The Hirshon South African Monkey Gland Steak Sauce

Citizens! Perhaps the most unfortunately-named recipe on the planet (Spotted Dick being a close runner-up), this is actually a very delicious steak sauce that includes zero monkey and 100% awesome in its culinary DNA.

The tangy monkey gland sauce includes chopped onion, garlic and ginger, with a combination of chutney, soy sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and wine. It is typically served in South Africa with meats such as steak, hamburgers, pork ribs or chicken.

A probably apocryphal story on the origin of the name goes like this: In the 1950’s the Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg hired some classically trained French chefs for their dining room to cook for their rich and less-than-discerning clientele.

The customers apparently weren’t fond of the steak dishes served with the usual Continental sauces, so eventually in frustration the chefs threw together whatever commercial condiments they had on hand, and presented the resulting sweet & sour sauce to the customers.

They came up with the unusual name because at the time the sauce was developed, there was a lot of speculation in the popular medical press regarding the use of monkey glands as a means of keeping young.

Of course, it turned out to be a hit – the diners were happy, the chefs thought it all a great joke, and the rest became culinary history.

The sauce is quite tasty and well worth trying, . It includes most of the classic ingredients and adds some smoked paprika to give it a nice smoky edge that the original typically lacks.

You can leave the smoked paprika out if you want a classic sauce instead of my tweaked version. High-quality paprika is essential for this recipe, Citizens – buy it from Amazon here.

Battle on – The Generalisssimo