I’ve teamed up with La Motte Bakery to create new takes on a series of iconic South African street food dishes using their beautiful, unique loaves. The Cape is known for this gigantic, iconic sandwich: the Gatsby – a smorgasbord of French loaf, different kinds of meat or sausage, slap chips, lettuce, tomato and sauce/s. I’ve made a mash-up between two iconic South African sandwiches: the Gatsby and the boerewors roll – an enormous boerie in the Gatsby style that can be cut into 4 large or 6 medium portions, made with La Motte’s extra long Crustique loaf (a slender loaf, ciabatta-style). The regular tomato smoor is replaced by a delicious pickled balsamic onions and some roasted baby tomatoes. For extra flavour, this boerie gatsby is spread with chutney and mayonnaise, and topped with peri-peri sauce. For this braai-style gatsby, I’ve omitted the chips, but you can add some if you prefer!
For the balsamic onions:
3 large or 4 medium onions, peeled, halved and sliced
1 cup white grape vinegar
1 cup water
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup light brown sugar
salt & pepper, to taste
For the roasted tomatoes:
400 g baby tomatoes (rosa or cherry)
30 ml olive oil
5 ml sugar
salt & pepper
For the gatsby:
500 g boerewors
1 La Motte Bakery Crustique loaf
mayonnaise, for spreading
fruit chutney, for spreading
lettuce leaves
finely sliced red onion
peri-peri or prego sauce, for serving
Prepare the onions: In a large pot, add the sliced onions, white vinegar and water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes uncovered, stirring now and then. Strain off the liquid, then add the balsamic vinegar and sugar, stirring. Bring to a simmer, then cook for about 30 minutes until it becomes syrupy, seasoning with salt & pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside (can be made ahead – will keep for at least 2 weeks in the refrigerator, covered).
Prepare the tomatoes: Preheat the oven to 160 C. In a medium iron skillet or roasting pan, add the tomatoes, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with sugar and season well with salt & pepper. Give the pan a light shake to cover all over, then roast uncovered for 1 hour. Set aside (can be made up to a day ahead).
Assemble the gatsby: Braai the wors until done but still juicy. Slice the crustique loaf open horizontally, then spread one half with mayonnaise and the other with chutney. To the bottom half, add lettuce leaves, balsamic onions, the warm wors (whole or cut into smaller portions) and top generously with the roasted tomatoes. Drizzle all over with the peri-peri sauce, then cut into portions and serve at once, with a glass of La Motte Millenium.
(This recipe was created in proud collaboration with La Motte Bakery. Be sure to visit the bakery on your next trip to Franschhoek, they serve the best coffee, breakfast and light lunches, and have a phenomenal selection of freshly baked bread and pastries.)
