So you’ve just about got the necessities into the car. Now’s a good time to stop packing and leave the supermarket plus your 10 tonnes of meat at home. Trust me, nothing is fresh when it’s been travelling with you for three weeks. You can almost always get everything else you need on your travels. Besides, it’s far more fun that way.
About two years ago, I was in Kleinmond and was given some minced perlemoen (abalone). I didn’t know what to do with it at the time and chucked it in my freezer. I recently decided to try it. It cooked for hours but no matter what I did, it remained tough and chewy. In the end it went to the dogs. When we were allowed to dive for perlemoen, I’d bring one up out of the sea, clean it, beat it, slice it, roll it in crushed Provita, deep-fry it for 30 seconds, take it out and it would melt in my mouth. Therein lies the difference between fresh and frozen food. Fresh is always going to be king.
The beauty of shopping at a local African market is that just about everything’s fresh – you can see when it’s not – and most of it’s completely organic. Plus you’re supporting the locals and often it’s their only form of income. If you travel with an entire supermarket in your boot, you miss out on the experience (and believe me, it can be an experience) of eating local food and trying new things. The basic principles of cooking can be applied to anything; you simply need a little creativity.
In 2007, we filmed the third season of Cooked in Mozambique. I’d spent a magical day diving and swimming with dolphins off Magaruque, an island near Vilankulo, and we were on our way back from the island on a dhow. Two friends, who’d been deep-sea fishing, passed us with huge grins on their faces and fish in their hands. I yelled at them to pass me a fillet, so they filleted a kuta (king mackerel) right there on the boat and handed it over. Most dhows have a big box of sand you can cook on, so I smoked the fillet of kuta right there with nothing but lemon juice. It was one of the best meals of my life.
For more recipes and outdoor cooking ideas, read Justin Bonello’s Cooked in Africa: A cooking journey through Southern Africa.
