Hanepoot soeters, mustard and red cabbage came to mind when I looked at the whole pork neck my Karoo mates Julienne du Toit and Chris Marais brought around. Pork loves a bit of sweet, adores mustard, and of course cabbage is just the thing to go with it. So why not put all of that in a potjie…

Other than that, I went the French route of starting with chopped carrots, onion and celery, and building the pot up from that traditional base. There’s nothing like a classic method for a good outcome.

Soeters is the colloquial South African term for fortified wine, and the kind made from hanepoot grapes is sublime. Hanepoot is also known as muscat d’Alexandrie, an ancient vine and regarded as one of the oldest vines that have not been modified that survives to this day. One sip and you know that it comes from a special grape.

Ingredients

1 pork neck

1 large onion, chopped

3 celery sticks, chopped

3 large carrots, diced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 x 3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly

500 ml chicken stock

200 ml hanepoot soeters

2 Tbsp hot English mustard

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups shredded red cabbage

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 Tbsp cornflour mixed with 3 Tbsp water or milk (optional)

Method

Make a fire and have a clean potjie ready.

Shred the red cabbage and put it in a bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice over, through a fine sieve to catch the pips, and toss the cabbage for the lemon juice to coat everything and prevent its red turning purple.

Chop or dice the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and ginger. Have them ready at the braai side in a container, ready to go in the pot.

Heat the chicken stock and stir in the hanepoot soeters and the mustard.

Put coals under the potjie and pour in the olive oil. When it has heated, put the pork neck in and brown it all over. Remove.

Add all the vegetables at once and cook, stirring now and then, for 5 minutes or so.

Put the pork neck back in and pour in the liquid. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the lid on and put a few coals on top. Cook for 2 hours, then add the red cabbage, stir, and put the lid back on, with more coals on top, for another hour.

Remove the lid and leave it for 10 minutes for fat to rise to the surface, then spoon off excess fat and discard.

If you like, you can stir in a little cornflour mixed with milk or water and leave it to thicken for another 10 minutes. Serve with rice, couscous or pap. DM/TGIFood

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Champion 2021 for his food writing. His book, foodSTUFF, is now available in the DM Shop. Buy it here.

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