Boerewors () is a type of

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

which originated in South Africa. It is an important part of South African,

Zimbabwean Demographic features of the population of Zimbabwe include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Population The population of Zimbabwe ...

cuisine and is popular across Southern Africa. The name is derived from the

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

words (literally, a farmer) and ('sausage'). According to South African government regulation, boerewors must contain at least 90 percent meat or fat from beef, pork, lamb or goat. The other 10% is made up of spices and other ingredients. Not more than 30% of the meat content may be fat. Boerewors may not contain

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the internal organ (anatomy), organs of a butchered animal. Offal may also refer to the by-products of Milling (grinding), milled grains, such as corn or wheat. Some cultures strong ...

other than the casings, or any mechanically separated meat (as recovered through a process where meat and bone are mechanically separated).

History

Boerewors is made from coarsely minced

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

, minced

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

, lamb and or goat. When locally available antelopes such as springbok or oryx are included, the sausage must be labeled with the species from which the meat originates. It also contains

spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

s (usually toasted coriander seed,

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus '' Myristica''; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg ('' M. fragrans'') is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fru ...

, cloves and allspice). Like many other forms of sausage, boerewors may contain a high proportion of fat, and is preserved with

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

and

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

, and packed in edible sausage casings, which are the only part of the sausage which may be offal. Traditional boerewors is usually formed into a continuous spiral. It is often served with pap (traditional South African porridge /

polenta Polenta (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. It may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried or Grilling, grilled. The variety of cereal used is ...

made from mielie-meal). Boerewors is also very common throughout

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

as well as with

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

South African communities worldwide.

Guinness World Record

On 3 May 2014, the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for braaiing the longest boerewors in the world was broken in South Africa by Aiden. The sausage measured in length. The boerewors was distributed freely to old-age homes and the Abraham Kriel Orphanage.

Preparation

Boerewors is most traditionally '' braaied'' (grilled over charcoal or wood), but is often cooked under an electric grill, or roasted in an oven, or fried in a pan. When cooking Boerewors, pricking the casing will lead to the sausage losing much of the moisture and fat during cooking. A local variant of the hot dog is the boerewors roll, or "boerie" roll, which is a piece of boerewors in a

hot dog A hot dog is a grilled, steamed, or boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term ''hot dog'' can also refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a frankfurter ( Frankfurter Würs ...

bun, often served with a tomato, chili and onion

relish A relish (a pickle-based condiment) is a cooking, cooked and pickling, pickled culinary dish made of chopped vegetables, fruits or herbs, typically used as a condiment to enhance a staple. Examples are chutneys and the North American relish, a p ...

or chakalaka. Some people prefer boerewors stew which can be prepared with mash potatoes or pap.

Variations

The many varieties of boerewors include specialties such as garlic wors, ''kameeldoring'' ( camel thorn), ''Karoowors'' (sausage from the Karoo region in South Africa), and ''spekwors'' (made with cubed pork fat). Other ingredients include cheese and chilli peppers. A similar sausage may also be made from the meat of different animal species, such as

kudu The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus '' Tragelaphus'': * Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa * Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa The two species look similar, th ...

, and springbok, but it may not be sold as boerewors. Instead, it is named after the predominant meat species, but only if it contains at least 75% meat from that specific species. When a sausage is made from different types of game, it may not be labelled boerewors but must be labelled as game sausage and with the names of the game species in it. Boerewors does not keep well unrefrigerated. A similar dried or cured sausage called droëwors is prepared instead in a process similar to the preparation of biltong. Droëwors has become popular in its own right as a snack. In response to the modern plant-based food movement, various vegan boerewors substitutes, mostly made by small and home-based industries, have begun to appear in retailers and food markets in South Africa. They may not be labeled as boerewors.

Competitions

The preparation and grilling of boerewors has become a fine art with many local, regional and national competitions taking place. The Shoprite supermarket chain hosts an annual competition to determine the best new preparations. The winner of this competition has the privilege of having their product/recipe manufactured and sold in all Checkers stores nationwide, under the Championship Boerewors brand.

References