Namibia is popular as a business and shopping destination for our Angolan neighbours and many Angolans are based in Namibia, so naturally a bit of African-Portuguese inspiration rubs off on our culture and our cooking. To get your taste of Portugal in Namibia, try out this recipe for pork with thyme and olives taken from “My Hungry Heart: Notes from a Namibian kitchen” by Antoinette de Chavonnes Vrug (and published in Travel News Namibia, which you can download online through our app here)

Pork with Thyme & Olives: My Hungry Heart

Photo by Hentie Burger taken from My Hungry Heart

1.5kg deboned pork neck (or leg of pork)

1 large onion, chopped

Sprigs of thume (or dry)

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

8-10 cloves garlic, whole

350g ripe tomatoes (or 1 tin)

125g small pitted black olives

500ml light stock

50g butter

1 bay leaf

15ml oil

Parsley

Seasoning salt

60ml white wine

Black Pepper

125g pitted green olives

Preheat oven to 190*C. Wipe the pork with a clean cloth. Make several deep incisions into the meat. Stuff each incision with a sprig of thyme, a clove of garlic and a black olive.

Heat the butter and half of the oil in a frying pan and brown meat all over. Set frying pan aside and place meat in a roasting pan. Season with salt and black pepper and roast for about two hours, basting occasionally, until the juices run clear when the meat pierced with a skewer.

Meanwhile, add remaining olive oil to frying pan and fry the onion slowly until transparent. Add the garlic, tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil. Add bay leaf, thyme and parsley. Season to taste. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until thick.

Take the meat from the roasting tin. Cut into thick slices. Pour the juices from the tin into a saucepan and skim off the fat. Add the wine and green olives and stir over a low heat. Now add to the tomato sauce in the pan.

Return the sliced meat to the roasting pan. Adjust seasoning. Pout the sauce over the meat and return to the oven for about 2- minutes. Serve with roast potatoes.

Of course, nothing tastes better than eating the real thing on Namibian soil... so start planning your Namibian taste adventure with our handy Travel Planning Guides!

My Hungry Heart: Notes from a Namibian kitchen Antoinette de Chavonnes Vrug Photos by Hentie Burger Text by Christine Hugo Buy it here

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