Back in May, I blogged about the South African cuisine cooking class, I went to with my husband. I teased you with some photos of genuinely mouth-watering food, promised to post the recipes and then… well, then nothing happened. First, I was fighting with the lazies, then I was fighting a black hole and finally I was fighting with the mess in my house, the mess in the middle of which I have lost the recipes for all the delicious dishes from the South African cuisine cooking class. I realized that I couldn’t post without recipes, ahem, especially since I’ve already done exactly that back in May.  So this entire Sunday was sacrificed at the altar of cleanliness, I cleaned, I washed, I sorted through documents, all in vain. The recipes were not on the pile of bills and papers, which I’ve been saving “for later” since early March, they were also not stuck in one of my cooking books, and they were definitely not in one the drawers or under the bed. My overall conclusion was that I must have somehow lost them or thrown them out. Sometimes I suspect myself of throwing things out without meaning to or even registering it. Anyway, just as I started to despair, it occurred to me to check in one place where I would have put it had I been an extremely organized person… and sure enough, there they were, in my filing cabinet, lying comfortably in a folder labeled “Recipes”.

So without further ado and before I manage to get distracted and lose the recipes yet again, let me start with the South African cuisine series.   The first recipe I would like to write about is that for Springbok Skewers with Peanut Sauce. For those of you who don’t know what a springbok is or whether it is edible, I rush to inform you that springbok is a “medium sized brown and white gazelle” (totally stole this from the Wikipedia), which is native to Africa. I’ve had springbok for the first time in 2008, when Tim and I travelled to Capetown. And although I am not a huge fan of game meats or rather I do not have a huge tradition and experience in eating them, I have found springbok meat very tasty. The pairing with the peanut sauce is quite amazing (not only because I am one of those people who uncontrollably eat peanut butter straight from the jar) and overall this dish makes for a quick and impressive appetizer.

Ingredients Skewers:

600g (1.3lb) springbok meat
1 Tbs honey
2 chilies, finely chopped
300ml (1¼ cups) soy sauce
4 Tbs fresh coriander, finely chopped

Ingredients Peanut Sauce:

2 Tbs lime juce
2 cloves of garlic
1 Tbs brown sugar
½ tsp curry
½ tsp red chili flakes
Few sprigs of coriander
140g (0.3lb) peanut butter
180ml (¾ cups) coconut milk

Mix soy sauce, honey, coriander and chilies. Cube the springbok meat and let it marinate in the mixture for at least one hour. Put the meat on the skewers and fry it on all sides in a frying pan, for approximately 5-8 minutes. In the meantime purée all the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a food processor till smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add more coconut milk. Remove the skewers from the frying pan and place them on the plates, pour peanut sauce over them and serve immediately.

Adapted from: Kochschule Düsseldorf

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