Possibly the most hideous sauce ever concocted is that perennial favourite of the South African steakhouse – Monkey Gland Sauce. There are thousands of recipes but they usually include most of the following : fruit chutney, red wine, port, tomato ketchup, curry powder, Tabasco, Worcester sauce, pepper, mustard powder, garlic, onion, chilis, brown sugar and vinegar.
Wherever South Africans gather in large numbers, Sydney, London, Toronto, Perth you’ll find dubious purveyors of this disgusting preparation, bottled under the trade names of the favourite steakhouses which they either left behind or which are now following them into self imposed exile.
The origins of the dish are shrouded in mystery although one story I have heard seems perfectly plausible. It appears that some French chefs were lured to Johannesburg to cook at the old Carlton Hotel early in the 1950’s. The rich white clients of the fine dining room had plenty of money but lacked sophistication in continental cuisine and try as they might the chefs could not please their customers with the finer nuances of delicately flavoured haute cuisine sauces accompanying the well done steaks. In desperation and with a certain amount of venom, one day, they threw every commercial sauce preparation they could lay their hands on, into the pot and pronounced the resultant mish mash to be Monkey Gland Sauce. The sweet and sour elements in the sauce struck a chord with the predominantly Afrikaner clientele reflecting so many other dishes in their traditional repertoire – the chefs enjoyed the joke, the customers enjoyed the steak and a legend unfortunately was born.
The following recipe is intended to illustrate how vile the sauce is, not as an encouragement to add fuel to the fire – no monkeys were harmed in it’s compilation!
Chopped onion 100 g
Chopped garlic 20 g
Chopped chili 10 g
Butter 30 g
KWV Port 30 ml
Lea and Perrins Worc sauce 10 ml
Tabasco sauce 10 ml
Mrs Balls Fruit Chutney 60 g
All Gold Tomato ketchup 60 g
Sweat the onions in the melted butter.Add garlic and chili to soften.Add all
other ingredients. Mix well. Open your back door and toss as far as you can into
the sunset.
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20 comments:
What, there's no actual monkey gland in it? And I thought I was on to something really interesting!
Pim :-)
chezpim.typepad.com
Hmmm.. maybe a bit light on the port perhaps ? An extra zero or just drop the "m" if friends are coming round ?
A variation on this sauce is to add mayonnaise! I kid you not.
No Afrikaaners set foot in the Carlton Hotel of that period!!
Your righteous disgust is causing me no small amount of glee- I love monkeygland sauce and was in the process of looking for a recipe so that I may introduce my friends here in England to it. I thank you for the wonderful recipe- it will be put to good use. ;-D
Ps - I heard a similar story of its origin, however; it was a french food festival and many decades later than your story.
Pps;
Yes, I am thoroughly an Afrikaner, should you wonder.
I had the great fortune of visiting South Africa years ago and had the pleasure of having Monkey Gland Sauce with Springbok. There is certainly nothing hideous about it but rather it is a marvelous concoction.
I also thoroughly enjoy the reaction of those who have never heard of the stuff when I mention it.
You're definately not a true South African if you think Monkey Gland sauce is hideous! Go back to your own country!
What is "port" that is featured in this sauce? When comparing ingredients of Monkey Gland say to A1 sauce the Monkey Gland actually sounds more appealing!
Ok nevermind, I have come to find out that port is a type of wine.
I have just gotten back from my business trip to South Africa and I must say that I very much enjoyed monkey gland on steak and chicken! I personally think the taste is more suited towards chicken but quite the contrary for most south africans.
Money gland sauce can be like a fine wine, an aquired taste. Unlike the nepotism of the author, no-one will aquire a taste for such blatent antisocial comments.
Stick to what you know FOOD!! (or maybe what you don't know)
You should stick to the boring sauces you over-opinionated freak.
I rashly promised to make some monkey gland sauce so went sauce hunting and found your blog. I have never eaten it but always presumed it was meant to suggest the same benefits as the famous monkey gland treatment to restore youth and vigour indulged in by many of the rich and famous.
Just a thought.
I'm an American married to a South African and I've come to love Filet Mignon with monkey gland sauce and make a pretty "mean" version of it myself. My kids love it too.
Your poor soul, ive never meet anyone who didnt like monkey gland sauce, in fact its one of the top sellers on my SA-eshop and in my South African shop in Ringwood. You dont know what your missing!
The story behind “Monkey Gland Sauce.”
The Rand Easter Show used to be held at Milner Park, prior to the take over of the site by the University of the Witwatersrand.
The Show in 1936 was particularly big and more international than usual.
To provide fare at the fair for foreigners, the organisers brought over a French Chef. In those days South African palates were even less sophisticated than today. The Chef was horrified when almost all his patrons ordered steak, steak, and more steak, well done, and then slathered it in tomato sauce.
At the end of the Show he was asked to create a signature dish to commemorate his tenure at the Rand Easter Show.
He replied that he would make something that those “Monkies” could appreciate.
He concocted a steak drowned in spicy sauces, which he named “Monkey Gland Steak.”
To this day we “Monkies” love it.
When I order steak in the United States, I pour on Ketchup, HP, A1, Worchester, and any other handy sauce, as well as so-called mustard.
Jack Spratt, who eats anything, (palatable,) including fat.
P. S. A copy of the reply I posted on the Bowen Site. It is based on an article I read in the Star (I think) years ago.
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A sauce used in The Country House hotel in Northern Ireland under head chef Clinton Keys who never gave away its ingredients i hope this "recipe" can bring back a few culinary memories.
well sounds like you would prefer tomatoe sauce on your steak.there's nothing better than a home made monky gland made on the bbq while the steaks are sizzling all the time watched by the cook sipping a cold beer.the sauce should simmer in thick bottom pan or skillet[cast iron] and steaks one side only over a hot charcoal fire.do not salt your steaks before cooking as this will make the meat pull and go tuff,garlick and pepper rubbed onto meat ok.add your salt at the table enjoy.
p.s.the above recipe is basic but will work.
from a south african[durban]
Monkey Gland Sauce. I first heard of this over 38 years ago when I used to go to a restaurant with my parents, although it had a French name and the Chef said it translated to M G S. The Chef was French and he gave us the recipe, which I have been cooking ever since and this was his versi
1 Large Chopped Onion
1 Small Tub of Mushroons
1 Small Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1 Small Tub of single crean
Garlic to taste
1 small goblet of sweet sherry
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cornflour to thicken.
Fry onions and mushrooms in pan and add garlic.
Add tomatoes and sherry
Add crean
Thicken with cornflour and a little milk and add salt and pepper as desired.
Then pour over steak.
Now my teenage boys love this also.
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