South Africans love to have a braai... In other countries it's known as a Barbeque or "Grilla".
The meat is usually beef, lamb chops, chicken or pork slices. It is served with "pap" which is a more or less stiff porridge made from ground maize, and shiba, which is a tomato based sauce.
But there are usually other sauces on the table and one of the most popular is the Monkey Gland Sauce! It may sound disgusting, but is VERY nice... Try it, I'm sure you'll like, especially with a nice rump steak!
Ingredients
* 1 large onion, finely chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, chopped and crushed
* 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
* 3-4 tablespoons oil
* 1/2 cup chutney (fruity)
* 1/2 cup tomato puree
* 1 tablespoon soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons mild prepared mustard
* 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
* 3 tablespoons ketchup
* 5 tablespoons port wine or muscadel wine
* 1/3 cup chicken broth (chicken stock or meat stock)
* 2 tablespoons red wine
* salt
* black pepper
Directions
1.
Fry the onions, garlic and ginger in the oil until the onions are translucent.
2.
Add the rest of the ingredients and let cook over fairly high heat for about 7 - 10 minutes, stirring often.
3.
Taste for seasoning: you might want to add 1/2 teaspoon sugar, enough salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
4.
Can be served hot or cold with any roasted or grilled beef.
5.
The sauce will last 2 weeks in the fridge and can be frozen.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Some Thoughts after 2008 (3)
3 -- The Blue Light motorcade scandals
The flashing blue lights on cars is in most countries used only on emergency vehicles, and then only when absolutely needed, and not in a way that could cause dangers for other vehicles. In South Africa it is also used for VIP's transport, usually in the fast lane and at speeds far above the speed limits! There has been a number of incidents, but one happened a few months ago, that is really scandalous!
A car travelling from Pietermaritsburg towards Durban Was shot at, because the driver of the vehicle didn't give way immediately, which was impossible at that moment because a big truck was in the other lane. When he did give way a VIP guard shot two rounds, one of which made one of his front tyres flat. He lost controll of his car an collided with another car coming from the opposite direction. 8 people injured...
The VIP car didn't even have a VIP inside... They were speeding because they were a bit late to pick up the MEC (Social Welfare). This is worse than the Old Wild West!
And at the beginning of 2009 the President's modorcade was involved in another incident near Johannesburg. A guy was shot in his arm by a VIP guard. There happened to be a TV-crew from SABC at the scene. Their footage was confiscated... It has now been handed back to SABC and the case is under investigation.
The flashing blue lights on cars is in most countries used only on emergency vehicles, and then only when absolutely needed, and not in a way that could cause dangers for other vehicles. In South Africa it is also used for VIP's transport, usually in the fast lane and at speeds far above the speed limits! There has been a number of incidents, but one happened a few months ago, that is really scandalous!
A car travelling from Pietermaritsburg towards Durban Was shot at, because the driver of the vehicle didn't give way immediately, which was impossible at that moment because a big truck was in the other lane. When he did give way a VIP guard shot two rounds, one of which made one of his front tyres flat. He lost controll of his car an collided with another car coming from the opposite direction. 8 people injured...
The VIP car didn't even have a VIP inside... They were speeding because they were a bit late to pick up the MEC (Social Welfare). This is worse than the Old Wild West!
And at the beginning of 2009 the President's modorcade was involved in another incident near Johannesburg. A guy was shot in his arm by a VIP guard. There happened to be a TV-crew from SABC at the scene. Their footage was confiscated... It has now been handed back to SABC and the case is under investigation.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Some thoughts after 2008 (2)
2 -- The political turmoil in South Africa
The ANC has been the majority party in South Africa for more than a decade. There are at least a dozen opposition parties, most of them only having a few hundred thousand votes in the last elections. Only DA (Democratic Alliance) got more than a million votes. At the end of 2007 the ANC held a convention in Polokwane where they elected Jacob Zuma as president of the ANC, which actually meant that the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, didn't have the support of his party anymore. In September 2008 he was removed from his office by ANC, but Jacob Zuma couldn't step in as the country's President, since he is not a Member of the Parliament. There is a strong part of ANC wanting mr Zuma as the next President of SA, to the extent that Julius Malema, head of the ANCYL (ANC Youth League), publicly stated that he "will kill for Zuma". I think very many people were alarmed by that, and also by the fact that Zuma didn't reproach Malema for that statement.
Not long after mr Mbeki stepped down many of his former high-rank supporters resigned from their positions and started a new party: COPE, Congress of the People. I think that is a big step towards a real democracy in this country. During the last few months many hundreds of top-level people have resigned and joined COPE to the dismay of ANC.
Elections will probably be in April this year and it will be a thriller!!!
And on top of that, the SCA (Supreme Court of Appeal) overturned a lower court's decision to stop the legal proceedings against Jacob Zuma for corruption, fraud, raketeering and money-laundring. Zuma and his legal team have been busy for several years with legal technicalities and appeals to save him from having go to court. But now it seems as if he will finally have to. According to the Common Law, everybody is innocent until a court of law has pronounced him guilty. But why not rather go to court and let the court and clear your name if you are innocent?
The ANC has been the majority party in South Africa for more than a decade. There are at least a dozen opposition parties, most of them only having a few hundred thousand votes in the last elections. Only DA (Democratic Alliance) got more than a million votes. At the end of 2007 the ANC held a convention in Polokwane where they elected Jacob Zuma as president of the ANC, which actually meant that the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, didn't have the support of his party anymore. In September 2008 he was removed from his office by ANC, but Jacob Zuma couldn't step in as the country's President, since he is not a Member of the Parliament. There is a strong part of ANC wanting mr Zuma as the next President of SA, to the extent that Julius Malema, head of the ANCYL (ANC Youth League), publicly stated that he "will kill for Zuma". I think very many people were alarmed by that, and also by the fact that Zuma didn't reproach Malema for that statement.
Not long after mr Mbeki stepped down many of his former high-rank supporters resigned from their positions and started a new party: COPE, Congress of the People. I think that is a big step towards a real democracy in this country. During the last few months many hundreds of top-level people have resigned and joined COPE to the dismay of ANC.
Elections will probably be in April this year and it will be a thriller!!!
And on top of that, the SCA (Supreme Court of Appeal) overturned a lower court's decision to stop the legal proceedings against Jacob Zuma for corruption, fraud, raketeering and money-laundring. Zuma and his legal team have been busy for several years with legal technicalities and appeals to save him from having go to court. But now it seems as if he will finally have to. According to the Common Law, everybody is innocent until a court of law has pronounced him guilty. But why not rather go to court and let the court and clear your name if you are innocent?
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Some thoughts after 2008
There are a few things that I will rember from 2008:
1) Discovering the power of GPS and using it for Geocaching
2) The political turmoil in South Africa
3) The "Blue Light" motorcade scandals
1 -- The power and pleasure of GPS
I gave myself a Garmin Nuvi 200 as a Christmas gift in 2007, but really understood its capcity in mid-January 2008 when we went to Johannesburg for an Elton John consert. Joburg is a 6 million city with very heavy traffic. Our destination was in Randburg, west of Joburg. We were on the eastern side of Joburg when a terrible thunderstorm with extremely heavy rain hit us. Visibility was less than 25 meters. You have to have your eyes fixed on the rear lights of the car in front of you, so you have no chance to look for road-signs. But "Sally" was giving us voice directions, and we arrived at the B&B without any problems.
In June I bought a Garmin Garmap 60CSx which is a handheld GPSr suitable for hiking and other activities (not just for driving directions). It had an icon for Geocaching in the dispkay, so I Googled Geocaching, and found out about this wonderful activity! When doing some work in Sweden during July-August I found my first 18 caches, and when back in South Africa started serious Geocaching.
In November I had a problem with the 60CSx... My PC and Laptop couldn't "see" it. I felt a bit desperate about that, but quickly found a solution: I bought the newest Garmin device, the Oregon 300. It is also a handheld GPSr (but of course with a sucction cup mount for the car). The Oregon 300 is designed for "paperless" Geocaching. Wonderful gadget!!!
To be continued
1) Discovering the power of GPS and using it for Geocaching
2) The political turmoil in South Africa
3) The "Blue Light" motorcade scandals
1 -- The power and pleasure of GPS
I gave myself a Garmin Nuvi 200 as a Christmas gift in 2007, but really understood its capcity in mid-January 2008 when we went to Johannesburg for an Elton John consert. Joburg is a 6 million city with very heavy traffic. Our destination was in Randburg, west of Joburg. We were on the eastern side of Joburg when a terrible thunderstorm with extremely heavy rain hit us. Visibility was less than 25 meters. You have to have your eyes fixed on the rear lights of the car in front of you, so you have no chance to look for road-signs. But "Sally" was giving us voice directions, and we arrived at the B&B without any problems.
In June I bought a Garmin Garmap 60CSx which is a handheld GPSr suitable for hiking and other activities (not just for driving directions). It had an icon for Geocaching in the dispkay, so I Googled Geocaching, and found out about this wonderful activity! When doing some work in Sweden during July-August I found my first 18 caches, and when back in South Africa started serious Geocaching.
In November I had a problem with the 60CSx... My PC and Laptop couldn't "see" it. I felt a bit desperate about that, but quickly found a solution: I bought the newest Garmin device, the Oregon 300. It is also a handheld GPSr (but of course with a sucction cup mount for the car). The Oregon 300 is designed for "paperless" Geocaching. Wonderful gadget!!!
To be continued
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