A Guide to South African Food

Often referred to as “rainbow cuisine,” the food of South Africa is a truly multicultural combination of indigenous ingredients, such as fruit, bulbs, nuts, leaves and wild game, and foods that came with the colonial era from Holland, Germany, France, Great Britain and India. Maize has become such an integral part of traditional African cooking since its introduction centuries ago that many people assume it to be an indigenous plant.

When visiting, hunker down at an open-air restaurant on the West Coast for delicious, fresh seafood, such as mussels, fish stew, grilled fish and lobster. Expect to encounter typical South African braai (barbecue), where you’ll find Afrikaner boerewors, a spicy, fatty sausage, as well as sosaties, a lightly curried meat kebab. Wash it down with a local beer, brewed from maize or sorghum. Or enjoy the renowned wines from the Cape, a notable wine-growing region for more than 300 years. If you dare, sample some of South Africa’s more exotic offerings, from crocodile sirloins to fried caterpillars to sheep heads. In the cities, you’ll also find culinary influences from Italy, China, Japan, Morocco, France, Portugal, India and Greece.—Denise Shoukas

Traditional South African foods and beverages

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bunny chow: curry stuffed into a hollowed-out loaf of bread; called kota by locals

braai: South African barbecue (pictured right)

biltong: dried, salted meat

bobotie: meatloaf with raisins and baked egg, from Malay influence, typically served with yellow rice and chutney

boerewors: spicy, fatty sausage, grilled over an open flame

chutney: sweet fruit sauce often added to meat dishes

frikkadelle: meatballs

hoenderpastei: traditional Afrikaans chicken pie

gesmoorde vis: salted cod with potatoes and tomatoes; sometimes served with apricot jam

kedgeree: dish consisting of cooked, flaked fish, boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, butter or cream and occasionally sultanas, white, seedless grapes

koeksisters: syrup-coated doughnuts in a twisted or braided shape

mala mogodu: local-dish equivalent of tripe, often served with hot pap en sous, or porridge, and spinach

malva pudding: sweet, spongy apricot cake

mashonzha: mopani worms, usually fried, grilled or cooked and spiced; not for the faint of heart melktert: milk-based tart or dessert

ostrich: meat is often stewed, filleted or grilled; popular for its low cholesterol content

pap en sous: grits-like maize porridge, cooked up stiff and served with a relish of vegetables, usually tomato and onion on a braai, or with wild spinach in traditional African circles

potjiekos: African stew made in a cast-iron pot over hot coals (pictured above-right)

rusks: rectangular, hard, dry biscuit eaten after being dunked in tea or coffee (pictured right)

smoorsnoek: fish (related to the barracuda) dish, generally smoked, baked, grilled, fried or poached; served with lemon, garlic and chilies for extra flavor

samosa: fried savory stuffed Indian pastry

sosaties: lightly curried meat kebab similar to a satay

trotters and beans: typical Cape dish, made from boiled pig or sheep's trotters (feet) with onions and beans

umngqusho: made from white maize and sugar beans, a staple food for the Xhosa people

umphokoqo: African salad made of maize meal

umqombothi: a type of beer made from fermented maize and sorghum

vetkoek: deep-fried dough balls, typically stuffed with meat or served with snoek fish or jam

Denise Shoukas is a regular foodspring.com contributor
and is the author of foodspring’s food forager blog.

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