The perfect boerewors roll is a thing of beauty. That irresistible savoury smell that somehow travels great distances; the piping hot wors, juices soaking into a white roll; sweet caramelised onions; and a squirt of tomato sauce… These were reasons enough to persuade me to watch my brother’s school sports fixtures as a kid, and the boerewors roll still holds a special place in my heart. But I was somewhat sceptical when I saw the signage going up in the empty store space at the bottom of Kloof Street in Cape Town for a restaurant called Gourmet Boerie.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big fan of the single-dish restaurant. Gourmet burgers (at the likes of Dukes, Hudson’s and Royale), and even gourmet hotdogs at Great Dane or Cape Town’s On a Roll give diners a variety of flavour options, whilst (usually) remaining affordable. But a gourmet boerie? It seemed vaguely sacrilegious.

The pedigree
“Two of the partners were eating a boerie roll and started to think ‘why can’t we do a gourmet boerie roll like they do with burgers?’” explains chef Kate Marek. The two gentlemen were Craig Bright and Justin Stead, who, incidentally, are also involved in West Coast rock festival Rocking the Daisies. Along with silent partner James Murray, they approached Silwood-trained Kate to make the idea a reality.

“We worked on the boerewors recipe for three months before we opened,” says Kate of the sausage itself. Their supplier, Skaapland Meat Emporium, now makes lamb, chicken, beef, ostrich and traditional wors for Kate, according to her very own recipe.

And the rolls? “They’re freshly baked every day,” says Kate, and they come – from Woodstock bakery Slice Above – in three varieties: white, wholegrain and 70% rye.

Coffee is from Tribe, and there’s Darling Slow, Jack Black lager and Devil’s Peak ale available on tap. So far, so good. But what do they taste like? And do the gourmet fillings work with something as intensely flavoured as boerewors?

I assemble a team of tasters – remarkably easy, as it turns out – and head off to find out.

The verdict
The trickiest thing to start off with is deciding which one to order. Pure Sophistication, with caramelised onion, goat’s cheese, roasted cherry tomatoes, basil pesto and rocket; The Mexicano with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, jalapeno chilli, coriander and lettuce; or The Gorgonzola with poached pear, caramelised pecan nuts, gorgonzola and rocket? And then there’s a choice of sausage: traditional, lamb, chicken, beef and ostrich, or crunchy veggie balls for the vegetarians. (Perhaps The Herbiwors with tzatziki, grated carrot, cucumber, tomato, sprouts, mint and spinach would be good with the lamb wors?)

We go for a variety and conclude it doesn’t really matter what you order. The toppings are all tasty, though some work better with certain sausages than others. It’s the wors itself, though, that’s the star: tender, juicy and tasty, it’s perfectly cooked for optimal soaking-into-roll-capacity. (We hear it’s also available to purchase in special braai packs to cook at home!)

Portions are large and, priced from R35 to R60, offer good value for money. Since we visited they’ve added a small portion of shoestring fries to all boerie orders, so it might be a good idea to fast for a couple of hours before you arrive.

Décor is hip and local – think tin can cutlery holders, brown beer bottle vases, and oversized printed lampshades, created by the Blind Society. The long, market-style tables make it a sociable experience. There are also some pleasing green touches: hemp uniforms, an emphasis on recycling, and a resident spekboom: the largest consumer of carbon of all trees. (Craig is also behind the Rocking the Daisies festival, for which he’s won a number of awards for green issues.)

All-in-all, it’s a buzzy, happy, proudly South African experience. Are the boerewors gods offended? We think not. 

By Katharine Jacobs

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