One of the things I thought I would do when I started this blog is product and restaurant reviews. If I tried anything different or went somewhere new, I thought I would come back and write down a few thoughts on the place. It just so happens that shortly after starting Foodian for Life, I turned into a complete homebody who almost never goes anywhere non-essential.
Not only that, but I’ve become very stingy and picky at the same time. I only want to go to the nice places, but when I think of the better ways I could spend that money I end up staying home instead. That means you can forget about seeing many reviews on this site. On the plus side, I’m more motivated to cook stuff for myself. Instead of spending 25 cedis on miso soup at Santoku, I can just make my own. But that’s a discussion for another day.
Today I just happened to find some pictures I took of a pack of sausages I bought at Shoprite so I guess I’ll say something about that. TBH I haven’t had any good sausages in Ghana. Full stop. I’ve had some that were close to okay, but that’s as good as it gets. No juiciness, no satisfying chewiness, just bland, salty, grainy, long things. And don’t get me started on the chicken frankfurters. But that doesn’t mean I have to give up.
So on a whim, I decided to buy this boerewors from Shoprite. South Africans are known as great meat-eaters, right? I heard that somewhere. And the price was right at only a little over 18 cedis for a long sausage. You could cook a whole meal with this if you were so inclined.
It’s actually almost 40 cedis a kilo, which triggers my “cheap” sensors, but I closed my eyes to that part. After all, if I were that cheap, I wouldn’t be shopping at Shoprite, now would I? It looks okay enough raw in the package. The blood is a bit off-putting and there’s a distinct lack of fat, which might be a good thing for some people. To cook it I pricked it a few times (even though I recently read that I shouldn’t prick sausages) and threw it in the pan for a while. Once the outside was cooked, I added a little water and covered the pan to let it steam and make sure the insides were done. Here’s the result:
Totally overcooked!!! You can tell by the dry, crumbly edges and the meat crumbs on the plate. The thing is, I deliberately overcooked it because no one in my house would have eaten it otherwise. They would say “Ebeko!” i.e. “It’s not cooked!” You have to cook the hell out of meat and fish, dry them out to all oblivion before you can get the seal of approval from my folks.
That said, Shoprite’s boerewors is still not a good sausage. A good sausage should be able to stand up to a bit of pricking and cooking and remain moist, tender and juicy. This one is dry and mealy, totally grainy in the mouth. All you taste is salty and grainy meat. I haven’t been to South Africa to eat a “genuine” boerewors before so maybe this is what they’re supposed to taste like? I’m not impressed and it’s not to my liking. On the other hand, the other people I fed this overcooked monstrosity to loved it and clamored for more, so I’ve bought it a few times from Shoprite since. I’ve also bought another brand there, Gold Medal Boerewors.
Looks and tastes exactly the same, same price too. Waste of good money, if you ask me, but whatever makes my loved ones happy.
Long story short: Shoprite boerewors is pricey and tasteless but popular with kids and old ladies. Avoid if you have any better options. To be totally fair to the sausages, next time I buy them I will cook them low and slow without pricking until they are *just* cooked and update this post if it makes any difference to the flavor. See ya!
