Adolf and Sonja just got back after a long back to back trip of the South Africa Rainbow Route SAa17 followed by a Cape To Vic Falls Grand Explorer CVa21. On a route like this, the road is sometimes hard and catering can sometimes become a challenge, its not easy producing new and interesting meals for the clients that are travelling on the trucks. Most of the guides, I would say, are pretty good cooks. We swap the guides around after every 2 or 3 trips so that they are training 24/7 whilst on the road. Learning from each other, the arts of guiding, cooking, people skills that are beneficial to running this style of travel.

Sonja has the following receipe to share that they made in Namibia. After a full day game drive in the Etosha National park with sightings of lions, elephant and even the shy honeybadger, we retired to our lodge outside the park, where we had a nice Braai . We were in the mood for a warm self made pot bread and found this recipe very delicious.

You will need the following:

• potjie size 12 or larger:
• Butter
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) dry yeast
• 1 tsp (5 ml) salt
• 4 tbsp (60 ml) sugar
• 15 dl (1,5 L) cake flour
• 7 – 10 dl (700 – 1000 ml) warm water

Pot bread is baked in a potjie with a flat bottom and smooth straight sides. Never place the potjie directly on the coals. Instead, start baking the bread slowly by putting a few coals on the lid. After 20-30 minutes, scrape the coals of the fire to the side and place the pot where the fire was. Let the coals surround the pot in a circle about 20 cm away. It is good to turn the pot a few times during the baking for the bread to bake evenly. Be careful when lifting the lid so that no ashes fall into the potjie.

Bake the Pot bread like this:
Mix flour, dry yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add warm water (max. 45°C), little at a time, while stirring until you have a dough that can be needed. Kneed for quite a while with floury fingers, until it is no longer sticky.
Butter the potjie and the lid well on the inside. Place the dough in the potjie with the lid on. Set it to rise where it is warm, for example, in the sun. Let the bread rise for about 1 hour. In the mean while, make the fire. When the bread has finished rising, place the pot near the fireplace and put a few coals on the lid. Let it bake like this for about 20 minutes. Then make place for the pot in the fireplace, surrounded by coals about 20 cm away. Turn the pot every 15 minutes. Keep the coals on the lid of the pot. Bake for another 15-30 minutes, or as long as it takes for the bread to become light and sound “hollow”. Check it now and then during the baking. When the bread is finished, remove it from the pot and let it cool off under a cloth.