Seswaa: Beef, Salt, Water, and Time
Cook the beef until it gives way under a wooden spoon, pound it into coarse threads rather than a paste, and return just enough reduced broth that the strands are moist but not sitting in liquid. Nothing else goes into the pot.
In Botswana, seswaa is a meat dish that appears on special occasions. The Hospitality & Tourism Association of Botswana describes it as a popular traditional dish served at most special occasions, prepared with salt and water in a three-legged iron pot. A documentary review of beef as cultural heritage in Botswana places it at ceremonies, weddings, funerals and community gatherings, where the beef is boiled until soft, pounded with a wooden stick, and served hot beside maize or sorghum porridge.
What stands out is how little goes in. There is no onion, no spice blend, no oil. The flavor comes from the beef itself, the salt, the broth it cooks in, and the patience to wait until the meat falls apart. The skill is in the texture: the review describes the goal as thread-like meat that is neither too dry nor too wet, and notes that reaching it, along with choosing the right cut, takes experience.
This article follows one contemporary recipe with measured amounts, published by Sixto Carreon, which uses only beef chuck or brisket, fine salt and water. Traditional descriptions name the same three ingredients but give no quantities, so the numbers below belong to that one modern recipe rather than to a single fixed tradition.
Sekai Gohan has not yet kitchen-tested this recipe. In particular, whether 1.5 L of water surrounds 1.5 kg of beef depends on your pot and the shape of the meat. Read "Before You Simmer" first, and judge doneness by tenderness and a fully cooked center, not by the clock alone.
The dish is written Seswaa, and it is also known as chotlho. The meaning or origin of the name could not be confirmed, so it is not explained here.
What Seswaa Is: A Dish for the Big Pot and the Shared Table
Both the tourism association and Denbow and Thebe's Culture and Customs of Botswana treat seswaa and chotlho as names for the same dish. The book describes beef, sometimes chicken, boiled in water with considerable salt until soft, then beaten with a wooden spoon until shredded. It also notes that the dish is popular at weddings, funerals and ceremonies, occasions where beef is eaten in quantity.
The documentary review names the pounding stick: tswaiso, or loswao in other dialects. It also describes seswaa as a dish cooked and served communally, with skill involved at each stage, from picking the cut of beef to judging when the strands are right. Those descriptions come from particular sources and communities; how the work is divided and how the dish is made can differ across Botswana, and the tourism association itself notes that the country's cuisine varies by region.
The review also records one explanation for why the beef is pounded, attributed to a Bakwena regent: that pounding made tough meat from older cattle easier to share out and easier to chew for both the young and the elderly. This is an attributed oral account, not settled history, and it is offered here only as that.
On timing, the review mentions one account of the beef being boiled for about four hours. The recipe below uses a covered, gentle simmer of 2.5–3 hours in a modern pot instead. Either way, the meat is ready when it is tender, not when a timer goes off.
Ingredients for 6 Servings: Beef, Salt and Water
Choosing the Beef and Salt
Beef. Chuck and brisket are both cuts for slow cooking. If you are buying from a butcher, ask for a boneless piece of chuck or brisket and look at how much fat it carries. Different cuts break down and release fat differently, so a different cut may not give quite the same result.
Salt. Salts vary in grain size and saltiness. With a salt other than fine salt, add it with care and finish seasoning by taste.
What not to add. Onion, black pepper, bay leaf, chili, oil and flour are not part of this plain version. Some cooks do add some of these; see "Variations" below.
Equipment
- A deep, heavy pot with a lid, large enough to hold the beef and 1.5 L of water
- Tongs, for lifting the meat out
- A sturdy board or shallow bowl for pounding
- A strong wooden spoon or a meat pounder
- A spoon for returning the broth
- Clean, shallow containers for any leftovers
A deep pot and a strong wooden spoon are practical tools for pounding the beef at home.
Before You Simmer: Pot, Water and Cut
The recipe uses 1.5 L of water for 1.5 kg of beef. Whether that surrounds the meat depends on your pot and on the size and shape of the pieces.
Before you start, place the beef in the pot and picture where 1.5 L of water will come to. A deeper, narrower pot helps the water reach around and between the pieces. If the water falls well short of the meat, choose a different pot rather than changing the amounts.
If you do end up adding water during cooking, remember that it dilutes the salt. Taste at the end and adjust. Keep track of how much you added so you can adjust the next time you make it.
Cooking time is a guide only. Pot size, the cut and the size of the pieces all change how long the beef takes. Use tenderness as your signal: the meat is ready when it separates into fibers when pressed with a fork or wooden spoon, and the center is fully cooked.
Serving with Bogobe: Back to the Botswana Table
The tourism association notes that sorghum and maize are staple crops in Botswana and describes bogobe as porridge eaten with a relish. The documentary review describes seswaa served hot with maize or sorghum porridge, and the contemporary recipe followed here serves it hot next to bogobe. The firm porridge carries the salt and broth of the meat.
For another Botswana porridge, see bogobe jwa lerotse. Making the porridge is not part of this recipe. The same recipe also suggests leafy greens alongside, which you can add if you like. They are optional, not part of the dish itself. For more about the food of Botswana, see our Botswana page.
Fixing Mistakes: Tough, Dry, Watery or Salty
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The beef won't come apart | Not cooked long enough, or the simmer was too low or too uneven | Don't stop at the clock. Return it to a gentle simmer and check again for tenderness. If the pot is getting dry, check the water level and the heat |
| The pot is drying out during simmering | Heat too high, or a wide pot loses water fast | Lower the heat. If you add water, it dilutes the salt, so taste at the end |
| The strands are dry | Not enough broth returned, or the meat cooled before pounding | Spoon in more of the reduced broth, a little at a time |
| The meat is sitting in liquid | Too much broth returned at once | Lift the meat out with a slotted spoon, or stop adding broth. Next time, add it gradually |
| It has turned to paste | Pounded too long or too finely | Next time, stop as soon as coarse fibers show |
| Too salty | The pot or pieces were smaller, so the salt was more concentrated | Return less of the reduced broth. The salt amount is meant for 1.5kg of beef and 1.5L of water; don't apply it unchanged to a smaller batch |
These amounts are for 6 servings. No scaled-down version is given here. If you make a smaller amount, add salt with care and adjust by tasting rather than dividing the numbers.
Leftovers and Food Safety
Don't leave cooked seswaa at room temperature for long. Divide leftovers into clean, shallow containers so they cool quickly, then refrigerate them (a general guide is 10°C or below). Reheat only the portion you will eat, and heat it thoroughly (a general guide is 75°C at the center). No specific storage period is given here.
The ingredients are beef, salt and water. If anyone at the table has a beef allergy, this dish is not suitable for them. For packaged meat and salt, check the labels for any information about allergens or shared facilities.
Variations
The documentary review records changes that some cooks make to the plain beef, salt and water version. Each one changes the flavor, and none is part of the baseline above.
- Black pepper: brings aroma to the front.
- Onion: adds sweetness and savory depth.
- Bay leaf: changes the aroma of the broth.
- Chili: adds heat. Don't mistake this for the traditional standard.
- Pressure cooker: the review notes that some cooks use one. It is a separate method, and no pressure, model or timing is given here, so follow your appliance's instructions for meat and check that the beef is fully cooked and tender.
The contemporary recipe used here is one modern example, not the only correct version. The traditional descriptions agree on the core of beef, water, salt and pounding, but they leave room for how each cook handles the details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make seswaa with meat other than beef?
Culture and Customs of Botswana mentions that chicken is sometimes used. This recipe uses beef only, and its amounts and timing are for beef. With chicken, the cooking time and texture would be different, and no separate method is given here.
Can I add onion or pepper?
You can, and the documentary review records onion, black pepper, bay leaf and chili as changes some cooks make. Keep in mind that the result moves away from the plain dish of beef, salt and water described here. If you want to taste seswaa as it is usually described, make it plain first.
Do I need a special wooden stick?
No. The tswaiso stick and the three-legged iron pot appear in traditional descriptions, and the Culture and Customs book describes beating the meat with a wooden spoon. At home, a strong wooden spoon or meat pounder works well for breaking the meat into coarse strands. It is a practical tool, not a substitute that claims to be the same as the traditional one.
Do I have to serve it with bogobe?
Hot maize or sorghum porridge is the accompaniment described in the sources, and it is how the contemporary recipe serves it. It is the natural pairing, but the seswaa recipe itself does not depend on it.
The meat won't shred, or there is too much broth. What should I do?
If the meat won't shred, it needs more time at a gentle simmer; don't stop just because 3 hours have passed. If there is too much broth, reduce it further before returning it, and add it to the meat a little at a time. You do not have to use all of it.
How long does the whole recipe take?
The simmer is 2.5–3 hours, as a guide. Add time for trimming the beef, reducing the broth and pounding. The total depends on your pot, the cut and the size of the pieces, so allow for the meat taking longer.
Sources
- Hospitality & Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB), "Cuisine." Seswaa/chotlho as a popular traditional meat dish served on most special occasions; its traditional preparation with salt and water in a three-legged iron pot; regional variation in Botswana cuisine, sorghum and maize as staples, and bogobe as porridge. A tourism overview, not a recipe. https://hatab.bw/cuisine/
- "Beef as intangible cultural heritage in Botswana: a documentary review," Journal of Ethnic Foods (Springer Nature). Seswaa as beef, water and salt, boiled until soft and pounded with a wooden stick (tswaiso or loswao); cooked for ceremonies and community events and served hot with maize or sorghum porridge; the skill of reaching a thread-like texture that is neither too dry nor too wet; recorded modifications (onion, black pepper, bay leaf, chili, pressure cooking); the oral account attributed to a Bakwena regent; one cited account of about four hours of boiling. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42779-023-00199-y
- Sixto Carreon, "Botswana Seswaa — Slow-Cooked Pounded Beef with Bogobe." The contemporary recipe followed in this article: 6 servings; beef chuck or brisket 1.5 kg, fine salt 15 g, water 1.5 L; covered simmer for 2.5–3 hours, reducing the liquid, pounding the beef and returning enough liquid to keep it moist; bogobe and leafy greens as accompaniments. An individual recipe page, not an official or sole traditional version. https://sixtocarreon.com/recipes/botswana-seswaa/
- James Denbow and Phenyo C. Thebe, Culture and Customs of Botswana (Greenwood Press, 2006; scan hosted by South African History Online). Seswaa (also chotlho) as beef, sometimes chicken, boiled with considerable salt until soft and beaten with a wooden spoon until shredded; its popularity at weddings, funerals and ceremonies. https://sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/archive-files/james_denbow_phenyo_c._thebe_culture_and_custombook4you.pdf
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan), "Six points for preventing food poisoning at home" (in Japanese). Cooking meat thoroughly to 75°C at the center for at least one minute; not leaving cooked food at room temperature for long; cooling leftovers quickly in shallow containers, refrigerating, and reheating thoroughly. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/shokuhin/syokuchu/01_00006.html
