Trying some delicious traditional African food should be part of every visitor’s itinerary. A number of specialised restaurants in South Africa do an excellent job of serving both modern and traditional African food. Each dish reflects one or more of the different cultural influences found across the continent.
Traditional African food is generally cooked over an open fire or in a three-legged pot (or potjie), so meat tends to be served in either stewed or grilled form. A starch usually accompanies the meat: mieliepap (maize porridge), potatoes or rice. Beetroot, carrots, cabbage and pumpkin are the vegetables most commonly served. Typical South African dishes include tripe, morogo, chakalaka, amadumbe, and the ubiquitous boerewors roll.
Tripe is a traditional treat favoured by most Africans. In the Cape it is considered a regional delicacy and is often served lightly curried with small new potatoes and fried onions.
Morogo is a type of wild spinach. Combined with butter-braised onions and tomato or mixed into maize porridge, it is a rural ingredient with mainstream appeal. Amadumbe is a sweet potato and peanut mash. A tasty restaurant variation of the dish is to cook sweet potatoes, mash them with butter and sprinkle them with roasted peanuts, topped off with a drizzle of honey.
Chakalaka is a spicy relish served alongside a main course and consists of grated carrots, green peppers, sliced onion, vinegar, chilli and that secret ingredient that will distinguish it from anyone else’s.
The boerewors roll is pure South African cuisine – our tastier answer to New York’s hot dogs. At a roadside stand, boerewors (a variety of spicy sausage) is char-grilled over an open-flame then placed into a bun and covered in mustard and tomato sauce. Delicious!
Other local favourites include a wide variety of delectable Cape Malay dishes, biltong and sweet delicacies such as the koeksister and melktert.
Grilled chicken feet and heads – known as walkie-talkies – are a popular dish in rural South Africa.
Anonymous (2015). Traditional South African Food. Revtrieved from:
http://country.southafrica.net/country/us/en/articles/entry/traditional-south-african-food-enus