The Cuisine of South Africa 

By Cape Wineland Tours

When visitors travel top Cape Town and the Western cape of South Africa, they are often amazed at the variety of cuisine presented there. The "Rainbow National" golf tour also produces "Rainbow Cuisine," a fascinating potpourri of fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood prepared in the Mediterranean style, along with classic stews and meat dishes in the European tradition, and a spicy mélange of African and Indian dishes. And, of course, always served with any meal are the spectacular wines produced in South Africa.

Among the most flavorful cuisines in the country is Cape Malay, characterized by a delicious blend of styles and spices brought to South Africa by the Indonesian and Bengalese slaves of the Dutch settlers in the 1600s. Believing that the European cooking established by earlier settlers was too bland, they jazzed it up a bit with spices that were making their way around the Cape of Good Hope from the East en route to Holland. The result was an interesting mix of Asian, Indian and European dishes, peppered with curry, cumin, ginger and other exotic spices. Over the centuries it evolved into what today is known as Cape Malay Cuisine, introducing travelers to 300 years of culinary heritage through their taste buds.

The best-known Cape Malay dishes include sosaties (traditional kebabs), bobotie (a curried one-pot meal) and bredies (meat and vegetable casserole). While the main ingredients tend to remain the same, every South African chef ads his own personal or historical touch to the meal.

Upon their arrival in the 15^th century, the Portuguese added traditional fish dishes to the ever-evolving menu of cuisine in South Africa which, up to that point, had consisted mainly of meat and vegetables. The South African waters then, as now, were rich in kingklip, snoek, red roman, hake, cod, and sole. Other fruit of the sea includes abalone, oysters, mussels, calamari, shrimps and crayfish, and all are used today in creative kitchens.

From this ocean bounty came the snoek braai, or fish barbeque, which is one of the country’s favorite summer activities. During a snoek braai, snoek fish caught of the Cape coast is marinated in lemon juice, garlic and herbs and cooked over coals until flaky.

A braai often blends many cultures and cuisines and can include such variety as biltong (jerky), sosaties, boerewors (sausage), pap (a traditional Bantu porridge) and vetkoek (deep fried dough balls).

Mandela’s Favorite

Many traditional African dishes feature pap, accompanied by a variety of savory foods made from green vegetables and spiced with chili. Nelson Mandela’s purportedly favorite dish is a simmered umngqusho made of stamp mealies (broken dried maize kernels) with sugar beans, butter, onions, potatoes, chilies and lemons.

Another traditional dish, though it may see somewhat exotic for American palates, is mashonzha. Take one part Mopani caterpillar and cook with one part chili. Eat it with peanuts, wash it down with a nice umqombothi (sorghum beer) and you’ve got a real treat!  

An historical dish that remains popular in South Africa today is the potjiekos. The early hunters and trekkers stewed their hunted meat and whatever vegetables they could find from the land in a three-legged cast iron pot. As new animals were hunted, their meat was added to the pot, as were bones to thicken the stew. Today, potjiekos are just as popular and annual competitions to create the best are a wonderful was of socializing around the campfire. (Think neighborhood chili contests in America!)

Biltong, once a popular trekker treat, has also remained in the hearts of the people of the Rainbow Nation. To make biltong, venison or beef is cut into strips and salted overnight and hung in a cool, airy place for the curing. When it is sufficiently dry, it is either cut into slices or grated.

When it comes to desserts, melktert is quintessentially South African and not to be missed. It is sour cream pastry filled with a mix of milk, flour and eggs and flavored with cinnamon sugar. Koeksisters, plaited dough cakes, are a traditional Afrikaner sweet that is wonderfully syrupy and very sticky!

It should be noted that many of South Africa’s best and most innovative restaurants incorporate both the traditional European style with recipes that hearken back to the early days of this developing nation. And all carry a wide variety of South African wines ranging from the crisp, light flavor of a sauvignon blanc to the surprising pinotage.

Pinotage is the national grape of South Africa.  It was developed in 1925 by Abraham Perold, a professor at Stellenbosch University and is a cross between pinot noir and cinsaut (formerly known as “hermitage”). The first commercial bottle was released in 1961, and while pinotage only accounts for a small percentage of the total plantings in South Africa, it is definitely the country’s signature grape.

Pinotage is a temperamental grape, and therefore is handled very differently from vineyard to vineyard, resulting in a variety of styles of the wines produced.  It can be sometimes fruity, sometimes dense and earthy, and sometimes more complex and woodsy.

Other traditional and exotic South African dishes:

Achaar – Imported to South Africa by migrant Indians, achaar is a salad made of mango and oil. It comes spiced. Eaten in excess, it could create extreme body odor!

Amanqina – A hoof of a cow, pig or sheep. It is boiled then spiced for taste. Delicious but sticky.

Chakalaka – A salad of Indian/Malay origin made of onion, garlic, ginger, green pepper, carrots and cauliflower, spiced with chilies and curry.

Chotlo – A delicacy of the Tswana people, this is meat cut into extremely small pieces with the bones removed. The meat is first boiled, then ground before being put back into the pot and stirred until it becomes very fine. A excellent treat for the toothless.

Frikkadel – Traditional South African meatballs. Made of tomatoes, onion, minced beef and other ingredients, shaped into round balls.

Mala – Intestines, especially those of chicken, cleaned, cooked in boiling water, then fried. Eaten with pap.

Mogodu – Tripe, thoroughly cleaned, then boiled for two to three hours. Once softened, allowed to simmer before being served with pap

Morogo – Wild spinach, the most popular being thepe; delicious when boiled, softened and served with stiff porridge

Rooibos Tea – A popular South African herbal tea made in the Cape from the Cyclopia genistoides bush. Rooibos is an Afrikaans word meaning "red bush." Rooibos has no caffeine and less tannin than tea.

Serobe – A dish of the Tswana people. A thoroughly washed, then boiled mixture of tripe, intestines and lungs. They are cut into small pieces with a pair of scissors before being spiced to taste.

Skop – Head of a cow, sheep or goat. The head is first scrubbed with a sharp instrument like a razor to remove skin and unwanted parts like ears and the nose are then cut out. The head is then boiled and allowed to simmer. Favored by African men.

Ting – A dish favored by the Tswanas in both South Africa and Botswana. It is a sour porridge made of sorghum. A great soft porridge for breakfast.