Southern African recipes: Monkey Gland Sauce

If there is one typical South African sauce it is "Monkey Gland Sauce". Monkey Gland? Well, no monkeys are harmed to make the sauce and there is, of course, no gland (or anything coming close to it) used to make the sweet and sour sauce that tastes so awesomely good with steak or even on a burger...

The origins of the sauce and why it is called "Monkey Gland" are not really known. I have heard loads of stories over the years - this one (slightly different here and there) was the most told:
Back in the early 1950’s some French Chefs worked at the Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg and wanted to please their rich, white (and mostly Afrikaaner) customers with what could be named sophisticated continental cuisine. The Chefs were doing their best, tried almost every recipe, but the only dish their customers really enjoyed was Steak & sauce. So the Chefs started cooking steak dishes with haute cuisine sauces, but it didn’t work aswell. At one point, and probably out of pure frustration, the Chefs decided to throw every commercial sauce they could lay their hands on in one pot and serve it to their guests. The result was the concoction of what we now know as Monkey Gland Sauce. This sweet and sour sauce struck a chord with the Afrikaner clientele as it reflected the taste of their other traditional dishes and became a true hit.

There are probably thousands of different ways to make "Monkey Gland Sauce" - the ones I know of are:

Durban Style (got the recipe from a butcher in Durban some years ago)
Ingredients:
• 30ml Sunflower Oil
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 150ml Tomato Sauce
• 30ml Soy Sauce
• 100ml White Vinegar
• 2ml Mustard Powder
• 10ml Brown Sugar
• Salt
• Pepper
Method:
Sauté the onions in the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the remaining
ingredients and simmer over medium heat for at least 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Spicy Style
Ingredients:
• 2 Onions, finely chopped
• 3 Cloves Garlic, crushed
• 50ml Sunflower Oil
• 2 Tablespoons of crushed ginger
• 200gr tinned Tomatoes
• 125ml Chutney
• 10ml Soy Sauce
• 25ml Mustard
• 25ml Worcester Sauce
• 50ml Tomato Sauce
• 75ml Port Wine
• 100ml Vegetable Stock
• 30ml Red Wine/Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Tabasco
• ½ Cup of Brown Sugar
• Salt
• Pepper
Method:
Sauté the onions, ginger and garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the
remaining ingredients and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Serve hot.