“Good food is very often, even most often, simple food”
I have always maintained that if bredies are the heart of Cape Malay cooking, then smoortjies are its soul!
The term ‘smoor’ is derived from the Indonesian word ‘semur’ and is also connected to the Dutch word ‘smoor’, which means stewing or braising. A dish like ‘semur daging’ is a stewed beef dish with a heavy Dutch influence. In Indonesia and Malaysia, beef is the preferred meat of choice. The Malaysians in particular love a peppery beef-steak dish that is the equivalent of the Cape Malay braised steak (gesmoore steak) and, like the Malaysians, the steak is braised with salt, pepper and onions. Nothing else needed!
When trying to explain a smoortjie to anyone in English, we more often than not revert to the term ‘braised’, i.e. braised chops, braised sausage or braised egg. But a smoortjie is so much more than that and represents more than food to me. It depicts a period of time during the month when we were running low on groceries and pay day was still a few days away. It’s more often than not, seen as budget or economy meals, which can be made in a jiffy and the cost of the ingredients doesn’t need to break the bank.
I also know a smoortjie to be something that takes almost no time to make and is ideal for a quick lunch or dinner solution when unexpected guests arrive. Most smoortjies have base ingredients such as onions, tomato and garlic, with the possible addition of a green chilli. The dish itself has a lovely saucy gravy and, depending on which time of the month it was made, you could be cooking anything from Braised Steak or Braised Penny Polonies to Braised Tuna or Braised Egg. Smoortjies were also usually served with fresh white bread, thus making the perfect filling for sandwiches. However, the humble smoortjie is also ideal as a topping on crackers or a potato spud, and even as a savoury filling in pastries.
Suffice to say, this traditional dish has stood the test of time and its importance in the Cape Malay culinary recipe vault should be treasured and revered.
Recipe can be found in my latest book called “Modern Cape Malay Cooking” on page 85
