Bokkie Got Back

I always loved the word "bokkie." I'm not entirely sure why, its just so South African and such a sweet term of endearment. It's almost totally out of fashion and its rarely used in my life. And by that I mean, I certainly don't get called a bokkie very often. But there's good reason to be taken by the bokkie nickname tomorrow.

Rugby fans around the country are wearing their green jerseys tomorrow in support of the Springboks who are a mere one bonus point away from winning the Tri Nations Cup. Let me be the first to say publicly that our rugby team is sexy. My loyalty can't possibly be swayed. Not even Dan Carter can change my mind.

So its a weekend of rugby. I thought we'd take it to a patriotic (yet light) level and plan a braai. You know, a "barbecue" - where meat is cooked on a fire, bread is baked in coals, beer is well...everywhere. Vegetarians aren't invited.

Boerwors, pap en sous


Boerewors is a specifically spiced whole meat sausage. True wors has very little fillers and much more meat. This comes in thick and thin portions. Cook your wors over a slowish fire until brown all the way through.

Pap


Pap is a Mielie (Corn) based porridge. Add 3 cups of mielie pap to a cup of cold water until smooth, add another 3 cups and some salt. Place pot on stove and heat until the pap is hot. Add more water if necessary. Reduce heat and cook slowly for 1 hour stirring and adding more water (if necessary) every 10 minutes. Serve with sauce. Delicious.

Sauce


Grate an apple
Finely chop an onion
Crush two cloves of garlic
Finely chop one tomato
Fry in olive oil


Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, tomato sauce, 2 tablespoons soya sauce.
Add 1 can of chopped tomatoes
Season with salt and pepper
Cook until the onion is cooked and you have a thick sauce.

To serve place pap on plate, add a chunk of boerewors and top with sauce, garnish with a rugby game, a beer and your bokkie of choice.

There you have it...plan your braai, support the Bokke and get cooking!

Go Bokke!



This recipe was lifted and adjusted from
http://www.south-african-homeschool-curriculum.com/south-african-braai-recipes.html.

If you feel like giving your braai a traditional Canadian flavour, then take your cue from http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/World-Cuisine/Canada/Main.aspx

The Good Sport

Americans are getting fatter, I read yesterday, but thats old news. Every year someone does a study that measures the average American girth. If we had to wait for the fat lady to sing before it was over, I'd say she's got the pipes for the final curtain call and the waiting is up. Its not all bad for Americas fattest fatties though, the rest of the world is getting fatter, right along with "Lady Liberaly." I guess the Aussies and even South Africans figure they're ok as long as the Americans are still carrying the bulk of the weight.

A few things got me thinking about the ever illusive "sports tourism." Strange, I've never travelled anywhere for sport, so to speak. But when I did a mental inventory about my travels, it surprised me that the most memorable activities absolutely involved the commitment of my body. I think they call that excercise...

So it got me thinking...well a combination of a torturous spin class, watching the Lions and Boks last Saturday got me thinking. Firstly, I couldn't believe how many red jerseys were in the stands in suppoort of the Lions last Saturday. It looked like tens of thousands supporters took themselves on an internatinal holiday to support their rugby team. I suppose it was surprising because I've never had the urge to travel anywhere because of sporting events but what do you know, it happens.

So I thought I'd take a little peak into South African sports tourism. if you think about it, we're pretty sporty (and by "sporty" I include sedentary lifestyle shapeshifters who watch a lot of sport). We run marathons, play cricket, rugby, soccer, we swim, play golf, dance, play netball, hockey, volleyball...the list goes on. We have so many balls in South Africa, its no wonder we're so competitive.

Its definately added a new dimension to our already successful tourism industry. along with shopping (which should actually be a sport), eco, luxury, safari, sightseeing and all the other travel options we have available, we can now create an itinery thats sure to stretch even tighest joke strap.

And consider it an open invitation to the Americans! Welcome to the Land of free thinkers and brave attempts, sports wise anyway. Come and join us on an adventure and hopefully, catch a glimpse of what it feels like to run under the African sun.

Send them cycling, white water rafting, road racing, hiking, golfing, its like an Iron Man race that just never ends. So I'd say its time to get physical. See South Africa from an athletes point of view. A great way to record your sports holiday is with your cell phone. If you're GPS enabled, than log onto www.hummba.com and download the FOOTPRINTS application, you can track your entire race/trip/hike and show to your friends from around the world. All you do is upload all your photos and they'll appear exactly where you took them on your profile. So now you can't cheat.

Go on, log on to hummba.com...I'll race you...

Not so blue Bulls

The Spanish have a saying that goes, "its not the same to talk of bulls as to be in the bullring." I think the same was true for the opponents of the Super 14 final this weekend. The Bulls played a superb game against the Chiefs at Versfeld in Pretoria. There was lots to celebrate after the impressive 61 -17 defeat.

The other bit of good news to come out of the match was that it looks like Bryan Habana might be renewing his contract with the Bulls that expires in a couple of months time. In an interview he said that he was very proud to be part of such a great team but he wouldn't commit to coming or going either way. But what a fantastic player! Have a look at some of his career highlights, he's quite literally one of our rugby marvels.

Whatever the future holds...well done boys! South Africa is still celebrating you.