It is only a few months now before the Football World Cup throws South Africa to the top of the world's attention.  Now is surely the time to start experimenting with South African Sausages to really impress your friends and customers when the BBQ season and world cup parties get into gear.

The main South African sausage is the 'Boerewors'.  In the old days, settlers from Britain and the Netherlands brought with them their traditional sausage recipes and over the years these were adapted to the new meats available along with new spices and herbs. The result is the Boerewors we know today that is the most flavoursome of sausages with its blend of cracked and ground coriander with background cloves, nutmeg, pimento,thyme, garlic, and not forgetting black pepper.

We used to ship barrels and barrels of British Hog Casings to a wonderful family business in Bloemfontein who then sold on the Casings to local butchers for Boerewors. The Dutch 'Boer' preference was always for a Hog Casing but as there were very few Pigs in South Africa a huge trade developed exporting Hog Casings from Britain and Holland to supply the skins for Boerewors !  This came to an end for us about 12 years ago when the Chinese flooded the South African market with cheap Chinese Hog Casings. However i am sure there is still trade from Europe to supply the huge quantities needed for the Boerewors industry !

The South African BBQ is known as a Brie, and i will never forget the huge quantities of meat and sausages we were served at parties both in Bloemfontein and down in Cape Town where my wife and i spent a few days holiday. At one, there was enough meat for a Butchers shop window and i felt instantly full when i realised there were only six of us to eat it !

I have posted a recipe for Boerewors, or alternatively , we have a pre-made Boerewors seasoning for sale on the site and will be launching a range of South African BBQ marinades shortly, and in time for the World Cup !