Sosaties are one of the best examples of the Malay influence in South African cooking. The word ‘sosatie’ is believed to be a derivation of the Indonesian word “satay”, used to describe a similar dish of skewered meats. It is perhaps a corruption of the Indonesian words, ‘saté’ meaning “spiced sauce” and ‘sésate’ meaning “meat on a skewer”.
Sosaties are made from cubes of lamb or mutton threaded with sheeptail fat on thin wooden or bamboo skewers. They are covered with a curry marinade and left to marinate for two days in a cool place. To cook them to perfection, grill them very slowly over coals.
Because of the Muslim proscription against pig products, sosaties should always contain lamb or mutton. There are no other ingredients apart from sheeptail fat, onions, apricots and bay or lemon leaves.
Originally the Cape Malays marinated the meat in a mixture of shredded fried onions, curry powder, chillies, garlic and a generous quantity of tamarind water. They usually did this early in the afternoon and left the meat in the marinade until the next day. They would then skewer the cubes of meat with alternate pieces of sheeptail fat, and roast them on an open fire or fry them in a heavy skillet. Just before the sosaties were ready the cook would boil the marinade in a saucepan until its ingredients were cooked and the liquid reduced, the sosaties would then be served with rice and this sauce.
Nowadays it is quite common to do so called sosaties with alternate cubes of mutton and squares of bacon, all conventionally marinated, however when any other kind of meat, or a mixture of meats, or vegetables, is threaded onto skewers, it is not a sosatie but a kebab.
Category: South African Cuisine
Sub Category: Cape Malay
- Posted19-Oct-2009
- Total Views162
- Word Count396
- Commentvia Twitter
More Recipes/Articles in "South African Cuisine"
- 27-Oct-2009Terms - Alikreukel to Atjar
- Alikreukel to Atjar - Descriptions and photographs where available of South African culinary terms and ingredients including alikreukel, amabele, amadumbe, amagwinya, amanqina, amasi, amatungulu, amazimba, askoek, asyn poeding and atjar…
- Total Views: 1976 | Word Count: 1358
- Continue reading →
- 19-Oct-2009Vetkoek
- Vetkoek (Fat Cake - refers to the method of frying in oil.) or Amagwinya (Zulu Name) is a delightful, typically South African snack - a traditional pastry both in Afrikaans and Zulu culture, it’s basically a mixture of flour, water, sugar and salt which is made into small “balls” and deep-fried until golden brown…
- Total Views: 1617 | Word Count: 226
- Continue reading →
- 19-Oct-2009Potjiekos
- Potjiekos (poy-kee-kawse) is friendly, leisurely food slowly simmered in a cast-iron pot for maximum flavour. Typically South African, it is thought to have originated from Europe at the time of the Eighty Year War (1566-1648) when a shortage of food during the siege of Leiden forced people to cook almost everything they could lay their hands on in a huge communal pot or cauldron…
- Total Views: 1514 | Word Count: 2423
- Continue reading →
- 19-Oct-2009Biltong Drying Box
- Basically, you can make this biltong box any way you please as long as you end up with something that can be opened and closed completely (whether the door is at the top or on the side), and that has holes only in the locations shown…
- Total Views: 1293 | Word Count: 513
- Continue reading →
- 19-Oct-2009Samoosas
- Samoosa (pronounced suh-moo-suh) - A small, spicy, triangular-shaped pie that has been deep-fried in oil. Made by the Indian and Malay communities, samoosas are popular with South Africans in general…
- Total Views: 1199 | Word Count: 1008
- Continue reading →
Follow us on Twitter
