21 In pursuit of boerewors
Here we are – back in food again. Well, why not? Novel foods are treats experienced when traveling to foreign places and a persistent topic during field work. Biltong and boerewors were the special treats in the Kalahari. Biltong is equivalent to USA’s jerky but much better. Is that just because I’m in Africa when I eat biltong, or is it better than jerky? In any case, biltong comes in many varieties. You can get beef, gemsbok (oryx), eland, and even ostrich biltong. My gnawing on a hunk of biltong has enhanced many long drives through the veld.
Boerewors are sausages (“farmer sausages”) but are shaped in a continuous spiral - not in links. They are a staple at “braais” (barbecues) in southern Africa.
They are addicting. A spiral of boerewors cooked over acacia coals is hard to beat, especially in the middle of nowhere.
Larry and I once stopped at a farm somewhere in the Kalahari, and we asked for permission to look for lizards. The husband and wife who owned the farm said sure and invited us for dinner. We readily accepted, as we were sick of canned and packaged meals.
The wife’s boerewors were excellent, and I asked if she would share her recipe. She happily brought out her recipe book, which called for 100 lbs. of meat + spices. As soon as I saw her recipe, I started to laugh but quickly suppressed it. She asked why I was laughing. Thinking fast, I told her that few Americans would ever find – much less be able to buy – 100 pounds of meat, except at a supermarket. She, of course, lived on a farm and could “grow” all the meat she wanted.
But the real reason I started to laugh was the amounts of other ingredients in the recipe. The first was “40 level tablespoons of coriander.” How could anyone count out 40 tablespoons of anything? I myself could never do that. My mind would wander, and I would lose track. Why not just figure out how many tablespoons are a pint (= 26.6) and use pints as the unit of measure? In other words, 40 tablespoons is approximately 1 ½ pints. I myself can measure 1 ½ pints but never 40 tablespoons.
100 lbs. meat (1/3 is fat, cubed) lay flat, add spice, then mince.
40 level Tbs coriander
22 level Tb salt
10 level Tb pepper
5 level Tb fine cloves (optional)
9 level Tb allspice
10 level Tb brown sugar
1 level Tb ground nutmeg
2 liters of brown vinegar
I’m glad I kept my mouth shut. The wife had been making boerewors for decades and was happy with her recipe. It worked for her. I saw no point in pointing out the obvious, which only would have embarrassed her. Some things are better left unsaid.
Years later we became good friends with David Lincoln, who was a game guide in northern Botswana. David shared several recipes for boerewors; here is my favorite.
3 lbs. lean beef (this is a reasonable amount of meat for an American city person!)
l lb. lean pork
1 ½ lb. pork fat (finely cubed or coarsely ground)
4 T coriander
1 t whole cloves
1 T whole black peppers
1 dessert spoon ground allspice
¼ T ground nutmeg (possibly a little more)
1 t pepper
1 T salt
150 ml dry red or white wine
Pound spices in a mortar until fine. Mix very well with the meat, stuff into casings, and grill.
Bon Appétit!