Do you ever get homesick for food? If you have moved a lot or relocated and don’t have any family or your country’s dishes nearby maybe you do.
I am lucky in that respect,I live in the country I was born in and my mum is only a few kilometres away,so I don’t have far to travel for this sort of comfort food.
Not quite as easy for one of my readers who commented on a blog I posted last year South African Food Safari. It was about a delicious South African dinner I had as part of last year’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. My reader,Michael,is an ex-pat South African who desperately wanted to find Cape Malay cuisine and ingredients and thought since I had been eating a lot of them I might be able to assist. When I received another plea for help from him earlier this week,I decided to take action.
“I am also from South Africa as you can see on my Advert asking for Authentic Cape Malay Samosas. I can’t find anyone that makes these Cape Malay Samosas,I live in Victoria Australia,does any South Africans know where I can ask for this? I am not sure if here are any Cape Malay people in Victoria. I thought perhaps there will be Cape Malays here who make these Samosas at home. Looking forward to hear from anyone soon. Thankyou, Michael”
The South African Food Safari was at Rusk Restaurant,so I got in touch with Lance Rosen,restauranteur and chef at Rusk,himself an ex-pat South African.
Lance was only too happy to help,
“Regarding the question,I think we are the only restaurant serving this style of food. The Cape Malay dishes that are always on our menu are a spinach and paneer curry and a version of the Blue eye that was served at the food and wine dinner last year. Other South African dishes include the biltong,Portuguese lamb with gem squash,a bbq chicken and LM style prawns. We have Cape Malay specials such as the Bobotie and frikkadelle,samosas,Denningvleis and breyani. There is a South African shop on Hawthorn road,in Caulfield that stocks ingredients. I would be happy to send through a recipe if that might help.”
The Masala Fish from last year's dinner
Boboetie - a traditional Cape dish also from the dinner
The South African shop stocks a very wide range of South African ingredients,including spice mixes and curry kits,and has some of the best biltong I have tasted.
The website has an online store and a wishlist inviting customers to tell them what products they would like the store to get in. Click on the logo below to go to their website.
And now for the much wanted samosa recipe..
Lance Rosen’s Samosa Recipe
Ingredients
2 onion,diced fine
200g beef mince
1/4 cup water
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
Chilli powder to taste
1 Garlic clove,crushed
1 knob ginger,minced on a microplane
salt
vegetable oil
1/4 bunch coriander
3 Tbs fruit chutney
Filo pastry
melted butter
Method
Saute the onions until light golden
Add the mince and water
Whisk to remove lumps
Add spices (might need extra if your spices are old –keep the ratio the same)
Add garlic and ginger
Cook until it forms a thick paste,about 25 to 30 mins
Add fruit chutney and coriander
Optional,add some sultanas
Cool
Wrap into samosa shape in filo,layering with the melted butter. I would layer about 4 sheets of filo brushing in between each with the melted butter.
Traditionally the samosas are deep fried until golden,but these can be cooked in a 200 C oven for about 15 minutes.
A big thank you to Lance Rosen from Rusk for sharing his recipe. I am going to give it a go and I hope that Michael enjoys it.
Rusk is again participating in the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.
Here are details of this year’s dinner:
A cook’s kitchen garden
When 17 March,6:45PM –10:30PM
Where Rusk Restaurant,764 Glenhuntly Road,Caulfield South
Cost $75.00 Bookings 03 9523 7410
Website www.ruskrestaurant.com.au
We’re exploring the progression of food,from its source in the garden to the creation of dishes in our kitchen. This dinner will celebrate a cook’s garden,with produce grown especially for the night by Bruce Charlton of the Rusk kitchen team. Bruce has lovingly planted,grown and harvested the ingredients to be highlighted in a menu created by Lance Rosen.
That is very sweet of you Jo,to assist. I know of the South African shop as it is not far from where I live! Will have to try eating at Rusk..my mouth is watering thinking of it!
1/04/2010
Hi There,
I just want to check if there might be Cape Malay people living here in Victoria Region who are from South Africa,who wouldn’t mind making Meat Samosas for me,like I’ve saif I will order a few Dozen at a time,and I will keep on ordering,I love this so much,I’ve tried to make these myself,but I simply can’t get it the way our Cape Malay Poeople make this,it is so special the way the make this with all the spices in it.
I hope that someone might be able to help me with this,or perhaps know people who have a Cape Malay Shop somewhere who makes these lovely Samosas. I do love all the Curries the Cape Malay people make as well. I used to live in Cape Town,and I bought so many of these Samosas and Curries.
Hope to hear from someone soon.
Thanks for this,
Michael Prezens.
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9/04/2010
Hi There,
I haven’t had any luck at all with my Advert for Authentic Cape malay Samosas (Meat Samosas),I’ve tried everywhere to find this but I can’t,I’ve tried to make the Samosas a few times,but it doesn’t taste the same. Does anyone perhaps know if there any Cape Malay people who might have Shops somewhere in Victoria or perhaps Cape Malay People will make the Samosas for me at home? I will appreciate it if people could let me know,I love their Curries a lot too!
Thanks for this,
Michael Prezens.
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Many thanks to “appetite”and Lance Rosen for the samosa recipe. I have not had a chance to try it yet,but I WILL very soon. I will try it with spring roll pastry tho’as I find filo pastry too thin,too flaky and far too messy to work with (bearing in mind that I am NOT a professional cook
…hehehe)
Once again thanks to those that bother to reply.
Mike
Hi Guys
We run an African Bistro in Maleny,Qld. I intend to try the above recipe for Samosa’s,hope it works as I love them. We make great Bobotie,Potjie &Peri Peri chicken but as many of us do,we love Malay food. Will keep you posted. We buy many of our spices from Gourmet Africa (Matilda),which makes life quite easy.
Cheers
Jeremy
HI Jeremy
Thanks for visiting Second Helping –do let me know how the Samosa’s turn out.
I’m an ex pat that lives in Cyprus and I am terribly homesick for cape malay foods. When I went to SA 4 years ago,I ordered different kinds of pre made samoosas from this lovely moslem lady in Cape Town and FORGOT to pick them up as she vacuum packed them for me to take with!!!! My Step Aunt took them and didn’t stop reminding me of how lekker they were!