Potjiekos has been part of the South African
culture for centuries, in fact since the days of the first settlement at the Cape when
food was cooked in a black cast-iron pot hanging from a chain over the kitchen fire. Later
the black pot accompanied intrepid pioneers who moved into the country. As the Victorian
era unfolded, so the delights of the bubbling black pot made way for magnificent oven
roasts, and later still the traditional braaivlieis (barbecue) in the 1950’s and
60’s. The pot’s re-emergence in the late 1970’s coincided with the
escalation of meat prices and it was then that food magazines and books started publishing
articles on the art of Potjiekos cooking.
It is thought that the ‘Potjie’ came from the Dutch ancestors of the South Africans, who brought with them heavy iron cooking pots which hung from hooks over the open hearth. These cast-iron pots retained heat well and could be kept simmering over a few embers. Rounded, potbellied pots were used for cooking tender roasts and stews as they allowed steam to circulate instead of escape through the lid. The flat-bottomed iron pans heated more quickly and were used to bake crusty loaves of bread in Dutch ovens.
What sets Potjiekos apart from these traditional cooking methods, is the fact that it is cooked outside. When the pot was moved from the kitchen hearth to a fire in the open bush, it became a ‘Potjie’ and part of the South African cooking heritage. The most common ‘Potjie’ is the rounded, potbellied, three-legged cast iron pot you see in these pictures. These pictures do not show the traditional cooking method over live coals, but a propane burner works just as well and is easier to control.
Potjiekos is uniquely South African, and is a friendly food, to be enjoyed by rich or poor, young and old, city-dwellers and country folk, needing only one’s imagination when it comes to to selecting the ingredients. It is the ideal food to serve to a crowd of friends. Potjiekos is traditionally made around an open fire (as seen below), preferably in the company of good friends, with one or more ‘Potjies’ simmering away.
Grant brought his potjie with him from South Africa, as they used to be impossible to find in America. Fortunately for those of you who are interested there is now a distributor who imports them and you can get all the information you need from his site
This is Grant's brother Gareth (actually a brother from a previous life) enjoying a potjie cooked in the spectacular Cederberg mountains of Cape Town, South Africa. He is a little reminiscent of a bushman.