 The word "boerewors" means "farmer's sausage" in Afrikaans, and is thus a distinctly traditional South African food. What Are The Origins Of Boerewors? Boerewors is another inheritance from our pioneering forefathers who combined minced meat and cubed spek (pork fat) with spices and preservatives (vinegar). All of which were freely available from the then "Cape Colony". The origin of spicy 'farmer's sausage' is attributed to early German settlers who knew all there was to know about sausage-making. As mincing machines only came onto the scene in the nineteenth century, meat was previously finely chopped by hand. Making boerewors is an individualised and satisfying (though time-consuming) task, and one you won't want to do on the day of the braai. For the best flavour and tenderness, wors should mature for a few days in the fridge before being cooked. It may also be frozen for up to three months. Besides being braaied, boerewors may be dried, but for dried wors a thinner casing must be used. During their trek through the hinterland, large quantities of wors would be made at the outspan (stopover) and that which could not be eaten would be hung to dry and taken along for sustenance as they continued their explorations. In the decades that followed this type of wors gradually evolved and the term "Boerewors" became entrenched in South African culture. Up until the early 1960's boerewors in South Africa was known only as boerewors and by no other name. Thousands of butchers competed with each other to produce, in their opinion, the best "boeries" you could find anywhere. Competition was fierce, the consumer was happy!  The unique taste of boerewors was enhanced by making adjustments to the quantities of the traditional ingredients used. Some masterful "boeries" was, and still is, produced with the creators, jealously guarding the mix of their magic potions. From the 60's onward however, the character of the traditional boerewors taste was experimented with by entrepreneurs who added a host of additional flavours to the boerewors taste. Copious quantities of barbecue spice, onion, tomato, garlic, cheese, chillies, peppers, chicken, you name it, were added in order to diversify the taste of the good old "boeries". On the market was now garlic wors, chilli wors, cheese wors, chicken wors etc. Many consumers, naturally, enjoyed these variations. Others, obviously, called it sacrilege. These additions to the taste of boerewors had, however, come to stay and are still freely available today. The 60's, unfortunately, also experienced the advent of inferior quality boerewors that was sold at bargain prices to the poor but contained inferior ingredients. Although the traditional and "new type" spices were still used, inferior meat such as affal, bone meal and soya became the main ingredients. To contain this mixture the thickest possible sausage casings were used in order to avoid the wors from rupturing during cooking. Public outcry soon curtailed the production of this boerewors abomination as the perception that "cheap wors is bad wors" soon resulted in this product not moving from the retail shelves. Unfortunately, to this very day, a boerewors producer will tempt the bargain hunter with inferior wors. The secret in the making of good boerewors, lies in the quality of the ingredients used. The better the quality of the meat, the better tasting the boerewors.
|
