Apr 7

Written by:
2010/04/07 07:35 AM 

I love potjiekos. On Easter Monday I made us a lovely tasting poitjie. Probably best I’ve made so far. As you can see above.

In South Africa, potjiekos (pronounced /ˈpoikiːkos/), literally translated "small pot food", is a hot pot stew prepared outdoors in a traditional round, cast iron, three-legged pot (the potjie). Not dissimilar to a witches cauldron. The potjiekos which is found in the homes and villages of people throughout southern Africa. The pot is heated efficiently using small amounts of wood, charcoal or if fuel is scarce, twisted grass or even dried animal dung.

The centre of social gatherings

Traditionally it’s a pot luck type of dish, where hunters would bring different ingredients and cast them into the pot. It could be a combination of venison, fowl, even rabbit or snake. What ever the catch was that day. Others would bring what ever vegetables or starch that they had.

It was all thrown into the pot and stewed for 3-6 hours. The poitjie became the centre of a social gathering as different people would contribute to the stew, they would wait around the fire and discuss various and different topics of the day. From hunting stories, to love stories, to all round gossip.

Basically you came to the gathering bringing what ever you had, threw it into the pot and stayed to contribute to the conversation.

Later when it was all done everybody benefited from a  really good meal.

Paragraph Collaboration Project.

My Blog Paragraph Collaboration Project is not dissimilar to a potjiekos gathering. It is a place where you bring a paragraph dump it into the pot along with others. Then wait around and enjoy the conversation that ensues after that.

I have run a few of these in the past. Many have complemented and said what a brilliant idea it was. They have both benefited and contributed to the effort.

I muster up a topic, you write a paragraph about it. I publish it with your details and a link back. You stay a  while to contribute to and comment on the conversation.

Afterwards you realise it’s a rewarding exercise where all benefit. Some more than others. But hey, it’s a community building effort.

Why not participate?

Here is your chance to be part of the ‘potjie’. This weeks topic is; “Your recipe for the perfect blog post”. Write a paragraph,  a few sentences about the topic. Then send it to me and I will post it next week.

If you are keen then just let me know in the comments below. If you have any questions I would love to hear them.

Do check out our previous collaboration posts under the related reading section below.

Related Reading:

How can I help a fellow blogger?

Why do we comment on other blogs?

Where to find blog post ideas from?

How would you promote your blog?

What is the one thing that can improve your blog?

For some nice recipes check out http://www.potjiekosworld.com

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