Menu
– STARTER –
Ash bread and sheep’s tails –or– Skinless sausage
– MAIN DISH –
Smoked brisket, served on angel buns – or/and – Lamb steaks with three sauces
Braai salad
Pearled wheat salad
– DESERT –
Pastel de nata
Ash bread and sheep’s tails
The humble sheep’s tail eaten with ash bread is food fit for a king. While filming a documentary about this Khoekhoen baking method, I watched wide-eyed as my hostess placed dough directly on sand on which a fire had been made, and then covered it with river sand and placed more coals on top. Half an hour later she dug out a pair of beautiful loaves and used a stone to scrape off the sand. The deep flavour was unique and the whole ritual was almost spiritual. But you don’t need to source river sand in order to bake your own ash bread. You simply need a few coals that have lost most of their heat. Make your dough 24 hours in advance, let it prove, and refrigerate it overnight. Take the dough out of the fridge 2 hours before you want to bake the bread so it can reach room temperature.
Makes 6 rolls
Preparation time 10 minutes (plus cooking time for the sheep’s tails and proving time for the ash bread)
Cooking time 20–30 minutes
YOU NEED
FOR THE SHEEP’S TAILS
• 2 sheep’s tails per person – they are very rich; 2 per person is usually enough as a starter (but I have seen a large man devour 4)
FOR THE ASH BREAD
• 2 cups (500ml) white bread wheat flour or cake wheat flour
• ½ sachet (5g) instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) sugar
• ½ teaspoon (2,5ml) salt
• 1 cup (250ml) lukewarm water
• butter and makataan (wild watermelon) preserve or jam, to serve
THIS IS HOW
Place the sheep’s tails in a saucepan, cover with water and cook for 1½ hours. Carefully remove the tails from the saucepan, season them with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and braai them over moderately high heat for about 20 minutes or until they’re browned nicely and the fat has rendered. Serve them with the ash bread. dough comes together. Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes to develop the gluten,
