Bread – regte egte boere brood.

While visiting the Nuy Valley (located between Worcester and Robertson) yesterday I was at an olive oil tasting and came across this woman cooking over an open fire. My curiosity

Baking potbrood.

got the better of me, and it turned out that she was baking bread the old fashioned way, in a cast iron pot, over burning embers.

I’ve never seen this before, but I have heard of my Grandparents cooking like this in an open hearth on the farm. Flour, salt, yeast and water were all that was needed, some kneading and raising, and an hour in the pot. What could be simpler?

The bread was going to take an hour, so I left to go on a tour of the Willow Creek Olive Estate (more later), and was told the bread would be baked when I got back.

An hour later the delicious aroma of baking bread filled the air and the bread was done.

Straight out of the pot it looked delicious.

Lunch was a bowl of butternut soup, and some of the bread toasted, accompanied by a scrape of raw garlic.

A swirl of olive oil completed the preparations, and I have to say it was the most delicious lunch I’ve had in a long time. Crunchy, toasted, freshly baked bread, a hint of garlic, combined with the silky sweet taste of the butternut soup. Heaven.

Here’s a recipe for potbrood that I came across, and I can’t wait to try it.

Ingredients.

2.5 kg Flour

3.5 cups warm water

2 sachets of dry yeast 

4 teaspoons of salt

Method.

Mix all the dry ingredients. Add the water and knead until dough stops sticking to your hands.

Hmmm...think it's baked...

Let it raise for 45 minutes.

Butter your hands and pound it back down. Let raise again for 30 minutes or so, until the pot is 3/4 full.

Bake on a layer of cool coals for 1 hour, and add some coals on top for the last 15 minutes to toast the top of the bread.

Remove from the pot and let cool for a few minutes on a breadboard.

Delicious simple bread.

The Nuy Valley is celebrating its annual festival on May 15th. There’s tons of stuff to do, wine tastings, boutique brewery beer to sample, fun and games for all the family. Willow Creek, Conradie Family Vineyards, the Nuy Winery and Leipzig Country House are all participating.

I am tempted to go just for the olive pip spitting contest alone.

Tasty, fresh, toasted potbrood.

www.nuyvalleyfeast.co.za