Aged T-Bone With Monkeygland Sauce

Unique to South Africa, Monkeygland sauce is a sweet and tangy BBQ-style sauce – and no, it contains no monkeys or glands.

Credit: Extract from Harvest Table (Quivertree Publications)

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

1. Season the meat about 30 minutes before cooking, and bring it to room tempurature. Light a fire to prepare hot coals.

2. 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.

3. Add the tomatoes, the sauces and chutney, sugar and vinegar, stir to combine and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 30–35 minutes.

4. 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.

5. 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).