I often wondered about the different types of Grabouw boerewors…

You get the “real” Grabouw boerewors made at a small butchery in a town called Grabouw, in the Overberg district, and then the Grabouw boerewors that you can buy at any of the major supermarkets throughout South Africa.

So… on a recent road trip to scout for new locations to photograph, I thought it a good time to finally find out….

Grabouw is situated an hour’s drive from Cape Town, just off the N2 highway on route to Hermanus. I ordered my boerewors from the butchery on the main road and ask the lady behind the counter what made their boerewors special.

“Oh” she said: “ It’s the secret spices we use”

“Like Kentucky Fried Chicken” I said.

The furrow on her forehead indicated that she did not understand what I meant by that comment.

An experiment this important cannot be completed without certain accessories, or condiments rather. To assist I selected a couple of other South African favourites- Tassenberg Red Wine (or “Tassies” as it’s better know, an inexpensive red wine often favoured by students on a low budget, and thereby breaking one of my own rules- life is too short for cheap wine, bad coffee and single ply toilet paper), Willard Crinkle Cut Chips (yes, I did go for the boerewors flavour…go big or go home, baby!) and Chakalaka. (a spicy tomato and onion relish)

The verdict… well, both versions of the Grabouw boerewors were very good, but let me just say this: I did not find it a coincidence or out of the ordinary at all when Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) started on my playlist as I took the first bite of the original and in my opinion the real Grabouw boerewors.