If you’re planning a visit to the Rainbow Country, you’ll want to know not just the places to visit but the foods to eat.
Good news: you don’t even have to think about the South African foods you should eat, because Taste Atlas, one of the top travel guides to traditional foods around the world, which features authentic recipes, reviews and research articles on popular ingredients and dishes, has done the work for you. It’s compiled a list of the 10 most popular foods in South Africa right now. So all you have to do is eat your way through the list.
And the winners are…
Gatsby
This is Cape Town’s ‘signature sandwich’, according to Taste Atlas. It’s essentially a toasted roll that contains bologna slices, French fries, lettuce, ketchup and piri-piri sauce (fillings may vary). Suffice it to say that it’s a rich culinary affair that will take care of both lunch and dinner for you. Try making it
Potjiekos
This South African dish consists of layered meat, vegetables, starches (for example, potatoes, rice or pasta) and a sauce. During cooking, potjiekos is not stirred – this is to allow the dish to cook slowly, letting the steam build up. Making potjiekos is a labour of love, given that it can take up to six hours to prepare. Watch how Xman & Co make it (the pronunciation is a revelation to me):
Roosterkoek
Best enjoyed piping hot, this is a traditional South African bread baked on a rack over coals. It’s made from flour, yeast, salt, sugar, oil and water and the resulting dough is formed into small balls that are then brushed with butter and grilled. Although it works well as a snack, it’s traditionally served with braai (the popular South African barbecue).
Boerewors
This is a South African beef sausage, shaped into a coil. The sausage meat (at least 90%) is combined with spices such as nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Lamb or pork can also be used. Boerewors is usually prepared on the braai and served with pap and sauce.
Melktert
A velvety-sweet desert consisting of a pastry case filled with a combination of sugar, eggs, flour and milk. Melktert can be eaten either hot or cold and, and it’s usually served with a sprinkle of powdered cinnamon. Delicious.
Bunny Chow
This extremely popular South African dish is made from a hollowed out loaf of bread that’s stuffed with curry that has been cooked with kidney beans or chick peas, aromatic spices and a variety of meats. Traditionally Bunny Chow is eaten with hands. The dish is associated with the city of Durban, which has a large population of Indian immigrants that came to the country in the late 19th century. Try making it yourself.
Chakalaka
This spicy South African vegetable relish is closely associated with Johannesburg. It consists of tomatoes, beans and onions as its base ingredients, but other ingredients may be added, such as carrots, chilli and ginger. Chakalaka is another accompaniment to South African braai, or you can enjoy it as a snack with bread. Try making it yourself.
Biltong
This is a traditional South African beef snack that looks very similar to American beef jerky, although the taste is distinctly different as is the texture and the method of preparation. Biltong is dried with vinegar, which cures the meat and adds the desired texture and flavour. Try making it yourself.
Bobotie
Packed with flavour, bobotie is a sweet and sour deep-dish casserole made from ground beef or lamb, herbs, sugar and spices, fruits and curry powder, with a finish of golden-brown egg custard sprinkled with powdered cinnamon. It’s believed that the dish’s origins are an Indonesian dish called bobotok, which was brought to South Africa in the 16th century by the Indonesians who transported spices and slaves to South Africa. Bobotie is often the centrepiece at festive occasions and it is typically served with turmeric rice or steamed white rice. Try making it yourself.
Braai
It will surprise absolutely no one that braai (South African barbecue) is the most popular South African food option. Braai is used as both a noun and a verb, in the sense that you can braai a sausage but you can also throw a braai with your friends. One thing is unequivocal, though, and that is that it isn’t a braai if the meat isn’t cooked on a gas grill. The selection of meats includes steaks, kebabs, lamb chops and boerewors. In coastal areas fish and crayfish will make an appearance.
If you are South African, which is your takeaway favourite food?
