My mother knew about cooking in a three-legged black cast-iron pot long before potjie-kos became fashionable. In the early 1900’s her parents took their family of 7 children on camping holidays by ox wagon from their farm in Glencairn to Kommetjie beach in the Cape, and that was one of the ways they cooked their meals. They would spend a month or more on holiday, so took along chickens for eggs and for the pot, and a cow to supply milk. They also took fruit from their orchard, and my mother told me the best way to eat the quinces was to throw them to each other while in the sea, and bruise them on the rocks, as the salt made the fruit taste so much better.
For her chicken potjie, mum used a Cornish hen the size of a turkey. Into the pot would go 12 large whole onions, masses of garlic cloves, and bunches of herbs. The well seasoned chicken was placed on top of the vegetables, and 12 large whole potatoes tucked around it. On top of the chicken went a whole pound of butter, and lastly, half a bottle of brandy was poured in. I recollect her instructing the gardener to keep shovelling burning embers under the very large three-legged black cast-iron pot to keep up a medium heat during the 2 or 3 hours required for cooking the chicken. The fire was made by burning the end of a dry tree trunk lying on the ground, and as the coals formed, they would be shovelled under the pot and the tree trunk pushed up to keep it burning. The result was a dish of tender chicken, potatoes soft and browned and tasty from all the flavours absorbed, and gooey caramelized onions, all spooned onto generous helpings of rice, yellow with turmeric.
I make a very poor imitation of her chicken potjie, as I have not found a Cornish hen that is nearly the same size, and have never owned such a huge potjie pot. I use a large cast-iron casserole, and a jumbo chicken, organically produced and hormone free, from The Shed which remains firm yet tender after 2 hours of cooking. I have cut down drastically on the quantity of brandy, so one needs to check during cooking to see if there is liquid left. If not, I add a little wine or stock to the pot, but not too much as the onions need to be really caramelised (but NOT burnt). I also use far less butter and brandy. No wonder it has never tasted as good as in those days many years ago.
INGREDIENTS:
There is no point in cooking this for less than 8 people)
60 ml olive oil
1 whole onion per person
1 knuckle garlic, the cloves separated out
1 Jumbo chicken about 2 Kg.
1 whole potato per person
Salt and pepper
2 sprigs rosemary
2 bay leaves
100 gr butter
250 ml brandy
salt and pepper
METHOD.
Pour the olive oil into the casserole pot.
Add the whole onions and garlic cloves.
Put the chicken on top of the onions.
Place the potatoes around the chicken
Season all well with the salt and pepper.
Tuck in the sprigs of rosemary and bay leaves
Put the butter cut into cubes, on top of the chicken
Pour in the brandy
Cover the casserole with the lid and put into a 180 deg. C.
After 1½ hours of cooking, remove the pot from the oven, and take out a cupful of the liquid for basting. Put the casserole back into the oven without the lid and cook a further 30 minutes, basting every 10 minutes. There should be some liquid remaining in the pot.
Serve with rice, dishing up the onions and potatoes and spooning over the rich liquid in the bottom of the pot. You could also serve other vegetables of your choice with this dish.
