I have received a lot of heat from mates of mine who opted for the gammon and turkey Christmas lunch. Comments ranged from 'get on with the times' to ' its not our fault you cant find turkey and gammon eLusikisiki'. Well, I will try and get on with the times and hook up some turkey some time this year. Not for Christmas though, it just wouldn't be the same without the slaughtering of the sheep.
Which brings me to my topic.
This is to describe (as best as I can) the aromas that my enlightened friends, as well as the squeamish are missing out on.
Sorghum beer
Sorghum beer has this yeasty smell, not too far from Guiness. The beer is brewed in a separate room from the main house, and the aroma fills up the whole room. It blends well with the smell of home made ginger beer which is also left to ferment in this room. The brewing room is kept under strict guard and only a few people have access to it.
Tripe
Tripe to the uninitiated smells like dung and droppings. That's the way we love it. Supermarkets clean it into this snow white thing, and thus lose that dung whiff. My mom braises hers first, and then lets its simmer overnight. That is the smell we used to wake up to on Christmas day as we went to the living room to look for gifts from Santa Claus. Perfect with freshly baked bread as a breakfast, especially for the hung over people.
Sheeps head and trotters
Food for men. The head that is. The trotters are usually eaten by the boys or female members of the family. The head can be best described a delicacy, eating it is an occasion. It is prepared by first burning the fur over a flame, and then scraping it off. It is then washed and simply boiled with water. Best served cold, it has a burnt wool smell. Parts to go for are the ears and tongue.
These three are unique to South African, and to a large extent African homes. In today's world we live in flats/townhouses where its impossible to brew sorghum beer or slaughter. Trips home thus provide us with an opportunity to enjoy tripe, etc. and savour the aroma.
Maybe I will do some gammon and/or turkey over New Years, but definitely not for Christmas. Hold on! People are hung over then, and all they want is a braai and more tipple.
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4 comments:
I love the head. I guess that makes me a man. Especially when the sheep's brain is smeared all over the skin before,after, or during the scraping (not too sure). Whats up with putting curry and spices and vegetable in tripe? Whatever happened to washing it and boiling it and ONLY adding salt?
head is good! men love head indeed!
yeah, some people spice their tripe up. once saw some italian recipe, where tripe was washed clean and then braised with some onions, garlic in some tomatoes and red wine. eaten with pasta.
Lusapho, first of all, it worries me that you are up writing blogs at 4h30 and that Wabo adds comments at 1h51...hmph.
These fabulous aromas definatly make Christmas for me and I crave that every year. This last Chrimas I woke up to uLusu ne sbindi with steamed bread. Fabulous stuff, just fabulous. U can save the Turkey and Gammon for our pale counterparts, or perhaps the coconuts. Luyolo
Ha ha ha ha ha
What is worrying here?
I agree with you, nothing beats isibindi on Christmas day.
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