Life in the Overberg

One of the good old Dutch traditions Afrikaners took with them in the 17th century to South Africa is the ‘Potjie’. In the Netherlands this tradition got lost in history but the contemporary Dutch, like us, in South Africa love Potjiekos. Once you experienced the basics of how to make a ‘lekker’ potjie you start to experiment with your own recipes. Not a single potjie has to be the same. Potjiekos is a social event and like a Japanese tea ceremony one needs to take time before enjoying the food.

For us Winter is the time to make a potjie. Although officially it’s still Autumn in the Southern Hemnisphere it felt like Winter yesterday and we made the first Potjie of this year; celebrating the good life here at the edge of a village named Stanford.

Oh… uh…. The residues: ash and charcoal ….; ash goes with the compost and the charcoal is an excellent medium to add to the soil mix for Pachypodium-, Adenium-, Adenia  – and other caudiciform species.