The Potjiekos Challenge

Like we did, you are probably wondering what in the world is a Potjiekos Challenge. In a simple answer it is an evangelistic gathering for a meal using a little three-legged cast iron pot. Now for the more complicated explanation.



The Potjiekos Challenge is a gathering of churches around the Joburg area to the Sandton Bible Church’s property for a cooking contest. All over the premises, people find a spot to begin cooking their dish. Some even avail themselves of the corrugated metal for their cooking place. There are three ways to cook with the pot:
1) you can use charcoal
2) you can use wood (the traditional method)
3) you can use gas (the easier to control method)



Here Piet (who took third with an oxtail dish) is using the gas method. Whatever way you choose, everyone follows the same process. You begin by heating the cooking liquid and then you cook the meat. This is followed by whatever you are using for ingredients. In this process you rarely stir the dish.



As you can imagine there is a lot of down time during this 3-4 hour process so it is a great time to sit and visit with one another. It is at this point where the evangelism comes into play as you have the opportunity to talk with people in a casual atmosphere. Here Jacques (guy on the left), one of our CMI students, sits with some friends of his and enjoys the time together.



After the cooking comes the judging, and I was privileged this year to be one of the judges. We sampled 23 different dishes from oxtail to seafood to biltong (which is like beef jerky—delicious, taking second place). Not only did I immensely enjoy the sampling but I burned my tongue in the process as these dishes are piping hot.


After the judging the potjies are put on a table and people go through the line sampling the dishes. Susan and Skyler had a fun time waiting for their tasting opportunity.



After the meal, Chad (the guy I’m discipling) gave his testimony on how he came to Christ after being raised a Jehovah’s Witness. We had about 200 people there with probably 30 unsaved people.



If that time wasn't enjoyable enough, the Lord ended our time with another brilliant sunset. Listen if your tastebuds are watering and you have a hankering to taste these dishes come join us next year in mid-Feb for our annual Potjiekos Challenge.




If you want to learn more about this great cooking style you can visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potjiekos