Die Blou Nartjie in Calvinia used to be the town synagogue and has since been converted into a restaurant and guest lodge. Orange walls in the restaurant enclose collections of oddments and ornaments, including a giant candelabrum.
I ordered a lamb-shank pie from Luchelle McGregor, who runs the place with her sister, Kani. The pie arrived, rich and juicy, topped with an airy pillow of puff pastry. The pie’s great for a winter supper, when it’s really cold and miserable.
1kg lamb shanks
40g (1 packet) brown onion soup powder
1 cup cake flour
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp mild chutney
Puff pastry
Brown the onion, then seal the lamb shanks in a hot pan. Cook the onions and shanks in a litre of boiling water until the meat is tender. Remove the shanks and cut the meat into small pieces. Into the remaining liquid in the pot, add the salt, brown onion soup, cake flour, vinegar and chutney and mix well. Place the meat back in, mix and lawyer on the bottom of a baking dish. Top with puff pastry and bake at 180C for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
