Cloaked in mystery and guarded with a vigilance befitting a state secret the massive gathering of paddlers that will converge on Cradock for the Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon on 10 and 11 October always ask, and never get an answer to questions about the legendary Karoo lamb potjiekos dinner served to the participants the evening before the race starts.
It’s the best kept culinary secret in the country, and not even locals in the inner sanctum of the race organising committee are allowed to see the recipe, which is kept under lock and key.
“We at the Fish River Tennis Club assemble a team of about ten couples who take great pride in putting on the potjie for the 800-1000 hungry mouths on the Thursday night before the race,” said director of all things potjie, Valerie Collett.
“We get together a while in advance and decide on how many pots we’ll do that year, where we’re going to get the meat from, etc.
“The men then get together and slaughter the sheep which are then left to hang for a week. All the guys then regather for a morning of cutting the meat up and prepping it for the big day!”
While many look forward to sitting down to their portion of the delicious plate of the typically Karoo dish at the 33rd edition of the Hansa Fish in a few weeks’ time, the closely guarded secret recipe continues to remain hush-hush amongst the privileged few.
“This is my fourth year overseeing the potjie at the Fish and still we don’t know whose recipe it is!
“When I moved to Cradock eight years ago I was given ‘the file’ that had been assembled since the race’s beginnings and in there was the closely guarded secret recipe.
“This is kept under lock and key year round until just before the race when I, and only I, take it out and have a glance!
“The recipe isn’t shared with anyone, not even those making the potjie on the day know all of the ingredients that go into the pot and especially not the recipe for the secret ingredient behind the taste – our sauce!” laughed Collett.
“I can however confirm that some of the ingredients are Karoo lamb – of course, potatoes, onions, mixed veg and a surprising yet vital ingredient is dried fruit!” she added.
Like forbidden fruit dangled in front of them, annually paddlers and spectators suffer the bittersweet sight of the abundance of uniquely South African cast-iron pots – patiently resting on a carefully crafted and monitored bed of coals and containing the highly anticipated mouth-watering mixture – that flank the yellowed dusty fields of the Cradock Sports Club on the Thursday before the race.
“It really is a daylong operation! The making of the roosterbrood starts at 6 o’clock in the morning, the first fires are lit at 10 o’clock and the rice begins being made around 11 o’clock!
“On the day the men do most of the work regarding the potjie as they make sure things don’t burn, there are enough but not too many coals burning away under each pot etc. and they get absolutely singed throughout the day!
“As one can imagine, there is plenty of testosterone flowing throughout the day each guy tries to out-do the next. Everyone has their own theories – when to add what, to stir or not to stir. It’s all very funny and at our annual report-back meeting we always have a very tongue-in-cheek nomination of the best potjie of the year,” explained Collett.
Once finally finished working its magic, the highly anticipated plate of goodness is then served on a bed of rice and with a traditional roosterbrood – filled with the love and care of the local farmers’ wives and workers and the decades of history of the region – and complimented perfectly with a bottle of the sponsor’s bitterly cold brew.
“The rice is made in massive polystyrene cooler boxes lined with foil. 8 kilograms of rice are poured into the cooler box before 13 litres of rapidly boiling water is stirred in with a pinch of salt.
“These are then closed and wrapped up in blankets to keep the rice warm for that evening.
“A local husband and wife and their fantastic team of female farm workers are in charge of making the roosterbrood. They’ve got their own fires going from 6 o’clock in the morning and they just keep pumping out batch after batch of roosterbrood which we find just goes so well with the potjie!” added Collett.
Massive crowds are once again expected to be wowed by 2014’s Friday and Saturday night concert performers, top South African musicians LCNVL as well as Shortstraw and Gangs of Ballet, however few will be willing to give up their prized golden potjie ticket entitling them to a generous portion of the local farmers’ renowned Karoo lamb cuisine the night before the starter’s gun fires.
The Hansa Fish River Canoe marathon takes place on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 October 2014.
Interesting Numbers:
Karoo lamb – 240kg
Potatoes – 56kg
Rice – 50kg
Onions – 40kg
Flour – 100kg
Mouths feed annually – 1000
Potjie pots used – 8
Wood – 3 bakkie loads