#5 Botswana

Well I’m ploughing through southern Africa aren’t I!

Again, I’ve found reading up about this country super-interesting, but I’ll keep it short and limit my waffling to two things that I LOVE (but sadly own none of either):

Elephants

There are 130,000 elephants in Botswana, which is more than any other country in Africa.

Diamonds

Botswana is rich in natural resources and has the largest diamond mine in the world, producing 11 MILLION carats of diamond every year. WOW! It’s owned jointly between the government and the De Beers Group, whose shop window I have definitely had my nose pressed up against in London!

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Food

Botswanan cuisine is typical for southern Africa. Sorghum (see Cook the World cereal grain lesson #1) and maize are grown widely, and other cereal crops are imported. Like Lesotho, pap and porridge are staples. Vegetables include spinach, carrots, cabbages, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and tomatoes, as well as several types of beans. Cattle are reared commercially for beef, and livestock exports make a significant contribution to GDP. Goat, mutton, chicken and river fish are also eaten.

Slimy yet satisfying

The mopane worm is not actually a worm but a large edible caterpillar that grows on trees. It is an important source of protein for many in southern Africa. When you find one you pinch it at one end to pop it and squeeze out its insides before eating it. Mmmm. The “worms” can be dried, smoked, fried, stewed or preserved in brine. I did wonder whether this was the “slimy yet satisfying” snack that Simba ate with Timon and Pumba, but the mopane worm is native to southern Africa and Pride Rock is most likely in Kenya so that must have been a different kind of grub.

The nutritious and delicious mopane worm. Image courtesy of flickr.com

Seswaa

Seswaa is the go-to for special occasions. It’s beef cooked with only with water and salt, and pounded to tenderise after cooking. It is traditionally prepared by the men because they’re big and strong enough to beat the meat. Surviving the week and making it to Friday is a good enough reason for a celebratory meal so I’m going to make myself a little pot of seswaa.

The instructions for cooking this stew go against everything I know about cooking. You cook the meat and then salt it?! You braise it and then brown it?!I wasn’t happy about that so I went off-piste and browned the meat first and added salt to the braising water. I also added an onion and a bay leaf.

Despite its simplicity, I knew I was going to enjoy this from the moment I could smell the (shin of) beef caramelising in the pan; I just LOVE beef! After browning, it went in the oven in the salted water for a couple of hours and then back on the hob to reduce the remainder of the cooking liquid and for the bashing part (no men required). I added pepper and further salt to taste at this stage. The meat wasn’t quite as tender as I was hoping for. Maybe I shouldn’t have browned it first…always think I know better. It was very plain but the lack of ingredients meant that the flavour of the beef really shone.

I didn’t fancy “pap” (polenta) again so I served this with some stewed (and buttered, obvs) greens, pepper and tomatoes and some butternut squash roasted with a little bit of cinnamon, which was heeeavevnly!

Seswaa with cinnamon squash and stewed veggies

It was alright for a Friday night in but I might stick to boeuf bourguignon the next time I have guests over for slow-cooked cow.

I'll see you in PARAGUAY.

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