Potjiekos is a traditional dish from Namibia and South Africa, meaning “small-pot food”.
It is a dish that is traditionally cooked outside in a round, cast iron, three-legged pot called potjie, a successor of the Dutch oven brought from the Netherlands to South Africa in the 17th century.

The Potjiekos descended from the Dutch dish Hutspot, which originated in Leiden in the Netherlands in the 16th century during the Eighty Years’ War between the Dutch and the Spanish (1568-1648). When the Dutch arrived in Africa at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, they brought their cooking methods and equipment, including the potjie with them. Indigenous peoples of Africa quickly saw the practical benefits of these pots, and started trading their animals for them, replacing clay pots they used for cooking.

The Voortrekkers – the Dutch settlers – started cooking the Potjiekos, using the meat of wild game and vegetables. Even though this dish originated on the South African territory, through movements of the Voortrekkers, it arrived also in the neighboring countries, and it is an equally important and traditional dish in Namibia, and there is a similar dish in Botswana.

Potjiekos is traditionally made in potjie which is heated using small amounts of wood or charcoal or, if fuel is scarce, twisted grass or even dried animal dung. It includes meat such as beef, goat, venison, mutton, or chicken, and vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and even cabbage, cauliflower or pumpkin. Often a form of alcohol is added for flavor – mostly beer, Old Brown Sherry or a dessert wine like Humbro, while the spices vary depending on the region and who is preparing the dish. There are also two important rules to the traditional preparation of this dish. Ingredients should be layered – the meat should be added first and sealed properly; once the meat is almost cooked, onions, garlic, herbs and a liquid are added, and the vegetables should then be stacked on top of the meat, in order of their cooking times; everything is then cooked for several hours. The second important rule is that the potjiekos should not be stirred until ready to serve, which is an important difference from the preparation of a classic stew. In Potjiekos all ingredients should be visible, and you should be able to taste all the ingredients separately.

For the vegan version of this dish, we used seitan and mushrooms as a meat substitute, carrots and potatoes, and a beer and vegetable stock. It is a very easy-to-make, robust and healthy dish. Although similar dishes can be found in many places around the world, Potjiekos is filled with unique and very tasty flavors.