bredie, noun

/ˈbriːdi/, /ˈbrɪədɪ/
Forms:
brady, brédéShow more Also brady, brédé, brede, bredee, bredi, breede, breedi, breidie.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African Dutch, PortugueseShow more Afrikaans, earlier South African Dutch, perhaps from Portuguese bredo any of several species of the widely distributed plant Amaranthus which is sometimes cooked as a vegetable; see quotations 1815 to 1870.
a. A stew or ragout of meat (usually mutton) with vegetables. Also attributive, and occasionally figurative.
1815 A. Plumptre tr. of H. Lichtenstein’s Trav. in Sn Afr. (1930) II. 82Breedi signifies in the Madagascar tongue Spinage; the word is brought hither by the slaves, and at present, throughout the whole colony, every sort of vegetable which, like cabbage, spinage or sorrel, is cut to pieces and dressed with Cayenne pepper is included under the general term Breedi.
1831 S. Afr. Almanac & Dir. 210Cape turnip..seldom produces more than leaves for bredi, when sown during the summer months.
1870 ‘A Lady’ in Cape Monthly Mag. I. Oct. 224All sorts of vegetable ‘breedies,’ are importations from India.
1890 A.G. Hewitt Cape Cookery 30Almost any vegetable may be made into Brédé. Pumpkin, water eeintjes, vet kousies, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, &c.
1890 A.G. Hewitt Cape Cookery 31All brédés must be served with boiled rice.
1891 H.J. Duckitt Hilda’s ‘Where Is It?’ p.ixFirst stew the meat and Onions together,..then add Cauliflower, Green Beans, Potatoes, or any vegetable you like. Meat and vegetables done in this way are called by the Malay cook a ‘Bredee’.
1891 H.J. Duckitt Hilda’s ‘Where Is It?’ 14Bredees are not to be made in deep saucepans, but in flat pots.
1910 D. Fairbridge That Which Hath Been (1913) 41‘He asked my permission to marry..my cook. I couldn’t refuse, though,’ with a sigh, ‘I have never had such bredees and sasaties since.’
1927 C.G. Botha Social Life in Cape Col. 56In many homes to-day the old Cape cooking prevails...What may be considered typical South African foods..originated in the East, such as various stews known as ‘bredie,’ ‘soesaties’,..and ‘bobotie.’
1933 W.H.S. Bell Bygone Days 40For dinner we had as a rule some kind of stew or ‘brady’ and probably pumpkin fritters or some other easily made pudding.
1944 I.D. Du Plessis Cape Malays 27About a dozen words seem to have been a direct importation from the East. Most of these refer to Malay dishes such as bredie, sosatie and bobotie, which are still popular at the Cape.
1950 H. Gerber Cape Cookery 87Allow the bredie to simmer until the meat is almost tender. Add the chopped suring (sorrel) leaves and the coarsely diced potatoes and continue to simmer the bredie until the potatoes are soft.
1969 D. Child Yesterday’s Children 33The typical Dutch fare was augmented by more exotic dishes introduced by Malay cooks from the East. Some of these, such as..bredie (meat stew with green beans or tomatoes)..have become traditional South African dishes.
1973 H. Beck in Farmer’s Weekly 25 Apr. 101The Cape bredie is a stew in which the vegetable has been reduced to a fairly thick consistency...Tomato is the most popular among these bredies.
1980 Fair Lady 7 May 195So what’s new about stew? asks Erica Platter, risking her reputation to reveal the truth about bredie: it’s fatty lamb dressed as holy cow.
1981 Pretoria News 26 Nov. (Town Suppl.) 2Pieter-Dirk Uys..attempts far too much in this dissertation on kugels, South African society, health hydros, gigolos and a bredie of other subjects.
1990 You 24 May 52A decent bredie, whether cabbage, green bean, waterblommetjie, or tomato, remains a firm favourite.
1994 Weekend Post 16 July (Leisure)Bredie, a traditional Cape dish, is made from meat and vegetables, simmered slowly together for full flavour. Mutton or lamb are used for bredie and the cuts are rib, breast, neck or shank. Add only a small amount of water. A bredie is often served in the pot in which it was cooked.
b. With distinguishing epithet signifying a particular type of bredie according to the ingredients used:
bean bredie or boontjes bredie /ˈbʊɪŋkis-/ [Afrikaans, boon bean + diminutive suffix -ie], a bredie made using either dried- or green beans;
cabbage bredie;
cauliflower bredie;
green bean bredie, a bredie made using green beans; also called bean bredie;
hotnotskoolbredie, see Hotnot sense 4;
pumpkin bredie;
tamatiebredie /təˈmɑːti-/ [Afrikaans, tamatie tomato], or partially translated tomato bredie;
waterblommetjie bredie, see waterblommetjie sense b;
wateruintjie bredie, see wateruintjie sense b;
wortelbredie /ˈvɔː(r)təl-/ [Afrikaans, wortel carrot], see quotation 1970. See also quotation 1890 (sense a above).
1889 ‘A Housewife of the Colony’ Col. Hsehold Guide 27Bean Brede. Prepare the meat as in the cabbage brede, but instead of cabbage use some beans (French), cut into short pieces...For tomato brede see tomato stew, which is prepared in the same way.
1979 Sunday Times 31 Oct. (Mag. Sect.) 1We eat. Bean bredie with rice, mutton crisply potroasted with potatoes, beetroot salad
1891 H.J. Duckitt Hilda’s ‘Where Is It?’ 14‘Boontjes Bredie.’ (Dry Bean Stew. Cape or Malay.)
1889 ‘A Housewife of the Colony’ Col. Hsehold Guide 27Cabbage Brede. This is a favourite colonial dish, but it is rich and not easily digested.
1892 ‘Marian’ in Cape Illust. Mag. Dec. 112After the two had partaken of hot coffee, and cabbage brady, cooked in the choicest style, they felt considerably better.
1955 V.M. Fitzroy Dark Bright Land 97Mevrouw Baard, the landlady, was a notable cook, and her cabbage bredie, saffroned rice with raisins in it, and curried bobotie were tasty and satisfying, and the white wine refreshing.
1994 Weekend Post 16 July (Leisure)Cabbage bredie. Use recipe above (sc. for Cauliflower bredie), but use one medium cabbage, finely shredded,..and omit water, as cabbage draws a lot of water.
1994 Weekend Post 16 July (Leisure)Cauliflower bredie. 2 onions..1kg mutton thick rib..5ml crushed dried chillis..1 large cauliflower, broken into florets..3 potatoes.
1951 S. van H. Tulleken Prac. Cookery Bk 171Green Bean Bredee. This is a meat dish and a favourite dish in South Africa.
1970 Evening Post 17 Oct. (Mag. Sect.) 3Green bean bredie. 2 lb breast or ribs mutton 3 cups sliced green beans 4 sliced potatoes (½ inch thick slices) 1 large sliced onion 2 oz butter or dripping 6 whole cloves.
1994 Weekend Post 16 July (Leisure)Green bean bredie. 750g neck of mutton..2 onions..750g to 1 kg sliced green beans..potatoes.
1994 Weekend Post 16 July (Leisure)Pumpkin bredie. 1kg dry pumpkin..700g fat mutton..onions..fresh ginger..chilli.
1947 L.G. Green Tavern of Seas 59She made every variety of bredie, the stews that the Malays brought to the Cape; especially the tamatie bredie.
1979 Capetonian May 7Malay curry, tamatie bredie, bobotie — you name it, we’ve got it and it all originated in the Cape.
1986 B. Streek in Cape Times 16 May 11I would have thought that by now the names waterblommetjiebredie and tamatiebredie were as South African as Table Mountain..and that these..should be called that in any language.
1913 D.S.G. Bk of Recipes 18Tomato Brady...Part of the forequarter of mutton...Place the meat in a saucepan with a little butter...Stir in some onions..and brown it.
1941 Fouché & Currey Hsecraft for Primary Schools 11Tomato Bredie. ½ lb. ribs of mutton, ½ oz. fat, 1 small onion, 1 lb. tomatoes, seasoning...All bredies are cooked in this way. Any vegetables may be used.
1994 Weekend Post 16 July (Leisure)Tomato bredie. 1,5kg breast of lamb or mutton..2 onions..1kg ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped..2 medium potatoes.
1970 Heard & Faull Cookery in Sn Afr. 489Wortelbredie is the traditional funeral dish.
1971 Sunday Times 31 July (Mag. Sect.) 7A decidedly South African flavour, from boerewors, wortelbredie, to snoek kedgeree.
1988 F. Williams Cape Malay Cookbk 95The mourners are usually provided with something to eat. In the past, this would have been wortel and ertjie bredie or sugar bean bredie.
A stew or ragout of meat (usually mutton) with vegetables. Also attributive, and occasionally figurative.
Derivatives:
Hence bredie  transitive verb  nonce, to make (something) into a bredie.
1994 G. Willoughby in Weekly Mail & Guardian 8 July 38The accent here is on the fresh-boiled, bredied or blommetjied. The dishes have names like ‘snoek paté Houtbaai’ and ‘ostrich Oud[t]shoorn’.
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