traditional South African food

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African food is colourful, interesting and alien to most visitors. It also tastes terrific. A well-prepared local meal can be a highlight of your trip to South Africa. Many restaurants specialise in the cuisine of the continent and serve a good variety of traditional African dishes.

Trying some delicious <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">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 <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">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 <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">potjie), so meat tends to be served in either stewed or grilled form. A starch usually accompanies the meat: <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">mieliepap (maize porridge), potatoes or rice. Beetroot, carrots, cabbage and pumpkin are the vegetables most commonly served. Typical South African dishes include tripe, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">morogo, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">chakalaka, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">amadumbe, and the ubiquitous <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">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. <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">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.

<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">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 <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">boerewors roll is pure South <strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">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, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">biltong and sweet delicacies such as the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">koeksister and <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">melktert.

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