Unique to South Africa, Monkeygland sauce is a sweet and tangy BBQ-style sauce – and no, it contains no monkeys or glands.
Aged T-Bone With Monkeygland Sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 kg aged T-bone steak
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the monkeygland sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
200 g (approx. 1) onion, finely diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
60 ml tomato paste
125 ml water
400 g ripe tomatoes, chopped
250 ml tomato sauce (ketchup)
125 ml Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
190 ml fruit chutney
70 g brown sugar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Directions
Season the meat about 30 minutes before cooking, and bring it to room tempurature. Light a fire to prepare hot coals.
To make the monkeygland sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat, then deglaze the pan with the water.
Add the tomatoes, the sauces and chutney, sugar and vinegar, stir to combine and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 30–35 minutes.
To cook the steak, start by grilling at a high heat, in a grid over hot coals (or in a cast-iron pan), to brown and maximise the crust.
Raise the grid or remove some of the coals to reduce the heat, and continue grilling until cooked to your preference.
Internal temperatures
Rare: 52 °C
Medium-rare: 57 °C
Medium: 63 °C
Medium-well: 65 °C
Well done: 70 °C
Extract from Harvest Table (Quivertree Publications).
