrigerator or freezer. Coat whole fillet with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Cook on Weber using indirect method – hot fire for 35-40 min. Put Café de Paris butter in a cast iron saucepan and pan on the grill. Whilst on the grill, cut into steaks and flash each piece directly over the hot coals and then into the Café de Paris butter. Serve straight away. Works also for steaks grilled directly over coals or steak fried in a griddle pan on the stove.

Blue Boy

Dog my cats! What a bad day I had yesterday. (Thank you Angel for the encouraging comments) As I explained to Angel, I did not take my Ritalin on Monday. It takes generally a day and a half to get back on track again. Many times, I do not feel adverse effect when not taking my meds. Ritalin makes it generally better, however, once in a blue moon you strike a very bad day, despite the meds. I once read the following analogies to help explain what Ritalin does when you have ADD. Ritalin does not give you an extra trump card, it just deals you the same pack everyone else is playing with Ritalin is the windshield wipers in a bad storm Ritalin helps you to tune your radio to the same station as those around you – it also tunes out the static. My Dr believes pharmacological treatment constitute 50% of ADD management. The rest is made up by counselling, KNOWLEDGE, and support. Now if it is good for you, why do you not take it, dammit?! The answer is simple. Alcohol and Methylphenidate Hydrochloride (active ingredient in Ritalin & Concerta) does not mix. I haven’t seen any research on that, but personal experience proves that. In a previous blog entry I mentioned National Braai Day (barbecue day) in South Africa. Well that happened on Monday and that is the reason why I did not take my Ritalin on Monday. I had Margaritas, beer and wine on Monday whilst friend Victorious People and I had our cookout. I did the Greek Leg of Lamb as intended. I also put some apricot wood in the weber which gave it a delicious smoke flavour. The day was PERFECT. My Leg of Lamb was a huge success, and so was the Roast Potatoes. The people positively raved about the Ratatouille. (Good timing – 3 days after the release of the Movie Ratatouille in SA). I garnished the carved lamb in a nice plate with seared green asparagus spears and lemon wedges. Victorious People made whole beef fillet (tenderloin for the Yanks) which he crusted with black pepper and wrapped in bacon. Just before dishing up, he sliced it, poured melted butter on and then flambe’d it with brandy. The verdict – a draw! On top of that, it was a beautiful sunny spring day in our part of the Southern Hemisphere. Mix in a few good friends and you have success. A drawback of ADD is that a “low” many times follow a “high”. The higher the high, the lower the low – that is the ADD equation. After I won the Weakest Link, I was on a super high for two days on end. Won’t talk about the two days which followed… May I just remind anybody reading this… this is my subjective experiences, which I hope will give especially parents of ADD children some insights into the emotions and thinking of their children. I don’t proclaim my views to be the gospel truth however.

Greek roast leg of lamb

I've found this recipe below for Greek roast leg of lamb on the net and ajusted it for the Weber Kettle Grill. This will be my main attraction when Victorious People and I have our cookout on monday.

Greek roast leg of lamb 6 lbs bone-in leg of lamb (about) 14 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons dried oregano 2 tablespoons rosemary 1/3 cup olive oil 1 cup red wine 2 lemons, zest of, of grated 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 tsp pepper 8 large potatoes (1 per person) or 16-24 small new potatoes, 2 to 3 per person 2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Wash lamb well and pat dry. 2. Finely chop 8 cloves of garlic and place in a glass dish or sturdy plastic bag large enough to hold the lamb. 3. Stir in 4 tsps each of oregano and rosemary, 1/4 cup of the oil, the wine, zest and lemon juice. 4. Place lamb in marinade, turning to coat well on all sides; cover and refrigerate overnight. 5. Crush remaining 6 cloves of garlic and stir together with remaining 2 tsps each oregano and rosemary mustard, salt & Pepper 6. Remove lamb from marinade (keep marinade) and pierce in several places with the tip of a sharp knife. 7. Rub garlic-herb-mustard mixture over lamb, pressing into incisions. 8. Place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. 9. Peel potatoes and cut into large wedges or like cottage fries (or if you are using small, new potatoes, leave them whole). 10. Toss in the marinade kept from the lamb and 2 additional tablespoons of olive oil and pour all of this mixture into your pan, around the lamb. 11. Make indirect fire on the sides of Weber grill – grill for 2 ½ - 3 hours.

I am also going to add apricot wood on the coals for a light smoky flavour. For sides I am going to make Ratatouille and roast potatoes in the Weber and a baked chocolate pudding (also in Weber)

I’ve found Elizabeth David’s ratatouille recipe to be the best.

Friends 1

I am lucky to have three best friends, Army Man, Victorious People and Peaceful Ruler. Army Man also has ADD and it is uncanny the way we understand each other. We also share a lot of interests. Army Man is gay and has yet another prospective boyfriend. I have not met the potential beau yet, but Lamb and I usually have to meet any possibilities to give our opinion. I love Army Man very much, but I am getting tired of his unstable love life. I must admit, that I do not wish to meet another prospect. It is a pity none of his previous long-standing relationships worked out. I really wish he would meet another long term partner. I sometimes worry about him having casual relations. Being each other’s confidants, he tells me about them. I act very non-judgemental, but I am secretly concerned. Lamb tried to play matchmaker, but the match was also not to be. Victorious People and I do not have many interests in common. We think alike about things however. Victorious People has quite a twisted sense of humour. He is one of very few people whom I find really funny. Victorious People made one grave mistake recently. He challenged me to a braai (Afrikaans for barbecue/grilling) cookout. I willingly picked up the gauntlet he threw before me. This significant event will take place on 24 September which is a public holiday in South Africa and apart from being Heritage Day it is also National Braai (Barbecue) Day.