Bobotie is the dish most often named when South Africans are asked for a national dish, and it carries the country's history in a single baking dish. It comes from the Cape Malay kitchen, the cooking of communities brought to the Cape from Java, Bengal and elsewhere from the seventeenth century, who mixed the spices of the East with local farm produce. The result is minced meat softened with milk soaked bread, seasoned with a mild curry, sharpened with vinegar and sweetened with chutney and raisins, then covered with an egg and milk custard and a row of bay leaves.

It tastes sweet, savory and warm at once, and it is far gentler than its spice list suggests. It is an ideal race day dish because it waits patiently in the oven and is just as good eaten warm as hot, which matters when the safety car comes out at exactly the wrong moment.

The spiced meat

Ingredients

• 2 slices white bread
• 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter
• 2 medium onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons mild curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 lb (900 g) ground beef
• 1/3 cup (100 g) fruit chutney
• 1/3 cup (50 g) raisins or golden raisins
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider or white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon apricot jam
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup (35 g) sliced almonds

Method

1. Tear the bread into pieces in the small bowl and pour over 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the milk. Leave to soak.
2. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and butter the baking dish lightly.
3. Heat the oil and butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring now and then, for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 1 minute, then the curry powder, turmeric and cinnamon for 1 minute more.
4. Turn the heat to medium high, add the beef and break it up with the spoon. Cook, stirring, for 8 minutes.
5. Squeeze the soaked bread lightly, keeping the milk in the bowl, and stir the bread into the meat with the chutney, raisins, vinegar, jam, salt, pepper and half the almonds. Cook 2 minutes. Taste: it should be gently sweet and sour with a mild warmth.
6. Spread the meat in the baking dish, press it down into a level layer with the back of the spoon, and leave it to cool for 10 minutes.

The custard topping

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• the reserved milk
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 pinch ground turmeric
• 4 to 6 bay leaves

Method

1. Whisk the eggs, all the remaining milk, the salt and turmeric in the medium bowl.
2. Pour the custard slowly over the back of a spoon onto the meat so it spreads evenly. Press the bay leaves upright into the meat in a row, and scatter the remaining almonds over the top.
3. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
4. Rest for 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Remove the bay leaves as you serve; they are for scent, not eating.

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