Lifecycle of a Potjiekos

The first day I had potjiekos (poy-key-kose, literally 'pot food') was December 31, 2008. The group I came with from First Presbyterian Houston helped make potjiekos for hundreds of people in the township for a New Year's Eve celebration. Back in Texas earlier this year, I made several attempts to recreate it (but w/out the fire or the iron pot) with limited success. Saturday I joined 4 of the Oppelt siblings for their rugby watching marathon. Mid-afternoon the idea of potjiekos was mentioned -- it's Maria's specialty -- and this is what followed....

(1) Pick up friends from around town


(2) Borrow potjie (the black iron pot), if necessary


(3) Start fire

(4)Prepare ingredients

(5) Blast music from car radio, hang out (we may have overdone this step, as the car battery was dead later, which meant I got to experience the 'running start' technique to solve the problem of a dead battery. No jumper cables needed here!)

(6) Start adding the ingredients, one by one, and a personal message from Carl:

(7) Add more stuff to the pot, like carrots

(8) More stuff, here potatoes

(9) Enjoy! (me w/ Priscilla)