I could not help contemplating Women’s Day in South Africa this week and looking back at the women in my family and how different my life has been to what they would have experienced , Ouma Joey was born in 1901 and my Gran Nel in 1904 …. women were only allowed the freedom to vote for the first time in 1930.

In 2013 in the role of Operations Manager for Bushtracks Africa in Victoria Falls , I was invited to attend a local government tax meeting. As I walked into a conference room full of men, I was stunned to realize I was one of five women in prominent management positions at the time within our little town and it struck me that day … not much has changed from a century ago. Today however we have the freedom to make the choices we want with our lives.

I managed to find springbok fillet on my last visit to the Karoo and we celebrated Womens Day as a family with Sauted Springbok fillet and raised a glass to all the wonderful women who have mentored us all in our lives. This family recipe originates in the Northern Cape in South Africa and it found its way to our recipe books on Karna in Zimbabwe where we often ate venison.

Marinade for 5 hours

• 1 cup of Red Wine
• 4 Tablespoons of sunflower or olive oil
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 bay leaf – break it up in small pieces for flavour
• a pinch of salt or to taste

• 4 springbok loins
• tsp of sunflower oil
• tsp of butter
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1 cup sour cream

Combine the marinade ingredients and marinade for 5 hours. Drain the meat and strain the marinade through a sieve into a small saucepan. Reduce to one third. Pat dry the venison fillet and season with salt and pepper. Saute in a moderately hot pan – 2 minutes each side in oil and butter. Remove steaks to rest – Pour off the fat in the pan and add sour cream and reduced marinade and simmer for 2 minutes until heated through add steaks back into the pan. Serve with creamy mash potatoes and with steamed green beans and onions

serves 4