Bokkoms (or bokkems) is whole, salted and dried mullet (more specifically the Southern mullet, Chelon richardsonii, a type of fish commonly known in the Western Cape of South Africa as "harders"),[HAT – Verklarende Handwoordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal, 5de Uitgawe, FF Odendal & RH Gouws (redakteurs), Pearson Education South Africa, Maskew Miller Longman, 2005, p 112]
Origins of the word
The word
bokkom comes from the
Dutch language word
bokkem, which is a variant of the word
bokking (or
buckinc in
Middle Dutch).
[Etimologiewoordeboek van Afrikaans, Buro van die Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal, Editor: GJ van Wyk, 2003] The word
bokking is derived from the word
bok (the Dutch word for
buck or
goat) and refers to the fact that bokkoms reminds of goat, because bokkoms has the same shape as the horns of a goat, is just as hard as a goat's horns, and stinks just as much as the horn of a goat (goats have scent glands behind their horns that cause the smell).
The first official record of the use of the word in the
Afrikaans language of South Africa was in the
Patriotwoordeboek in 1902 in the form
bokkom.
History
As early as 1658, only six years after the first permanent settlement of Europeans at the Cape of Good Hope, four
Free Burghers were given permission to settle in
Saldanha Bay on the West Coast of Southern Africa. They were given the right from the Dutch East India Company to fish the waters of Saldanha Bay and send their catches to the company's trading post at the Cape of Good Hope, to be sold to other burghers as well as to passing ships in
Table Bay. They had sole rights to the lucrative fishing until 1711. One fifth of the catch had to be delivered in salted and dried form, which was the origins of
bokkoms in South Africa.
[ ][ ]
Preparation
The ingredients for bokkoms consist of small (juvenile) mullet, coarse salt and fresh water. The original West Coast way of preparing bokkoms starts with catching the juvenile mullet (called "harders" in Afrikaans). A large square tank built out of bricks or stone is filled with a strong
Pickling made of around 50 kg of coarse salt and fresh water, to which the fish is added. As soon as enough fish is added to reach the top of the tank, two or three spades full of dry coarse salt is spread on top of the fish. Thereafter more layers of fish and salt are put on top until all the fish is covered in salt. A thick layer of salt is added to the top. This is left for one day. On the second day, a press made with wood with weights on top is placed on the fish in the tank, to ensure that the guts of the fish are pressed flat for preservation. After the third day in the tank, the fish is taken out and is then strung up in bunches of 10 to 25 fish each on a rope, making use of a fish needle which is pushed through the eyes of the fish. The bunches are then dipped two to three times in fresh water before they are hung on
scaffolds to dry.
Drying
The most suitable circumstances for drying is a lot of wind and not too harsh sunlight. At nighttime, the fish is brought under a roof to prevent it from drawing in damp, and the next day it is taken outside again to hang in the sun. The whole drying process takes about 5 days. More recently, people have started to make use of drying "ovens". This consists of a closed room with an electrical fan, in which the fish is hung. The fan blows heated air into the room. This simplifies the drying process considerably, since the fish does not need to be moved indoors every evening. This also allows drying to take place during the wetter winter months.
The bokkom industry
Bokkoms is a delicacy typical to the
Western Cape of South Africa, and specifically the West Coast. Although it has a significant market in the Western Cape (where it is very popular and can be found in hotels, bars, bottle stores (in UK: off-licence), fish shops and beach kiosks on the beaches and holiday resorts), it has not been able to become a common product in the larger part of Southern African butcheries, fisheries and grocery stores like
biltong has. It is, however, available for ordering and shipping through the internet in vacuum packed format.
There is a vibrant bokkom industry in the "bokkom capital" of the world, Velddrif, on the West Coast of South Africa.
Velddrif is the ideal place for the bokkom industry. It has access to the mullet just off the coast, its weather conditions are ideal for drying the fish (dry summers and relatively low rainfall), and it has access to huge amounts of sea salt as spring tide pushes the sea over the extensive salt pans (the largest salt factory in South Africa where salt is extracted from sea water, the Cerebos salt factory, is also situated there).
Eating
Bokkoms is a unique, traditional delicacy of the West Coast of South Africa. It is best enjoyed with
white wine, or with bread,
Jam and black coffee, but can also be used in soups and spaghetti's, tapenades, ragout or just as a bite on its own.
[SA West Coast Route 27 website: http://www.route27sa.com/velddrif.html]
Environmental concerns
There has been concern raised over declining fish stocks on the West Coast of South Africa.
The Southern mullet is on the WWF Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) Orange list
as an unsustainable species.
This group includes species that have associated reasons for concern, either because the species is depleted as a result of
overfishing and cannot sustain current fishing pressure, or because the fishing or farming method poses harm to the environment and/or the biology of the species makes it vulnerable to high fishing pressure. These species may be legally sold by registered commercial fishers and retailers. However, an increased demand for these could compromise a sustainable supply.
In popular culture
The word
bokkoms has been taken up in the
Afrikaans language in at least three
:
-
To refer to a very Boredom, tiresome, dull person, i.e. "a dry old stick", in the phrase "'n droë bokkom" (literally translated "a dry bokkem").
-
To refer to someone who is incompetent, unable to perform his work adequately, not able to do the simplest of things, in the phrase "hy kan nie bokkom braai nie" (literally translated "he is not able to barbecue a bokkom").
[Elektroniese WAT (Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal), Buro van die Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal, Stellenbosch : Buro van die WAT 2008]
-
To refer to someone who is very thin and emaciated, in the phrase "hy is pure bokkom en biltong, maar min vir die jakkalse" (literally translated "he is pure bokkom and biltong, not a lot for the jackals").
It has also been used as the name for a specific family of plants with sharp found in South Africa. These plants have been given the name of bokkoms in Afrikaans because the seedpods look like bokkoms, and their unpleasant smell reminds of the strong fish smell of bokkoms.
Comparison to similar foodstuffs
Bokkoms are similar to dried herring, as well as bloaters,
kippers and buckling. Bloaters (whole fish), kippers (split) and buckling (head and guts removed) are all lightly salted and
Smoked fish for a short period of time. Although the method for making bokkoms probably originated from the European method of making dried
herring, bokkoms use a different species of fish (the mullet) and do not regularly make use of smoking in preparation of the delicacy.
See also
Similar foods
Foods that are similar to bokkoms include:
Related topics
-
List of dried foods
-
List of smoked foods
Notes and references
External links
