You’ll need:
1,5 kg springbok neck cut into sections
Enough cake flour to dust the springbok
10 ml salt
Good dollop of olive oil
1 onion, roughly sliced
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
250 ml good red wine, warmed up
Enough warm beef stock to cover the meat
2 leeks, cut into thin rounds
2 carrots, cut into rounds
Half a butternut, cut into chunks
Fry the onion, leeks and garlic until the onion is translucent, remove and set aside. Coat the springbok in flour and brown in the oil at the bottom of your potjie pot. Add the salt, black pepper, rosemary, garlic, leeks and onions, then add the red wine and stock (the meat must be just submerged). Put the lid on and simmer on gentle heat for two-and-a-half to three hours until the meat is tender. It’s important that the dish simmers (I call it the potjie-pot whisper). If you boil meat rapidly, chances are it’ll become tough, so please “¦ gentle heat. Next, layer the carrots and butternut on top of the meat (don’t stir) and cook for another 20 minutes.
Now make the dumplings and the doughboy.
100 g butter
500 g cake flour
10 ml baking powder
Handful grated pecorino cheese
5 ml salt
250 ml cold water
Sift the baking powder, salt and flour together. Add pecorino cheese, then rub in the butter with your finger tips. Gradually add cold water until you have a soft dough. Break off small pieces of dough (about half the size of an egg) and place them in the pot in the gravy. For the doughboy, roll out a piece of dough and cut out a gingerbread-man shape. Place him in the pot with the dumplings, put the lid on and cook for a further 20 to 30 minutes, until the dumplings are ready. Serve with a glass of red wine.
For more recipes and outdoor cooking ideas, read Justin Bonello’s Cooked in Africa: A cooking journey through Southern Africa.
