Beer Country’s Pots, Pans & Potjies, by Greg Gilowey and Karl Tessendorf

Beer Country’s Pots, Pans & Potjies, by Greg Gilowey and Karl Tessendorf. Penguin Random House South Africa. Imprint: Penguin Books. Cape Town, South Africa 2022. ISBN 9781432310868 / ISBN 978-1-43-231086-8

Even if you only get one great family recipe out of Beer Country’s Pots, Pans & Potjies, that's been scrawled onto a piece of paper, that's good enough for authors Greg Gilowey and Karl Tessendorf. Cheers and happy whispering.

WHO IS BEER COUNTRY?

THIS IS GREG

Way back in the 80s when I wasn't much bigger than grandad's potjie, our family would head to the Wild Coast for holidays full of fishing, fun and freedom. Early one morning, I took a sneaky peek through the kitchen doors and what I saw blew my young mind. There it was - a massive cast-iron pot on a wood-fired stove. The kitchen ladies were gathered around, chatting away and breaking off fistfuls of delicious dombolo. To this day, the smell and taste of that steamed bread served with a doorstop of butter and far too much honey, takes me straight back to those Transkei mornings and wide-open Wild Coast days. I didn't know it then, but thinking back, that was the day I fell in love with cast-iron cooking. Teenage trips to Elands Bay on the Cape West Coast saw my old man's potjie getting a run in the sun. While we surfed ourselves stukkend, the dads would be at the campfire assembling the pot with all the military precision they could muster - colonels of the cooler box with beers in hand. But much like the humble braai, a potjie is ready when it's ready - and not before. It cooks on African Time, and by sundown us kids were usually lights out. Sneaking a few midnight bites made for very tasty dreams, and don't even get me started on smashing a breakfast brddibroodjie with potjie filling. It really is true what they say: potjie is always better the next day. Since then, we've cooked in cast iron from Aghulhas to AfrikaBurn and everywhere in between. People have called us crazy for slaving over the coals, getting baked in the African sun. But come sundown, those same people are standing at the fire, tummies full and all smiles. That right there, is the magic of potjie. What started as hand-me-down pots from my dad and grandad, has since turned into a solid collection in my cellar. My kids have dubbed it the Cast-Iron Orphanage and, truth be told, I still battle to walk past an old chunk of heavy metal without wanting to give it a good home. Rusty or not, it's likely worth saving and we'll show you how. If you give it a little love, you'll reap the tasty rewards, not in spades, but in ladle after ladle of incredible cast-iron firefood. Potjie teaches us to take a break, slow down and enjoy the ride. No, slower. Dial it back two notches. Relax harder. Slooower. There you go. It shows us that time, patience and love are the most important ingredients in campfire cooking - and that the best things really are worth waiting for. It's our tasty secret to good times with good people, and for us there's nothing better than sharing a roaring fire, great food and cold beers with big laughs and even bigger smiles. Here's hoping this book - our love letter to cast-iron cooking - will help you make more of those magic memories. Cheers!  [...]

This is an excerpt from Beer Country’s Pots, Pans & Potjies, by Greg Gilowey and Karl Tessendorf.

Title: Beer Country's Pots, Pans and Potjies
Authors: Greg Gilowey; Karl Tessendorf
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Imprint: Penguin Books
Cape Town, South Africa 2022
ISBN 9781432310868 / ISBN 978-1-43-231086-8
Softcover, 20 x 25 cm, 207 pages, throughout colour photos