Oxtail Potjie!

[Boerseun]

I've decided to take the day off!

So, I've got all the groceries, and am about to embark on the creation of an oxtail potjie! Potjie is pronounced poy-key! Easy! And this is THE ONLY OTHER MEAL allowed at a braai, apart from cuts of meat!

So - lemme divulge the recipe, so you non-civilised people out there in barbaric Europe and backwards America can learn something from the Advanced Third World, as far as high-fat terrible cholestrol (extremely yummy) cuisine is concerned! Eating this will shorten your life with at least three years. So now you know why Life Expectancy in Africa is so low - because we eat the way we do!

You'll need:

- 6 pounds Oxtails cut 2 1/2 inches thick pieces
- 10 slices bacon cut in 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper
- 1 litre beef stock
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- Tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 bouquet garni
- 6 large leeks, chopped coarsely
- 2 large onions, chopped coarsely
- 20 button mushrooms
- 1 cup red wine
- 1/2 cup sherry
- 1/2 cup cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons crushed garlic

Dry oxtails with paper towel.
Put seasoned flour in ziplock bag, then add the oxtail and shake to coat with flour.
Heat butter and olive oil and saute bacon pieces.
Remove bacon and brown oxtail in resulting fat, remove and drain.
Finely dice 4 of the carrots. Coarsely chop the onions and the leeks.
Add the finely diced carrots, leeks, onions and saute until softened.
Add oxtail, bacon, bouquet garni, bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic, tomato sauce, red wine and sherry. A variation on this theme uses beer - but my beer never make it to the pot. Such a waste.
Bring slowly to a boil and cook slowly for 3-4 hours. DON'T STIR!
1 hour before serving, cut the remaining carrots into 1 inch pieces, add them and the mushrooms and continue cooking slowly.
Just prior to serving, add cream and stir in.
To thicken the sauce, mix some cornstarch with the cream before adding.

So this sounds like a stew, right? WRONG! This is made in a cast-iron three-legged pot, like the old pioneers used to use - over an open fire. NEVER make a potjie on the stove! The other difference is that when the ingredients are added (after the initial sautee), you NEVER should stir or touch it again! You only stir it right before serving, when you add the cream. The trick lies in handling the fire. And the oxtail lying at the bottom of the pot starts to burn ever so slightly, but that adds to the unique flavour. You can serve it with rice or 'pap' (crumbly maize porridge) with a salad of your choice.

POTJIES KICK ASS!!!

PS - If you don't have a cast-iron three legged pot, you shouldn't try this. I'd recommend you go out and buy one! I don't know how available these pots are in the States or Europe, but in Africa it's essential to own a potjie, otherwise you don't qualify as a braaier. The fun part lies in this taking very long - therefore I had to take the day off for this. Four hours of playing with fire and drinking beer - all as an excuse that I'm 'making food'. People can be so gullible. I'm not complaining, though!

The proper name for this is potjiekos.
Potjie - small pot.
kos - food.
i.e. food made in a small pot. Afrikaans is easier than you think!

Oh yes - and a potjie is never 'nice'. Or even 'good', or 'tasty'. A new car is 'nice'. A glass of wine is 'good'. A bar of chocolate is 'tasty'. A potjie is LEKKER! Pronounced LACK-Kerr. And LEKKER is the epitome of all things nice!!!

LEKKER!!!
This message was brought to you as a public service rendered to the First World in order to lift your cholestrol levels and make you suffer a premature death by heart failure as brought on by awesome cuisine from the caring Third World.

[Chacmool]

Maar wat van aartappels in die potjie? (But what about potatoes in the potjie?)

I must just add that potjiekos is a highly subjective art form. Each person believes his/her recipe is the best, and the topic is sure to lead to heated debate around a South African campfire. The best thing about a potjie is that it takes ages to prepare, which gives you lots of time for drinking beer with your friends.

[Jay-qu]

well you have painted a vivid picture of the grusomely awesome dare I call it a dish.. I would love to try it but ox tails and cast iron pots wont be easy to find, but im sure they are out there.

[Chacmool]

Too err is human; to moo bovine.

[Tormod]

The cow is of the bovine ilk. One end is moo; the other, milk.

Edit: This was of course written by poet Ogden Nash.

[Qfwfq]

Originally Posted by Tormod

This was of course written by poet Ogden Nash.

Who was Scottish, so he would have said "coo".

[InfiniteNow]

Now I am so hungry. Thanks Boerseun!! Geesh...

Why is it (more often than not) that the worse for our health something is, the more delicious it is? It's like a law of nature or something.

[Boerseun]

Update:

The Potjie was made, and oh my dog... WHAT A POT!!!

SCHWEET!!!

Like Chacmool said, the excuse for a potjie is normally the fact that the culpable Boer would lay claim to a mix of meat/veg/etc. coming out as his own personal streak of genius (whilst only being an excuse for a piss-up), but THIS one came out a winner!

First time in my life I cooked with sherry!!! (mixed with red wine, that is...)

Came out EXCELLENT!!!

We had rice and an awesome salad - although the salad is totally arbitrary... whatever cheeses your melon would do.

It was, well, there simply is no other way to describe it...

LEKKER!!!

Come on - be nice - gimme some o'your quaint, local, rural recipes?

[Boerseun]

To revive an old thread, we had another potjie today!

Used a bit more sherry than last time, and a little less red wine - seems the sherry does a caramelizing thing, what with all the sugar an' stuff.

Came out a winner!

So how's about some recipes, then!?

[Spiked Blood]

Originally Posted by Boerseun

And this is THE ONLY OTHER MEAL allowed at a braai, apart from cuts of meat!

I have a few South African friends, no longer living there. One of them often talks fondly of Braai's, his eyes glaze over and I get the impression he is having memories of times that I could only dream of.