Whilst on tour with Sunway Safaris at some point of the tour all clients will experience a potjie. Potjiekos (literally meaning pot food) has been part of South Africa’s culture for many centuries since the early days when the first settlers arrived in the Cape. The food was cooked in a black cast-iron potjie pot hanging from a chain over the kitchen fire. Later the black pot accompanied the pioneers who moved into the country. Today, cooking up a potjie has evolved into a unique South African social happening, a tradition almost as popular as the legendary braai. Family and friends are invited and they all settle around the fire with the softly bubbling potjie, chatting, enjoying a drink and having a great time. The packing of the food in layers is the other important part. The onions & meat usually comes first. Add a dash of cooking oil or some fat in the pot, add the meat and brown thoroughly. This is essential to seal in the flavour and improve the appearance of the meat.

Now when buying a potjie you need to break it in. You start the fire and place the pot upside down in the coals to heat it up, letting it get piping hot. You then take the pot of the fire and let it cool down slightly and then give it a good clean. You then place it back on the fire upright and add oil and let the oil heat up so that it starts to smoke. Let it cool, rinse out and give another good clean. This can be repeated to make sure the inside of the pot is 100% clean and ready to use. Whilst you are preparing the pot you can get all your ingredients chopped up and ready for the next stage of cooking.

Now it’s time to cook! Placing the pot on the fire you add a little oil and let it heat up. To start you add onions and let them brown slightly before adding your meat. Stirring the meat until browned you then add a little red wine for taste and close the lid. Leaving it for 25-45 min you can have a beer or 2 around the fire. Open the lid give the meat and onions a stir (this is the last time you will stir the pot) you can now add the harder vegetable like the carrots and potatoes. Closing the lid again you can let it stand in the coals for another 30 – 40min.

Remove the lid and add some stock to just submerge the contents and close again for another 40min. Remove from the direct flames and place a few ambers under the pot to keep it bubbling. Open and check how soft the hard vegetables are. If they are still slightly hard it’s time to add the rest of the vegetable and stock. Close the lid and leave to stand on the ambers for another 40 – 60min. Whilst the final stage of the potjie is in process you can start to cook some rice or pap (Maize meal) as the starch side for your meal. Time to eat!!

Now you can literally use any ingredients you want when it comes to potjie from lamb to beef and even fish, it all depends on your preferences. Whilst on tour I have even made bushveld lasagne, beer bread and soup in the infamous potjie pot.