Jarateng Pub & Grill pushes for love of pork
Katlego Isaacs | Monday May 30, 2022 08:25
While P200 for an unlimited pork braai may sound like a recipe for major financial losses, founder and owner of Jarateng, Kaelo Sabone, expressed that Pigs on Fire was never about making money but rather about introducing Batswana to the often neglected decadence of pork meat. In spite of Sabone’s initial doubts over the willingness of people to come and eat mountains of nothing but pork, the restaurant packed itself with well over its 250 person capacity with droves of braai lovers and curious minds alike. “I was scared. I was afraid out of my brain that when we were planning this event that things might not pan out. Not panning out in the sense that people won’t pull through” Sabone said at the end of the event. “I was honestly overwhelmed to see what I saw. People came through, people came in large numbers, larger than I thought. I was expecting a little over 20 people to come by and we beat that number drastically,” he said “My tables have a capacity of 250 people, and they have been full all day with people coming in and out,” he jubilated.
Sabone added that the event was purely aimed at showing people that pork is not the dirty meat it is often depicted as and can even be a majorly beneficial agribusiness opportunity for local farmers. “This event was not a profit making event, this was about sensitising Batswana about pork,” he said.
“We wanted to look at the pork industry and see what we could do to stimulate its growth. We were looking to make a pork trend such that local farmers see its value and produce more and hopefully drop the price so that more people can enjoy it,” he said. “We wanted to teach people that the only way to cook pork isn’t just on a braai, we cook pork in a smoker, in a braai, in a pot, we even cook pork in a drum here.
We then figured we would come together and have an event that shows people all beautiful things you can do with pork,” he added. Demonstrating this, the event featured an unending stream of heavily sauced and marinated pulled pork burgers, spit-roasted suckling pigs, pork chops, and many more to the delight of every guest in attendance. After thoroughly conducting his research, professional chef and Pigs on Fire Pit Master, Kaboyaone Magapa, popularly known as Chef Gibson, discovered that the historical lack of pig rearing in Tswana culture reinforced by religious preconceived notions have tarnished the reputation of pigs in Botswana. Magapa said events such as Pigs on Fire are essential for people to learn the underappreciated decadence of pork meat and as such the same kind of extravagant pork buffet will be offered at the Gantsi Meat Festival on July 25. “We want to bring pork to Batswana and help them understand that this is a delicious and extremely valuable meat.
We want to see more farmers rearing pigs for consumption and generating a bit of diversity in the meat we normally eat,” Magapa said. In recognition of the success of Pigs on Fire, Magapa and the Pigs on Fire team will be travelling internationally spreading the good word for pork meat. “We are not only bringing this to Batswana, we noticed South Africa has the same perception of pork as in Botswana and we’ll be showing off our pork braai skills in South Africa next month,” he said. Magapa and Sabone both informed that there is very likely going to be a similar event in Jarateng Pub and Grill in the near future.