Potjiekos

Wild Boar Potjiekos

A Provençal take on the South African potjie — slow-cooked sanglier over open coals.

Personnes

Préparation

45 min

Cuisson

4 hours

Difficulty

Medium

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Two traditions collide in this pot. The potjie is as South African as the braai — a cast iron pot, three legs, a fire built low and patient beneath it. It arrived at the Cape with Dutch settlers in the seventeenth century and has been feeding families over wood coals ever since. The tradition crossed the ocean. The pot ended up in Provence.

And Provence, it turns out, has opinions about cast iron cooking over coals. They are broadly enthusiastic. The wild boar that hunters bring back from the Var in October is exactly the kind of meat that rewards long, slow, indirect heat — and the garrigue herbs, the local red wine, and the Provençal vegetables that go in alongside it are precisely what a potjie wants to become great.

This is a dish for a Sunday when you have nowhere urgent to be. Light the fire after breakfast. Eat in the late afternoon. Leave the lid on in between.

Ingrédients

•2 kg wild boar, bone-in pieces
•Olive oil
•3 onions, sliced
•6 cloves garlic
•500g small potatoes
•3 carrots, cut into chunks
•2 courgettes, cut into chunks
•400g tinned tomatoes
•1 cup red wine
•2 cups stock
•Herbes de Provence
•Salt, pepper
•2 bay leaves

🐸 Marcel says:

Never lift the lid more than you need to. Every time you peek, you lose 15 minutes of cooking. Trust the process.

Instructions

1
Light your fire and allow it to burn down to grey coals. You want steady, medium heat — not a blazing inferno.
2
Heat olive oil in the potjie (cast iron pot). Brown the boar pieces in batches over the coals.
3
Remove meat. Fry the onions and garlic until golden.
4
Return meat to the pot. Add wine and let it reduce for 5 minutes.
5
Add tomatoes, stock, herbs, salt and pepper.
6
Layer potatoes and carrots on top of the meat. Do not stir — the potjie cooks in layers.
7
Cover tightly and cook over the coals for 3 hours, adding a few coals when necessary to maintain steady heat.
8
Add courgettes in the final 30 minutes.
9
Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve directly from the pot.

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