Tomato bredie

Ingredients

Meat

• 1.2 kgmutton or lamb, neck or shoulder, on the bone

Base

• 3 tbspoil or lard
• 3onions, sliced
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 1 tbspfresh ginger, optional

Tomatoes

• 1.5 kgripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• or 2 tins plus 3 tbsp paste
• 1 tbspsugar

Spices

• 1cinnamon stick
• 4cloves
• 4allspice berries
• 1 tspground ginger
• 2bay leaves
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1chilli, optional
• salt

Also

• 4potatoes, in chunks
• 1 tbspvinegar or lemon juice

To serve

• white rice
• or samp
• chutney

Directions

1. Use mutton neck or shoulder on the bone, which has the fat and connective tissue for a long cook. Mutton has far more flavour than lamb, and a bredie is cooked for hours, which is exactly what a tough flavourful cut wants.
2. Brown the meat hard in batches in the fat. Brown it properly with space around it, since that colour is the base of the whole stew. Lift it out and cook the onions slowly in the same fat. Now the onions, which need real time. Cook them for 20 to 25 minutes until they are deep golden and completely collapsed.
3. Take them well past soft. Properly caramelised onions are half the sweetness and body of a bredie, and pale onions give a thin stew. Add the garlic and the whole spices and cook a few minutes. Skin the fresh tomatoes by scoring them, covering with boiling water for a minute and slipping the skins off.
4. Chop them and add them with the sugar. Return the meat and add just enough water to come halfway up. Add very little liquid. The tomatoes release a great deal as they break down, and a bredie should end up thick rather than soupy.
5. Cover and simmer very gently for 2 to 3 hours. Cook it low and long. The tomatoes should disappear entirely into a thick dark sauce. Check occasionally and add a little water only if it threatens to catch. Do not stir it more than necessary, which breaks up the meat.
6. Add them late enough that they hold their shape, since potatoes added at the start dissolve completely. It is done when the meat is falling off the bone and the sauce is thick, dark red and glossy.
7. Taste it and season it properly. Take out the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Serve it with white rice, or with samp, and a fruit chutney on the side.

Technique

• Bredies are named for their vegetable, and waterblommetjiebredie uses Cape pond flowers.
• The spicing is a legacy of Cape Malay cooking.
• It is better made a day ahead.

Substitutions

• Lamb shoulder in place of mutton, cooked slightly less long.
• Good tinned tomatoes, which are often better than poor fresh ones.

Variations

• Waterblommetjiebredie, with Cape pond flowers.
• Green bean bredie.
• Pumpkin bredie, which is sweeter.

History

A slow-cooked stew combining lamb or mutton with a generous quantity of tomato, cooked down until it forms a thick, rich sauce, documented across South Africa with roots tracing to Cape Malay culinary tradition, brought to South Africa’s Cape region by enslaved and indentured people from Southeast Asia, particularly present-day Indonesia and Malaysia, during the period of Dutch colonial rule at the Cape beginning in the 1600s. Its name, bredie, is a specifically Cape Malay term describing this style of slow-cooked stew, which exists in several variations built around different central vegetables beyond tomato, including green bean and pumpkin bredies. Tomato bredie remains one of the most iconic dishes of Cape Malay cuisine, reflecting that community’s distinct and historically significant contribution to South African culinary tradition.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tomato bredie?

Tomato bredie is a soup & stew from South Africa: cape mutton and tomato stew slow-cooked with cinnamon. A slow-cooked stew combining lamb or mutton with a generous quantity of tomato, cooked down until it forms a thick, rich sauce, documented across South Africa with roots tracing to Cape Malay culinary tradition, brought to South Africa’s Cape region by enslaved and indentured people from Southeast Asia, particularly present-day Indonesia and Malaysia, during the period of Dutch colonial rule at the Cape beginning in the 1600s. Its name, bredie, is a specifically Cape Malay term describing this style of slow-cooked stew, which exists in several variations built around different central vegetables beyond tomato, including green bean and pumpkin bredies. Tomato bredie remains one of the most iconic dishes of Cape Malay cuisine, reflecting that community’s distinct and historically significant contribution to South African culinary tradition.

How long does Tomato bredie take to make?

Tomato bredie takes 25 min of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Tomato bredie?

Yes, within limits. Lamb shoulder in place of mutton, cooked slightly less long. Good tinned tomatoes, which are often better than poor fresh ones.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tomato bredie?

Brown the meat hard in batches in the fat. Brown it properly with space around it, since that colour is the base of the whole stew. Lift it out and cook the onions slowly in the same fat. Now the onions, which need real time. Cook them for 20 to 25 minutes until they are deep golden and completely collapsed.