Boerewors and butternut - a South African risotto for IMBB

I was really inspired by this theme. A few months ago I went on a hunt to find new risotto ideas as I always seemed to be making mushroom risotto and nothing else! I had found a recipe for chorizo risotto but on the night I felt like risotto, we had no chorizo in the house. We had, however, had a barbecue the previous night and I had some leftover meat, including a coil of boerewors. Let me explain about boerewors. I am not a big eater of meat and I can go months without eating red meat quite happily. But the one thing I do eventually crave is boerewors. It's a South African thing. Literally translated, boerewors (say boo-ruh-vors and try rolling the r's a little) means “farmers' sausage”, and it looks like a very long Cumberland ring sausage as it is always sold in a coil rather like a large, savory coil of liquorice. But appearance is as far as the similarity goes. Boerewors is made of several types of meat – usually a combination of beef, lamb and pork, but sometimes ostrich or game meat – combined with cubed pork fat (“spekvet”) and natural preservatives such as vinegar and spices (coriander seeds play a large part!). Each butcher has their own recipe for making the best boerewors and in most supermarkets in South Africa you will find a number of different types – but beware as these can vary vastly in quality! The best types are free from artificial preservatives and have a high meat content (as opposed to inferior types that can contain offal, bonemeal and soya). No SA barbecue is complete without it and on any given Saturday morning there will be someone selling “boerie rolls” (hot dogs made with bbq'd boerewors instead of viennas) outside your local supermarket, with the smell driving you crazy the minute you get out of the car! So when we came to England, it was the one of the few things I craved. Oh sure, you could buy it at Harrods and Fortnums – if you were willing to pay the crazy prices this involved, but generally we confined our boerewors eating to trips home. And then, last year a marvellous thing happened. We discovered packs of the stuff at a South African shop in London! And from there we tracked it down to the butcher that makes it – Web Butchers in Southfields (10 Montfort Place, London SW19 6QL, tel. 020 87882959). They do plain and garlic flavoured wors and both are absolutely delicious – just enough spices, not too much fat – heaven on mashed potatoes!! So now boerewors is once again a reasonably regular part of our culinary repertoire. (Incidentally, if you are more adventurous than I am and interested in making your own, click here for a recipe.)

OK, so back the IMBB. I decided to try the risotto recipe with boerewors instead of chorizo and it worked out great, but I felt that it needed something a bit sweet as a counterpoint to the spicy boerewors – and so I turned to another item that I used to eat all the time at home but struggled to find in the UK – butternut squash. When we were first in the UK I was so desperate for butternut that when I saw one at Harvey Nichols, I bought it – for £4!! This is an insane amount of money to pay for one medium butternut, but I paid it gladly – and now you can get them in ASDA! Progress is a beautiful thing.

So without further ado, here is my robust African risotto, featuring 2 of the ingredients that I associate most strongly with home. It has turned out to be absolutely delicious – when I go digital I will post some pics.

BOEREWORS AND BUTTERNUT RISOTTO (serves 3-4)

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash
5 cups beef stock
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
350g boerewors (more if you want a meatier dish)
1 Tbs rosemary
1 ½ cups Arborio rice
100 ml red wine
5 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
butter
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200C. Peel and seed the squash and dice the flesh into 2cm cubes. Toss the cubes in sufficient olive oil to coat them thoroughly, place them in a large, shallow ovenproof dish and sprinkle with rosemary. Roast for 20 minutes or until slightly brown at the edges.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the boerewors. Brown on one side, then turn over and brown the other side before adding a little water, covering and simmering till cooked. Remove from the pan and slice into 5mm thick slices. (You may want to halve each slice into half moons)

In a heavy-based saucepan, fry the onion in the butter until the onions are soft and golden. Add the rice and garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Add the red wine and when all the liquid has been absorbed, add the beef stock gradually, half a cup at a time, stirring constantly and letting each addition be absorbed before adding the next. Continue until all the stock is finished and the rice is cooked al dente and creamy in consistency.

Stir in the cheese, butternut and the boerewors and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a green leaf and herb salad.

Comments

[Chloé]

Nice blog!
I'll be keeping an eye on your next posts. The risotto sounds delishious!

[Petra]

Hi from Germany,

it's so interesting to read about rice dishes from all over the world - thanks for your contribution :-)

[Donna in Harrisburg]

Bravo... and thanks for bringing the flavors of South Africa to the blog burning event. Like you, I am educated as a lawyer. I work as a consultant but am a passionate chef and moving my career in that direction. I trained at Bosman's Restaurant in the Paarl Valley with master chef Frank Zlomke. I miss the flavors, color and spirit of South Africa. I will be making this soon!

[Renee]

very nice to have a South African perspective in IMBB. thanks for contributing! : )

[Sally in Denver USA]

Welcome to the blogosphere! For those of us working with confusing US lbs and ounces could you link to a conversion sheet puleeeeze?
Great blog!

[Pim]

Hi Jeanne,

Thanks so much for going through all these troubles to participate, but I'm gald we have your blog to enjoy from now on. Your risotto sounds really delicious.

I don't think I can find boerewors in the US. Any idea for a substitute?

cheers,
Pim
(Pardon me for commenting so late, I've been having weird issues with my isp.)

[Jeanne]

Hi Pim

I did a bit of research and found you a few places to buy boerewors in the US and around the world! See my post in which all is revealed...
http://cooksister.typepad.com/cook_sister/2004/05/desperately_see.html

[Attie]

Absoluut sprakeloos! Wat 'n puik idee! Geluk!

[Tony Seifart]

I'm a single guy living in Cape Town. Cooking is such a schlep and I'm really tired of bachelor-food. Really glad to find your website. Will give some of this stuff a bash - may even be able to impress my mom and/or the girl!

T

[Tracy]

I made this for a whole bunch of SA-expats in Surrey (UK) and they all marvelled at how clever I was to make something so scrumptious. I told them all about Cook Sister! of course.

[Claire]

Boerewors made by genuine South Africans for 5.99/kg - excl p&p.

We have a butcher shop in Cornwall and believe that at over £8.00/kg most retailers are ripping us South Africans off when selling boerewors.

Get in touch if you would like to order some of delicious boerewors.

Nice to see that boerie is getting onto the blogs

Wingfield's Meat
Cornwall
01209-215226
info@ranvier.co.uk

[terry rich]

i believe koeksusters original name is koesusters i am an ex pat in canada

[MICHELLE FULTON]

hiiiiiiii,

i dont have your email, can you email me. miss you. love, michelle LOVE YOUR WEBSITE TOO MUCH, IT IS SOOO DANGEROUS!!! please dont post just wanted to reach you and i didn't find an email address to find you.

[Philippa Hurley]

I tried this today and put a little cinnamon in - nice addition. It makes a nice change from the usual 'Boerie Casserole' I do with leftovers. I'll post the recipe for that anyway because it's delish:
6 pieces boerewors - or whatever meat is over from the braai!
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 onion, chopped
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tsp sugar
450ml beef stock
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 tblsp worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Method Preheat oven 180C. Fry onions and add other sauce ingredients. Boil together, taste and adjust seasoning. Place boerewors in a casserole dish and pour the sauce over. Bake for approx 30 mins. Serve with a pile of buttery mash and lots of fresh veg.

[Catherine Van Zyl]

Hello,

I am an american that married a South african Butcher and he makes the homemade boerewors. All the americans love it. visit our website. www.huntersgolddeerprocessing.com and click on master butcher for the chicken, beef and pork product.
thank you
master butcher