Tomato Bredie
Overview
Tomato bredie, called tamatiebredie in Afrikaans, is the best known of the South African bredies and the one most people mean when they use the word without qualification. It is lamb or mutton stewed slowly with a large quantity of tomato until the tomato collapses entirely into a thick, rich, deep red gravy. Bredie is an old Cape word for a dish of meat and vegetables stewed together until the flavours merge, and the form is defined by its restraint with liquid. Very little stock goes in. The gravy comes from the tomatoes and from meat carrying a fair amount of bone and fat, dredged in flour and browned hard before anything else joins it. That flour and that browning are what produce the body. Bredies are named for the vegetable rather than the meat, which makes tomato bredie one of a family that includes waterblommetjiebredie made with Cape wetland flowers, green bean bredie and cabbage bredie. Like most of them it is better the day after it is made, and South African cooks routinely make it ahead for exactly that reason. If you are refrigerating it overnight, the potatoes are best left out and added when reheating.
AFN Heritage Note
The bredie is documented as a Cape stew form in which meat and vegetables are cooked together with minimal added liquid, and is conventionally named for its vegetable rather than its meat. Tomato bredie is known in Afrikaans as tamatiebredie and is conventionally made with mutton.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large heavy bottomed saucepan.
- 2
Dredge the meat in the flour and cook in the hot oil until well browned.
- 3
Stir in the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
- 4
Mix in the tomatoes.
- 5
Season with the salt, black pepper, white peppercorns, bay leaves, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and bouillon cube.
- 6
Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/4 hours, stirring occasionally so nothing sticks to the base.
- 7
Stir in the potatoes and cook for a further 45 minutes, until the potatoes are done and the meat is tender.
Africook’s Notes
- Dredge the meat in flour and brown it hard. This is the step that produces the thick gravy, and skipping it gives a watery bredie, which is the most common complaint about a first attempt.
- Cook it in a low oven rather than on the hob if you can. It helps the tomatoes break down completely and concentrates the gravy in a way stovetop cooking does not.
- Use meat with bone and a reasonable amount of fat. Breast chops are the traditional cut and lean meat will give a thin result.
- Make it a day or two ahead. The flavour genuinely improves, and refrigerating also lets you lift the set fat off the surface.
- Leave the potatoes out if you are refrigerating it, and add them when reheating with about 40 minutes to cook.
Reviews
6 reviews
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90 minutes cook time was needed because mutton breast can be tough sha, but the sugar was a bit much. put the 1 tablespoon brown sugar and it turned out too sweet for my palate, even with the white vinegar and bay leaves balancing it. next time ill use half a spoon.
You're spot on about the sugar, Ifeoma. 1 tablespoon (15ml) of Selati brown sugar makes it far too sweet, even with the Safari vinegar. I always cut it down to 7.5ml for my bredie. 90 minutes on low heat is definitely needed for mutton breast though, makes the meat so lekker and tender.
couldnt find proper lamb breast at the market in the bronx so I used mutton shoulder chops instead chale. took a full two hours simmering on low to get tender instead of 90 mins, but that flour dredging step made the sauce cling to the meat so nicely.
Mutton shoulder is actually the best choice! Lamb breast over here in London is usually just pure fat anyway. Two hours on the stove is no be small thing, but once that flour coating thickens the gravy around the meat, everything comes together nicely o.
dredging the lamb in flour before browning gave it such a thick gravy. got halal mutton breast from my local halal butcher here in minneapolis. adding that tablespoon of brown sugar with the vinegar cut the sharp acidity of the fresh tomatoes completely. e sweet no be small thing o.
herh the whole white peppercorns give this such a nice warmth underneath all that tomato paa. I was doubtful about putting dash of worcestershire sauce in lamb bredie but it gave the gravy serious deep flavour. ate mine with soft boiled rice.