Seswaa

Ingredients

Meat

• 1.5 kgbeef brisket, shin or chuck on the bone, in large pieces
• 2 litreswater, to cover
• 2 tbspcoarse salt

To serve

• Stiff maize meal pap (phaletshe) or bogobe jwa lerotse
• Morogo (wild greens) or boiled cabbage

Directions

1. Put the meat in a heavy three-legged pot or a deep casserole and add just enough cold water to cover it. Nothing else goes in yet.
2. Bring slowly to a boil over a wood fire or medium heat, skimming off the grey foam as it rises for the first 15 minutes so the broth stays clean.
3. Add half the salt, cover, and hold at the barest simmer — bubbles breaking lazily, never a rolling boil — for 3 hours.
4. Top up with a little boiling water only if the meat threatens to be exposed. By the end the liquid should have reduced to a shallow, rich broth.
5. It is ready when a strand pulls away with no resistance and the bones slip out clean. Lift the pieces onto a board and let them cool just enough to handle.
6. Discard the bones and any hard gristle, keeping the soft fat, then return everything to the pot with a ladle of the broth.
7. Pound with a wooden pestle or a heavy wooden spoon directly in the pot, working around the edges, until the meat shreds into coarse fibres — 5 to 10 minutes. It should be fluffy and stringy, never a paste.
8. Taste and add the remaining salt. Serve hot in a mound with pap and greens, moistened with a spoonful of the cooking broth.

Technique

• Seswaa is defined by what is left out: no onion, no garlic, no spice, no tomato. Salt and long boiling are the whole seasoning, which is why the meat itself has to be good.
• At weddings and funerals it is cooked by men outdoors in a three-legged pot over wood, and the pounding is done with a purpose-cut wooden stick. That smoke and the slow open-fire simmer are part of the flavour.
• The fat is not skimmed off at the end. It coats the fibres as you pound and keeps the dish from drying out.

Substitutions

• Goat is used just as often as beef in Botswana and is cooked in exactly the same way; it needs about 30 minutes less.
• No pestle: pulse briefly in a stand mixer with the paddle on low, stopping the moment the strands separate.

Variations

• Some households pound in a spoonful of the rendered fat and a little more broth for a moister, almost creamy texture.
• Leftover seswaa is fried the next morning in its own fat until the edges crisp and eaten with bogobe.

History

Beef boiled with salt and pounded in a wooden mortar until it shreds; men cook it at weddings and funerals, and it is Botswana’s national dish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Seswaa?

Seswaa is a main from Botswana: beef boiled until falling apart, pounded and salted; national dish. Beef boiled with salt and pounded in a wooden mortar until it shreds; men cook it at weddings and funerals, and it is Botswana’s national dish.

How long does Seswaa take to make?

Seswaa takes 15 min of preparation and 3 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Seswaa?

Yes, within limits. Goat is used just as often as beef in Botswana and is cooked in exactly the same way; it needs about 30 minutes less. No pestle: pulse briefly in a stand mixer with the paddle on low, stopping the moment the strands separate.

What is the most important thing to get right in Seswaa?

Add half the salt, cover, and hold at the barest simmer — bubbles breaking lazily, never a rolling boil — for 3 hours.