Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Boerewors Bulletin

Braaivleis in Cape Town 

In my best Brooklynese: My Gwawd! My noives!

What a rollercoaster of suspense, excitement, anticipation, disappointment, resignation and rekindled hope.

Having boerewors dangled just out of reach is nail-biting stuff.

After the very promising beginning, with My Favourite Butcher, Pedro,  at Los Paisanos, and then not hearing back from the owner, with whom I spoke subsequently, to whom I gave the recipe, and who spoke about 30 lbs minimum, and being worried about the recipe, and the shelf life of the sausage,  I had resigned myself. To No Boerewors.

But I went back this afternoon to buy some beef for a pot roast, but really to see what had been decided, and saw...My Favourite Butcher. I greeted him with sad eyes and my tail between my legs, expecting to hear that the boerewors was not going to happen, but then he said they received my email (which I'd sent ten days ago, making a case for boerewors in Brooklyn) and that he was going to make the sausage: 5 lbs. And because it will be for our consumption only, I may provide the spices...We discussed casings, and he said for the coil I want, pork is best. Sheep casings were the other option, but they are narrow, for something like mergeuz - (good for droëwors, though, but let's not get ahead of ourselves!).

So I have an appointment to see MFB on Thursday with the spices and his own copy of the recipe.

Joy!

I bought my pot roast, thanked him effusively, and went to Sahadi's at once, where I found coriander seeds, already-ground garam masala, and malt vinegar.

I got home, spilled the good news to the Frenchie who'd come back from his run to find himself locked out because I'd taken so long, and then set about collecting my ingredients for a slow-cooked dinner.

But there was no pot roast in amongst my purchases of spices, Pinotage, carrots, onions and parsley.

I had left it behind on the Los Paisanos counter.

Way too excited.

I called to make sure it was there, and instead of letting us fetch it, they sent it by bicycle!

So, for now, the boerewors is on.

Update on Thursday.

6/20/11: Find my perfected boerewors recipe at 66 Square feet (the Food)!

8 comments:

  1. That is not a butcher. That is a god!

    ReplyDelete
  2. don't you think you could move 30 lbs? I do. Now I'm hungry, and still a commute ahead...

    ReplyDelete
  3. dinahmow - my meat god :-)

    Frank - I believe I could :-) BUT I need to be able to vet the product first. Must taste. Then go global.

    ReplyDelete
  4. just the picture itself is exciting a riot in my house, imagine the sausages themselves....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Holding thumbs for you - would not survive here in the buiteland without a boerewors supply! Quite a few producers here in the UK but a friend also has a tame butcher who makes it from the spice mix he brings in.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi! I am a South African living in Germany and I have been following your "make my own boerewors" story.

    I can relate to your craving and wish you great success!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jane - sausage riot, hahaha

    Thanks, Jeanne - Will report soon!

    Thanks, Nadine - how is your wurst situation?

    ReplyDelete

Comments on posts older than 48 hours are moderated (for spam control) . Yours will be seen! Unless you are a troll. Serial trollers are banned.