A CUCUMBER mould salad can instantly transport you back to a family table. The smell of meat over the coals evokes another memory entirely: a farmyard, a long visit, someone who always knew exactly when the food was ready. It is this connection between food, people and memories that Herman Lensing explores in Herman se erfenistafel.
This special Heritage Month bonus episode of the highly popular Herman se halfuur, which broadcasts three times a week on VIA, offers viewers an extra visit with Herman. It is made possible by Food Lover’s Market and can be seen on 23 September at 8pm and 24 September at 9pm.
“Heritage means your family, your household,” says Herman. For him, the path to this table leads back to his upbringing in the Kalahari – to the farmhouse, the kitchen and the people whose food became part of his own story. His heritage table for the episode, featuring warm, earthy colours and a rustic farm style, ties into those memories.
On the menu, familiar flavours get a few fresh twists. There is cucumber mould salad, potatoes with beer, flame-grilled leeks with cream sauce, and pork and pecan nut terrine. Toeka se tasselvleis brings a Kalahari meat tradition to the table, while a butterflied leg of lamb off the fire rounds off the feast.
The mould salad gets extra texture from green apples and nuts, while the potatoes gain flavour from beer and rosemary. Tasselvleis, on the other hand, requires patience. The meat is cured and hung for 24 hours, like biltong, before heading to the coals.
Together, these dishes say something about how recipes are preserved and made our own once more.
“The heritage table I set is, to me, the complete embodiment of what heritage is,” says Herman.
The leg of lamb expresses that feeling particularly well for him.
“For me, a leg of lamb over the coals is one of those dishes that always brings people together,” he says. That is also the theme running through this episode, where everyone brings something of themselves to the table, and there is plenty of room for more than one person’s memories.
“My heritage and your heritage matter.”
Herman’s butterflied leg of lamb on the fire
Serves 6–8
Ingredients:
- 2 kg FLM butterflied classic leg of lamb, garlic & herb butter
- 3 ml black peppercorns
- 5 ml pink peppercorns
- 10 ml fennel seeds
- 5 ml coriander seeds
- 10 ml smoked paprika
- 90 ml olive oil
- 30 ml red wine vinegar
- 1 handful Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 red chillis, finely chopped
- Juice and grated zest of 2 lemons
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Wood or coals for braaiing
Sauce
- 500 ml full-cream yoghurt
- 45 ml tahini paste (sesame spread, look in your supermarket’s health aisle)
- Juice and grated zest of 2 lemons
- 1 handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
Method
- Open up the leg of lamb where the bone was removed.
- Using a sharp knife, cut from the middle of the leg towards the edges, halfway into the meat, taking care not to cut all the way through. You want to butterfly the meat so it has an even thickness throughout.
- Place the peppercorns, fennel and coriander in a frying pan and dry-roast over high heat until the coriander seeds pop, about 1–2 minutes.
- Transfer to a mortar and pestle and crush lightly.
- Mix the spices with the paprika, olive oil, vinegar, parsley, garlic, chilli, lemon juice and zest.
- Place the butterflied leg of lamb in a glass or enamel dish and coat the meat all over with the oil and spice mixture. Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Prepare medium-hot coals. Place the leg of lamb in a hinged braai grid and braai for about 35–45 minutes for medium-rare/medium.
- Turn the meat every 10 minutes. Remove the leg of lamb from the heat and place it back into the marinade dish.
- Allow to rest for 10 minutes on the side of the braai, away from direct heat.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients together.
- Using a sharp knife, carve the lamb into thin slices. Serve with the sauce.
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