Background: Potjiekos is a traditional Afrikaner dish hailing from South Africa. It originated with the Voortrekkers in the 1800s and is still widely prepared and enjoyed in South Africa today. It is a simple dish, easy to prepare, with few rules but hundreds of variants. When done properly a potjie needs little to no supervision and practically prepares itself. It thus allows you time to enjoy the company of your friends and family while preparing the meal. Potjiekos, translated would mean Little Pot (potjie) Food (kos) and although it resembles a stew it is not a stew and is not prepared like a stew. Pronounced: In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) potjiekos is pronounced poiki:kos however for those of us who do not know IPA here is a laymans pronunciation explanation. Its P for pig followed by KOI without the K, then KEY then K then TOSS without the T so all together it should be POI-KEY-KOSS, potjiekos. The Structure: When Potjiekos is prepared it is referred to as building the potjie in Afrikaans. The dish is normally prepared in layers and never stirred once the lid is put on. The first layer is normally that of meat. The meat can be sea food, poultry, pork, game, red meat, anything really. Next would normally be the vegetables, then the starch and lastly the sauce would be added. Ingredients that need to cook longer are very often placed closer to the bottom of the potjie. Sticking to the meat, vegetables, starch tradition works very well if you have enough liquid in the potjie and cook it for 2 -3 hours. Everything should then be wonderfully soft, tender and juicy. The difference between a potjie and a stew is that a potjie is never stirred during the cooking process! Once you have built your potjie and put on the lid, you will not lift it again unless it is to serve up the dish. In rare cases, and usually only when you suspect something has gone wrong, will you lift the lid and peer into the potjie. In such cases it normally is because the potjie is running dry and more liquid needs to be added. This is then poured down the sides on the inside of the potjie and never in the middle. The Science and Procedure: Cooking oil is heated in a pot, usually of cast iron, until very hot. Meat and normally onions as well is then browned by searing it in the oil. This locks in the juiciness of the meat. The meat is not cooked until down, just seared and browned. Vegetables are then packed in layers on top of the meat spreading each kind evenly throughout the dish. It is sealed with a starch traditionally potatoes cut in slices but it can be pasta, rice or anything else. This traps the steam around the vegetables and actually steam cooks them. Potjiekos is cooked slowly over a moderate heat source. Traditionally this would be outdoors over coals but today can be done anywhere over any heat source. The dish is slow cooked and the way it is built creates a small pressure cooker effect because the cast iron lids are heavy. The steam build up insides has to become substantial before it starts to leak past the lid. The Art: Champion potjiekos cooks prepare their dish in layers, meat at the bottom, then vegetables and then the starch. They then put the lid on and do not lift again until the dish is done. Cooks would listen to the slight bubbling and simmering of the potjie by hold a ear close to the lid. This is called listening to the potjie talk. The cook listens and then control the heat at the bottom of the potjie. While holding an ear close to the side of the lid, (be careful not to let escaping steam burn you) the cook should hear a slight bubbling with a bubble every second or two. A rapidly boiling potjie is a recipe for disaster. What you should hear is a slight bubble as if the food is simmering. You should never hear something boiling or rapidly bubbling as potjiekos is prepared slowly over moderate heat. Adjust the heat source until you hear the desired sound. Remember that it takes a few minutes, sometimes up to 10, before the potjie will respond to heat adjustment.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 05:09:21 +0000
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