It’s the last weekend of the World Cup in South Africa and I have to admit that I am sad.
It’s the been the most amazing time for the country. It has been incredibly unifying and uplifting at a time when things were going pretty badly in the country. Crime still is a huge issue as is corruption and ineptitude in the civil service, but for 4 weeks, it all seems to have been forgotten about and there has been such enthusiasm and excitement, from all of us wearing our ‘Bafana Bafana’ jerseys on Soccer Fridays to everyone having flags and side mirror flags on their cars. I can already feel the lull and I know it will all go back to normal but it has been so amazing while it lasted and I can only hope that it will push up the tourism to this beautiful country.
On that note, I am including a very special traditional South African dish, adapted to make it gluten free of course. It is a traditional dish that was brought to the country by the Cape Malay slaves in the early days of the Dutch Settlers in the Western Cape).(only just realised the irony with Holland in the final on Sunday;) )
It is a dish that is so mouthwateringly good, it will make you wish you were in Africa!
Gluten Free Bobotie:
1 cup of raisins ( soaked in chai/rooibos tea)
1kg mincemeat
1 onion finely diced
1 carrot finely diced
1 T Garam Masala
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp turmeric
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T white vinegar
4 T Mrs Balls hot chutney
Salt and Pepper
1 tsp of baking powder
2 slices of gluten free white bread soaked in milk
2 eggs
½ cup of milk
3 bay leaves
Preheat oven to 180C
Fry onion and carrot, til golden, add spices and then meat to brown. Add Worcester sauce, chutney , vinegar and baking powder. Simmer for a few mins, then add soaked bread and raisins, with a small amount of the tea. Taste, add more seasoning if necessary.
Place meat in greased large pie dish, flatten it out.
Mix egg and milk mixture and pour over ( only add at the end if you prepare meat in advance, or else it soaks it up)
Place 3 bay leaves decoratively on top
Bake for approx. 30 min, til golden and bubbling on top.