Potjiekos weather in South Africa

Saturday 25 th January and today is real Potjiekos weather in South Africa. No sunshine and also no rain…it did rain a bit last night, but today is just cloudy and cold.

Today one can open a bottle of good red wine, get the fire going and sit around the fire for a while with a glass of Cabernet…Sounds good, doesn’t it?

The preparation for making a potjie is all part of the therapeutic process. You get your cast iron black pot out, see that it is clean and put it next to the fire. Now you need to get a platform or table that you put right next to your chair close to the fire. Once your pot is on the fire you need to be able to reach your pot and the stuff on the table without moving from the comfort of your chair…this is a relaxing way of cooking…

Most of the time you will start by frying your meat until brown, then you take the meat out of the pot. Clean an onion or two and cut in wheels…add a bit of cooking oil to the pot and add the onions. Your fire should not be too hot, so move the pot away a bit and put some coals under it to just fry the onions without burning it. Whatever else you would like to put in the pot can come to the table now with a peeler and a bowl with water. Once you peeled the potatoes or sweet potatoes it will colour …you dont want that, so you put it in the bowl of water until you need it.

Once your onion is golden brown you can add the meat to the pot again…depending on the recipe you can add your spices now for three minutes or so, but make sure your fire is not so hot that it burns the spices. Once the spices are done you can add a cup or two of water (sometimes mixed with wine) and close the lid. Your pot can now simmer for the time required by the recipe…and your fun time starts now.

Sit close to the pot so that you can hear it simmer and get your vegetables closer to start peeling it. First, have a good sip or two of your good wine and relax…this is part of the experience. Peeling the potatoes is so relaxing and to me it is a integral part of the process. You talk to your friends or who ever is around the fire and you don’t have to think about ANYTHING else. Just peel the potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes or whatever goes into the pot and enjoy the process. Cut it to the right size and put it all in the bowl of water.

You will soon smell the nice smell of meat and onions coming from the potjie. Every now and then you can open your pot to see that the water is enough …just make sure the pot doesn’t burn, everything is going according to plan. Make sure you have all the ingredients ready and on the table so that you can just add it to the pot at the time as required by the recipe. Just remember to adjust your fire under the pot…not too cold, not too hot…and check the fluid in the pot so that your pot doesn’t burn.

Have some more wine and chat about life while you have a bit of a break because next you need to add your other ingredients. At the time specified in the recipe, add your carrots, beans, sweet potatoes, potatoes or whatever is required to the pot. Sometimes you will be required to put things like water and white or red wine with your spices just after you put your vegetables, but you will be lead by the recipe. Always bear in mind that the vegetables will also add fluid to the pot and you don’s want too much fluid in the end.

You will now have another hour of fun and chatting to your friends because most of the vegetables must cook for an hour before it is soft. Remember, you did not put salt and the final spices yet. I normally put salt about 30 minutes before the pot will be done. Taste the sauce of your potjie with a spoon about half an hour before your want to eat….if you do not like what you taste you still have an time to add or correct to get your acquired taste.

By now the first bottle of wine should be finished and you can decide what to drink next…water or wine. Make sure everything you will need is on the table because once the pot is on the table everybody will want to dish up. We normally put the pot on a granite cutting board on the table, but you can have people dish up outside, or where it is safe to put the hot pot.

That is how easy and pleasant it is to make potjiekos!

Oxtail Potjie takes about 4 hours for the meat to be soft…by that time everyone is so hungry, you hardly get any complaints about the food…

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