Food from the Karoo.

Posted under Recipes by Clare on January 23rd, 2012 | Print This Post

Images by Tasha Seccombe.

Tania Harrison grew up on a farm in the Karoo, and years later, via Paarl and Cape Town, she began to source food from her family farm to fill the “fridges of urban foodies”.

She started on the internet and the business has grown to such an extent that she is in expansion mode and you can buy her food in Raith Gourmet in both their Constantia and Gardens outlets.

Tania now sources food products from other producers in the Karoo, and the list of items includes all parts of the lamb, pig, chicken, pig and cow. She also supplies charcuterie, eggs, olive oil, goats milk, fig jam, Guernsey cows milk….the list goes on.

Images by Tasha Seccombe.

The food could be described as very South African; biltong, droewors, skilpaddjies, buttermilk rusks. And as the publicity material says; “…the food is produced on farms by people who live the Karoo life, who love this special environment and believe in its potential….all living things are treated with care and respect, symbolic of our commitment to the unique flavours of the Karoo’s food heritage.”

Thai lamb with rocket.

Here’s a recipe from Food from the Karoo’s own website, as written by Tania herself.

THAI LAMB WITH HERBS AND ROCKET

What a contradiction – normally beef and pork is used for Thai dishes and the Afrikaans play on “taai” for lamb that is quite not so “taai” just makes me smile.I created this dish with my Thai food lover husband. He has inspired me to start creating more contemporary, fusion and fresh dishes with the Karoo Lamb – using familiar cuts in an unfamiliar way.

We couldn’t stop eating this dish after we made it – we finished it all in one go…

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 FFTK shoulder of lamb, deboned and cut into stir-fry meat cuts (thin and long)
2 tbs soya sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs vegetable oil or olive oil
2 limes, quartered
Salt and pepper to taste

Fry the meat in the ingredients above till cooked and slightly browned on the outside.

Sauce:Juice of 2 limes
4 tbs of Thai fish sauce (or as per your taste)
Soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tsp brown sugar
4 small red shallots, finely sliced
1 heaped teaspoon chilli paste – preferably home-made
2 spring onion
Mix all the sauce ingredients together and until sugar has dissolved.

Other ingredients:

Handful basil leaves
Handful mint leaves
Handful coriander leaves
Rocket for those who like having their Thai food with salad – that would be me.
Gently mix all these herbs and salads together and set aside.

Before serving, mix meat and sauce in pan and fry briefly at high temperature for 1 minute. Remove and plate carefully in a line across the plates. Then take tossed salads and herbs and sprinkle a handful on the Thai Lamb. Serve immediately and bah bah black sheep – healthy and fresh.For those into carbohydrates, one could also serve with rice noodles. And for the real rys, vleis en aartappels crowd, rys of aartappels….

www.foodfromthekaroo.co.za