Camden New Journal - Recipe for Bobotie By Clare Latimer

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The Review - FOOD AND DRINK - Cooking with CLARE
Published: 20th August 2008

Cookin' up South African sunshine

Clare Latimer shows how to make a couple of Cape Town favourites

I AM lucky enough to have just come back from a wonderful restful holiday in South Africa.
I don’t think there is anywhere in the world that has such good food as around Cape Town and the winelands, and the prices are unbelievably reasonable.
One night we went to Le Quartier Francais, the gourmet restaurant in Franshhoek (you book weeks in advance) and the bill for the tasting menu with wines to compliment the food came to £26 per head.
After all this eating and drinking in the Cape Town area we then ambled along to Knysna and on to the Addo Game Reserve near Port Elizabeth but the gem of the whole holiday for me was a farm between Franshhoek and Stellenbosch called Lekkerwijn (yes, it took me two weeks to learn how to pronounce it and then to remember it as well).
It is a 1790 Cape Dutch homestead where the family have always lived.
The furniture is stunning and you are accepted as one of the family the moment you arrive.
Peacocks and guinea fowl trim the lawns and the sweet dog rounds them up in her fashion early evening to everyone’s amusement. I don’t have the space to go on but check it out on www.lekkerwijn.com and go out of your way to stay there. It is idyllic.

Bobotie
This is a South Africa dish and there are many ways to cook it but here is my version that I have used for years.
A great many South African dishes are very sweet so if you are not so keen then leave out the sugar, but it is worth adding the chutney.
At Lekkerwijn they serve it with slices of fresh melon, avocado and bananas in big chunks.
I had never had this before but it was perfect. I suppose it is the basic version of salsa that we now see everywhere.

Ingredients
Serves 6
One tbsp oil;
Two onions, peeled and chopped;
Two tsp curry powder;
900g lean minced beef;
Half a tsp ground cloves;
One tsp turmeric;
One tbsp vinegar;
Half a tsp freshly ground nutmeg;
One tsp ground ginger;
One tbsp mango
chutney;
Handful of flaked almonds;
One desp brown sugar (optional);
Salt and freshly ground black pepper;
Little stock to moisten.
For the topping
Four eggs, beaten;
Eight fl oz milk.

Method
Preheat the oven to 190¾C/375¾F/Gas mark five. Heat the oil in the saucepan, add the onions and curry powder and cook slowly for three minutes to soften the onions.
Add the mince and stir well. Add the remaining ingredients and stir again. Pour into an ovenproof dish and smooth over the top. Mix the eggs and milk, then pour over the meat mixture.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown, then reduce the heat to low until ready to serve.

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