South African food can be as exciting and diverse as living here…
- Seared Ostrich Carpaccio with Rooibos Dressing
- Samp Risotto with Minted Peas
- Bobotie with Slow-poached Apples in Lemon-Grass Syrup
- Orange Blossom Koeksisters with Vanilla Pistachios
Seared Ostrich Carpaccio with Rooibos Dressing
Serves 4 | Serve with Kleine Zalze Shiraz 2004 | 25 Minutes
For the dressing
- 4 T white-wine vinegar
- 2 bags rooibos tea
- 80ml olive oil
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 T honey
For the carpaccio
- 2 T olive oil
- 2009 ostrich fillet
- freshly ground black pepper
- sea-salt crystals
- 220g watercress and rocket leaves
Prepare the dressing by bringing the vinegar to the boil, pouring it over the tea bags, and infusing for 5 minutes. Strain. Mix well with the rest of the dressing ingredients. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil until very hot. Sear the ostrich fillet for 5 minutes a side. Remove from the pan and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Grind black pepper and sea salt onto a plate and roll the seared meat in it. Tightly wrap the meat in cling wrap and freeze. Once frozen, thinly slice the meat into rounds with a sharp knife. Toss the herbs with the meat and dressing and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Serve with extra dressing on the side.
Cook’s note
Rooibos is a distinctive South African herbal tea that combines well with ostrich.
Samp Risotto with Minted Peas
Serves 4 | Serve with Avondale Chardonnay 2003 | 30 minutes
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- 11/2 cup samp, soaked in water overnight
- 80ml white wine
- 4 cups vegetable stock, warmed
- 125ml fresh cream
- 100g Parmesan, grated
- 120g fresh garden peas
- 2 T butter
- 2 T mint, chopped
- freshly ground black pepper
- sea-salt crystals
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onions and garlic and sweat, for 5 minutes or until translucent. Drain the soaked samp and add to the pan. Mix through until the samp is covered in oil and has absorbed some of it. Pour over the wine and cook until all the wine is absorbed. Start adding the vegetable stock a little at a time, while stirring, waiting for it to be absorbed before adding more stock. Once the samp is cooked and soft, add the cream. Continue to cook while stirring until the samp is done and the mixture is creamy. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan. Bring a pot of water to the boil and cook the peas for 5 to 8 minutes or until soft. Drain off the water. Add the butter and mint and, using a masher, crush the peas to a coarse texture. Fold this through the cooked samp. Season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Serve topped with extra mint.
Cook’s note
Samp is crushed white corn. It is a very hard grain so it needs to be soaked before cooking. Soaking softens it and reduces the cooking time.
Bobotie with slow-poached Apples in Lemon-Grass Syrup
Serves 4 | Serve with Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 | 25 minutes
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 T curry powder
- 1 T ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 500g beef mince
- 100g seedless raisins
- 1 egg
- 2 T milk
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 green apples, cut into large chunks
- 1 lemon-grass stalk, bruised
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- freshly ground black pepper
- sea-salt crystals
Preheat oven to 180°C. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Lightly fry the onion and spices for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Add the mince and fry until cooked through. (The texture should remain coarse.) Add the raisins and season well. Spoon the mince mixture into an oven-proof dish. Combine the egg and milk. Pour it over the mince mixture and arrange the bay leaves on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the custard is set. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small pot and bring to a slow simmer. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the apples go translucent. Serve the bobotie with the poached apples on the side.
Cook’s note
To enjoy bobotie the traditional way, with yellow rice, simply add one teaspoon of ground turmeric to the rice before cooking, then cook as usual. You could also add toasted almonds and raisins.
Orange-Blossom Koeksisters with Vanilla Pistachios
Makes 8 | Serve with De Trafford Straw Wine 2003 | 30 minutes
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 T orange-blossom water
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 T butter
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup milk
- oil for deep-frying
- 100g pistachios, shelled and roughly chopped
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
Combine the sugar, water and orange-blossom water in a medium-sized pot. Bring to a slow simmer and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool until ice-cold. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Rub in the butter with your fingertips. Combine the egg and milk and mix well. Add just enough of the milk mixture to the flour mixture to form a soft dough. Knead for 5 minutes and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Roll out the dough to 1cm thickness, cut into strips of 1 cm, then twist or plait. Deep-fry in very hot oil for two minutes or until golden-brown. Remove from the oil and plunge into the cold syrup for a few seconds. Drain off excess syrup. Lightly toast the pistachios in a hot pan and add the vanilla seeds. Serve the koeksisters with the pistachios on the side.
Cook’s note
To save time, simply roll out the dough, cut it into free-form shapes and fry these. They’ll taste just as good…
Recipes by Herman Lensing, Photography by Donna Lewis, Art by Karin Miller and Zizipho Poswa. Taken from the October edition of Elle magazine
Related Content
