National Dishes of the World

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Seswaa
Photo: Kalanga, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

main dish

Seswaa

Beef simmered for hours with nothing but salt, then pounded into shreds – Botswana’s national dish.

Eaten in: Botswana

Prep
15 min
Cooking
3 h 30 min
Total
3 h 45 min
Servings
6

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About the dish

Seswaa is a simple yet deeply ceremonial Botswana dish: bone-in beef, sometimes goat or mutton, simmered for many hours in a three-legged cast-iron pot with only salt and water. When the meat falls from the bone and the liquid has cooked away, it is pounded with a wooden spoon or stick until it breaks into tender, juicy shreds. It is usually cooked by men at weddings, funerals and national holidays. It is served with bogobe or pap and morogo greens, and its whole flavour depends on the quality of the meat and the patience of the cook.

Main ingredients

  • bone-in beef
  • salt
  • water
  • onion

Botswana: Regarded as Botswana’s national dish; a must at weddings, funerals and on Independence Day.

More: Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Seswaa

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/seswaa

Ingredients

6 servings

6 servings

Method

  1. Cut the meat into large pieces on the bone and put it in a heavy pot, ideally cast iron.

  2. Cover with water, add the salt and the halved onion and bring to the boil, skimming off any scum.

  3. Simmer, covered, over very low heat for 3–3½ hours until the meat falls off the bone, topping up with water if needed.

  4. Remove the lid and keep cooking until almost all the liquid has evaporated and the meat begins to fry gently in its own fat.

  5. Take out the bones and pound the meat in the pot with a wooden spoon or pestle until it breaks into fine shreds.

  6. Season with salt and pepper and serve with pap or bogobe and morogo.

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