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Written by MasterChef SA paid homage to our rich Cape Malay culinary heritage with Ilse Fourie and her Tomato Bredie Recipe.
Ilse Fourie chose Tomato Bredie as her childhood dish and while she was not exactly clear as to how her mother made it she had no problem reproducing the dish in her own style. She uses traditional ‘complementary’ lamb herbs such as rosemary in her recipe. If you want to give yours a more Oriental flavour you could include some cardamom, cloves and ginger.
Tomato Bredie translates as “stew” from Afrikaans although the word is Malaysian in origin where it refers to spinach. The local version uses tomatoes instead, hence the emphasis on “tomato”. The recipe is traditionally made with lamb or mutton. This style of cooking was first introduced to the Cape by Malays, usually slaves, who were brought to the colony by the Dutch. The word bredie refers to oriental spinach. In tomato bredie tomato is used instead. Pumpkin, green beans and waterblommetjies (Cape water lily flowers) are also used.
While we did not get to see Ilse present her dish to the judges or hear what they had to say about it, it was obviously good enough to see her comfortably through to the next round of MasterChef SA.
| Onion | 1 | ||
| Butter | 25 | g | |
| Lamb Cubed | 450 | g | |
| Oil | 30 | ml | |
| Garlic Cloves | 3 | ||
| Beef Stock | 250 | ml | |
| Canned Tomatoes | 800 | g | |
| Tomato Paste | 70 | g | |
| Potatoes | 2 | ||
| Fresh Rosemary | 1 | sprig | |
| Fresh Parsley | a | small bunch | |
| For the Sweet Potatoes | |||
| Sweet Potatoes | 2 | ||
| Sugar | 50 | ml | |
| Cinnamon Sticks | |||
| Butter | 50 | g | |
| Orange | 1 |
1 . Chop the onion
2 . Chop the garlic
3 . Remove the rosemary leaves from the sprig
For the Bredie
1 . Heat up some oil & butter in a pot and fry the onion and garlic with rosemary until soft and golden.
2 . Add the lamb cubes and brown them.
3 . Add the tomato and the stock to the pot and simmer for 40 minutes
4 . With 20 minutes to go cube and add the potatoes
For the Sweet potato
1 . Slice into pieces a couple of centimetres thick
2 . Heat up the butter with the cinnamon stick
3 . Fry the sweet potatoes
4 . Add the zest and juice of the orange
5 . Cover with a lid and cook until the sweet potatoes are ready
6 . Add the sugar and caramelise.
7 . Best served with rice, garnish with parsley
8 . Strain the gravy through a sieve into a saucepan, pressing down on the solids in the sieve with a ladle to extract as much of the flavourful juice as possible.
9 . Add a fresh sprig of rosemary to the pan, then turn off the heat and leave to infuse for a few minutes.
10 . Before serving, remove the rosemary, season to taste and reheat the gravy. Coarsely crush the walnut pieces using a pestle and mortar and then tip into a warmed gravy jug.
11 . Pour the piping hot gravy on top and serve.
