Antler and Fin Podcast: African Wild Hog Potjiekos and the History of the South African Poitjie Pot
This recipe finds its inspiration from a South African warthog potjie recipe. Potjiekos is translated to mean, “small-pot food.” This method of cooking became popular in Southern Africa with the arrival of the Dutch settlers. The Potjie was a commonly used cooking vessel, made of cast iron with three legs. As people traveled throughout the wilderness, they would shoot animals for food and use the potjie to prepare evening stews commonly made up of venison, warthog, rabbit, and other tasty animals.
I did not have the traditional potjie on hand so I used my dutch oven in the oven to prepare this meal. You could easily prepare this dish in a slow cooker or even over the open fire. I always keep the shanks of animals, but if you need, you can always use stew meat or cut up roasts to make this dish.
For seasoning, they would use a wide variety of flavors. In this dish, I used a spice blend from northern Africa to season the stew. Duqqa or dukkah is a nut and herb seasoning commonly found in Egyptian and Middle Eastern cuisine. This mixture can add great flavor to a variety of wild game so be sure to save the excess from this recipe.
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About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.