stew in pot

A taste of murder: Making lamb potjie from Recipes for Love and Murder

A good book is full of many things. Chief among these is excellent characters. Story, plot, setting. All these are also important considerations. How do we bring these alive? One way, is food. It’s not a storytelling requisite, but when it’s there, it can add nuance to characters and speak to the place the story inhabits.

In recent years, I’ve become enamoured with the food in books (and movies and shows too, for that matter). From The Famous Five’s famous picnics to recipe-laden cosy mysteries, there’s a lot to tickle every taste bud. I’ve even taken to making the food I encounter in books – like apple butter from Cold Mountain. I want to continue making the many culinary delights I encounter,  but also write about them.

lamb in pot
Since the books and the show are set in the Karoo, lamb in a potjie is a must.

Writing about this is a way for me to meld my love of books and stories, my fascination with food, and my passion for food as a storytelling device. Pick up practically any book, and you’ll likely come across some mention of food. That’s why I decided to narrow it down to my favourite genre: murder mysteries. In trying to find a natural leaping off point I stalled … until the Tannie Maria books – or rather, their adaptations – came to the rescue.

stew in pot

The Tannie Maria Mysteries is a South African cosy mystery series written by Sally Andrew. The first book, Recipes for Love and Murder, was adapted into a TV show and became the name of the show. Now the second season has started. It retains the title Recipes for Love and Murder and is only loosely inspired by the second book, The Satanic Mechanic.

Since I am working on the show from a digital promotion perspective, I am immersed daily in the story and the recipes that come with each episode. It was this that became the hammer that splintered my writer’s block.

stew in pot
Add the mushrooms towards the end of the cook.

The first episode of the new season saw Tannie Maria making lamb and oxtail potjie on a fire. My mom and I elected to make this on the stove instead. The recipe (which you can find here) gives you this option, but we made a few edits, like leaving out the oxtail. Another edit I would suggest (which we didn’t do at the time), is adding the potatoes much earlier. The time provided in the recipe is not enough. Granted, a good cook does a taste test. I did this, but ultimately became too impatient and ended up serving half-cooked potatoes. Unless you have time to kill pottering around your potjie all day, I suggest adding them earlier.

bread on wooden plate
Bread to soak up the sauce is a must!

The rest of it was delicious, but my favourite thing was what Tannie Maria called “the secret sauce”, referring to the fruit chutney that is added to the pot. I used Mrs. Balls, because if you use any other brand of chutney (besides one you make from scratch), are you even South African? This chutney’s ostensible history goes back to the 19th century when a woman named Amelia Ball made this condiment as gifts and to sell at church bazaars.

stew on white plate

Despite my “are you even South African” quip, I can’t remember the last time I ate Mrs. Balls; so imagine my surprise when looking for it on the shelves to find that it now also comes in jalapeño and chilli varieties. There’s even a lite version, which my mom says is gross (are we really surprised, especially when they spell it like that?). There’s also peach, but I vaguely remember that having been around for a while already. The taste adventurer (and the heat lover) in me was excited, but the minimalist in me was annoyed. These infinite varieties and versions make shopping a pain in the ass and contribute to our increasingly demanding and fussy natures. It’s the kind of thing I find so frustrating, it makes me want to walk out the store and make my own … because that’s probably what Tannie Maria would do.

Views expressed are my own. All opinions are my own. The opinions expressed here belong solely to me.
Words and images: Claudia Hauter

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