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Typical South African Food

Traditional South Africa food is often referred to as "Cape Dutch"; this cuisine is characterized by the use of spices such as nutmeg, allspice and hot peppers. The Cape Dutch cookery style owes as much to the cookery of the slaves brought to the Cape from Bengal, Java and Malaysia as it does to the European styles of cookery of the settlers, and this is reflected both in the use of eastern spices and the names given to many of these dishes.

Most of the dishes you will see in restaurants menus will sound very familiar, but from time to time you are bound to stumble upon something that you have never heard of and quite possibly cannot even pronounce. Here is your compact dictionary of typical South African foods and dishes. We find some a bit too adventurous (like Mashonzha, made from the mopane worm), but most are absolutely delicious. Try them and decide for yourself.

Amasi, sour milk.
Biltong, a salty dried meat – delicious beer snack!
Bobotie, a dish of Malay descent, is like meatloaf with raisins and with baked egg on top, and is often served with yellow rice, sambals, coconut, banana slices, and chutney.
Boerewors, a sausage that is traditionally braaied (barbecued).
Chutney, a sweet sauce made from fruit that is usually poured on meat, especially a local brand called Mrs Ball's Chutney.
Frikkadelle - meatballs.
Gesmoorde vis, salted cod with potatoes and tomatoes and sometimes served with apricot jam.
Hoenderpastei, chicken pie, traditional Afrikaans
Isidudu, pumpkin pap.
Koeksisters come in two forms and are a sweet delicacy. Afrikaans koeksisters are twisted pastries, deep fried and heavily sweetened. Koeksisters found on the Cape Flats are sweet and spicy, shaped like large eggs, and deep-fried.
Malva Pudding, a sweet spongy Apricot pudding of Dutch origin.
Mashonzha, made from the mopane worm.
Melktert (milk tart), a milk-based tart or dessert.
Melkkos (milk food), another milk-based dessert.
Mealie-bread, a sweet bread baked with sweetcorn.
Mielie-meal, one of the staple foods, often used in baking but predominantly cooked into pap, or phutu, a traditional Bantu porridge which is usually eaten with beans, gravy, or meat.
Pampoenkoekies (pumpkin fritters), patatrolle (sweet potato rolls) and a further variety of baked goods where flour has been supplemented with or replaced by pumpkin or sweet potato.
Potbrood (pot bread), savoury bread baked over coals in cast-iron pots.
Potjiekos, a traditional African stew made with meat and vegetables and cooked over coals in cast-iron pots.
Rusks, a rectangular, hard, dry biscuit eaten after being dunked in tea or coffee
Smoked or braai'ed snoek, a regional gamefish.
Sosaties, grilled marinated meat on a skewer.
Tomato bredie, a lamb and tomato stew.
Trotters and Beans, from the Cape, made from boiled pig's or sheep's trotters and onions and beans.
Umleqwa, a dish made with chicken.
Umngqusho, a dish made from semolina and black-eyed peas.
Umphokoqo, an African salad made of maize meal
Umqombothi, a type of beer made from fermented wheat.
Umvubo, sour milk mixed with dry pap, commonly eaten by the Xhosa.
Vetkoek (fat cake), deep-fried dough balls, typically stuffed with meat or served with jam.
Waterblommetjie bredie (water flower stew), meat stewed with the flower of the Cape Pondweed.

For a closer look at some of the traditional South African recipes visit http://www.africhef.com/South-African-Recipes.html

Last updated August 10, 2008

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Typical South African Food