OnTap Magazine

POTS, PANS & POTJIES BY KARL TESSENDORF AND GREG GILOWEY I did not grow up in South Africa. I didn't grow up walking around supermarkets with no shoes on or braaiing over wood fires. And I certainly didn't grow up cooking stews in a little three-legged iron pot over an open flame. Now I've never got into the whole ‘barefoot in gross places’ thing, but I quickly developed an affinity for braaiing (or more precisely for drinking beer while someone else braais for me). As for potjies, well to be honest I've never really tried, but thanks to the latest book from cooking-over-coals maestros Greg Gilowey and Karl Tessendorf, I am about to begin my potjie career. BOOK REVIEW | LUCY CORNE Pots, Pans & Potjies is a “love letter to cast iron cooking” and the authors' passion for the potjie in particular is evident - and contagious - from the very first page. By the end of Greg's intro, you’re already sold on buying a potjie, or if you already have one, on rummaging it out of the garage and actually using it for something other than keeping other garage stuff in. Despite an admission that he didn’t grow up a fan of the potjie, Karl goes on to tell a tale of his dad’s favourite potjie recipe, scrawled on a “grubby piece of paper”, and ends with a hope that readers might find a recipe within to pass down through the generations on a similar scrap or paper. I have no doubt that this will come to pass. The book is filled with delectable dishes, from potjie classics like oxtail or the lamb stew we feature on these pages, to curries, soups and a few dishes you wouldn't necessarily think of cooking in a potjie (or at least I wouldn't), like roast chicken or monkey gland wings. As the title suggests though, the book isn't solely about cooking in South Africa's favourite three-legged pot. Split into three sections, it covers stuff you cook in pots and pans too. I haven't yet had chance to read the entire thing - if I'm honest, it makes me too hungry - but I've read enough to know that the book is filled with Greg and Karl's signature light-heartedness. Dishes take titles like 'This Li'l Piggy Potjie', 'Oink and Moo Meat Ragu' and 'Stuff a Stuffed Vetkoek in Your Face'. The latter comes with a photo of the Beer Country pair doing exactly that; an utterly unpretentious pic amongst a whole lot of gorgeous, hunger-inducing photos of the food you're going to try and copy. More than a cookbook it is, as Greg and Karl say, a love letter to cast iron cooking, with sections on the history of the potjie, prepping your pot, a little legend and lore, caring for your little cast iron buddy, and some tips on how to become the next queen or king of cast iron cuisine. “The potjie forces us to slow down. It moves to the beat of its own bulging belly," reads the text, so grab a six pack of your favourite and a seat by the fire while you flick through the pages of this sexy book, planning out your weekend gatherings for the next six months. POTS, PANS & POTJIES is published by Penguin Random House and is available from all good book stores. RRP R360. 32 | Spring 2022 | ontapmag.co.za