Slow Baked Warthog With Roasted Veg

You’ll need:

1 papaya - blend - skin, seeds and fruit
500ml Bulgarian yoghurt
2 sprigs rosemary
Big pinch Maldon salt
Whole head of garlic
Good quality local olive oil
100g oxtail fat (fat = flavour)
Loin of Warthog
Small bag peeled cocktail onions
3-4 peeled red onions, sliced
5-6 beetroots, peeled and halved
5-6 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
250mls cream

Wack the loin of warthog into a large dish and pour over the mixture of yoghurt and blended whole papaya – leave it in the fridge overnight. Papayas are packed full of enzymes called papain, a protease which is useful for tenderising meat and that’s been used for thousands of years – this along with the cooking time is going to make the meat fall right off the bone.

Next day, rinse off the marinate under the tap and pat the meat dry. Chuck salt, whole garlic cloves, rosemary and olive oil into the pestle and mortar - crush into a runny paste and rub this all over the meat - be generous. Then throw lashings of olive oil and the ox-tail fat into a hot pan and seal the loin - fat side down. Add some of the cocktail onions and sliced red onions and sear until everything is nicely caramelised. Now put the loin into a deep baking tray, add the rest of the onions and the other veg. Pour over a bit more olive oil and put the tray into a pre-heated oven at 100-120º C and let it cook slooowly for four hours.

Once the meat is cooked, remove both the loin and the vegetables, leaving only the seared onions and the juice from the warthog in the baking tray. Put the tray on the hob and add the cream to make a simple but really lekker sauce. Carve the meat, plate the veggies and cover with rich creamy sauce and serve

Papayas or paw paws are best eaten when they’re just about fully yellow and slightly soft to the touch. They’re delicious just like that or cut up in fruit salad. Cooked they make good chutney and while still green can be boiled as a vegetable. Steam the young leaves and use as morogo or dry the seeds, crush and use instead of pepper like they do in India and Asia.

Warthogs are sometimes called the naked swine of the savannah because they’re pretty ugly – a bit like crocodile, hyenas, vulture and wildebeest. So if you haven’t already come across one maybe you should try their meat before you do, it tastes a whole lot better than they look.

FINISH OFF WITH ROASTED CAMEMBERT

Make bread dough using brown flour. Break off balls of dough roughly the size of your fist and roll out till they’re about .5cm thick – place Camembert in the centre of each and wack a dollop of cranberry and quince jelly on top of it. Now pull the sides of the dough up and over, to meet in the middle. Press together to close - creating cheesy pockets. Bake for 15 min at 180 C. Once they’re ready cut in two and serve immediately – each pocket is enough for two servings.