South Africa
Bobotie, braai culture and Cape Malay curries.
Iconic recipes
Bobotie
Cape Malay spiced minced beef baked under a savoury egg-milk custard with bay leaves.
Bunny Chow
Durban-Indian curry served inside a hollowed loaf of white bread.
Boerewors & Pap
Charcoal-grilled coriander-spiced sausage coil served with stiff maize pap and tomato relish (sheba).
Cape Malay Chicken Curry
Mildly sweet, fragrant curry with apricot, cinnamon and cardamom from Cape Town's Bo-Kaap.
Melktert
Silky cinnamon-dusted milk tart with a buttery shortcrust base.
Chakalaka
Spicy tomato-bean-vegetable relish from the townships, served with pap, braai or bread.
Braai Tjops
Lamb loin chops marinated in garlic, coriander and vinegar then grilled hard over red coals — the heart of every South African braai.
Lamb Potjiekos
Cast-iron three-legged pot slow-cooked over coals — layered lamb, root vegetables and red wine, never stirred until the end.
Koeksisters
Plaited fried dough plunged into ice-cold ginger-lemon syrup — crackling outside, syrup-soaked inside.
Vetkoek
Fried dough buns split open and stuffed with curried mince or apricot jam — a farmstall and township classic.
Biltong
Air-dried spiced beef strips — the Voortrekker traveller's protein, cured with coriander, vinegar and salt.
Droëwors
Air-dried beef-and-lamb sausages seasoned like biltong — the Karoo road-trip snack.
Melkkos
Sweet cinnamon milk soup with dumpling scraps of dough — an old Cape farm supper.
Umngqusho
Xhosa samp-and-sugar-bean stew — Nelson Mandela's favourite everyday dish.
Umqombothi
Traditional Xhosa sorghum-and-maize beer — thick, tangy and ceremonial, served from a clay pot.
Umleqwa
Xhosa 'running chicken' — the yard hen slow-simmered with onion, tomato and umsobo greens.
Umvubo
Xhosa mash-up of dry crumbly pap and amasi (soured milk) — a simple soothing supper.
Isijingi
Zulu pumpkin porridge — soft mashed pumpkin cooked with maize meal, butter and sugar.
Isistambu (Zulu Samp & Beans)
Zulu samp and sugar-bean stew, slightly richer with beef bone and morogo greens.
Inhloko
Ceremonial Zulu slow-cooked cow's head — traditionally reserved for men at weddings and coming-of-age feasts.
Uphuthu
Zulu dry-crumb maize pap — steamed rather than porridge-smooth, eaten with amasi, beans or meat.
Amasi
Zulu naturally soured milk — thick, tangy and drunk cold with pap or straight from a calabash.
Motoho wa Ting
Sotho sour-sorghum porridge fermented overnight — sipped cold as a summer thirst-quencher.
Mokoutu
Sotho dried-fish stew with tomato, onion and morogo — a Free State household staple.
Dikgobe
Tswana samp and sugar-bean-and-sorghum stew flavoured with onion — a common Sunday plate in the North West.
Tshidzimba
Venda samp, cowpeas and peanuts simmered together — nutty, chewy and warmly filling.
Thophi
Venda maize-meal-and-pumpkin porridge — smoother and softer than isijingi, sweetened at the table.
Tinhove
Tsonga slow-simmered maize kernels with cowpeas and peanut — the everyday Limpopo lowveld comfort dish.
Mopane Worms (Madora)
Sun-dried mopane caterpillars rehydrated and fried with onion, tomato and chili — Limpopo's protein delicacy.
Tihove Ni Timanga
Tsonga maize-and-peanut mash finished with a knob of butter — a nutty highland winter bowl.
Isidudu
Ndebele soft maize-and-pumpkin breakfast porridge — creamy, faintly sweet and eaten with milk.
Tomato Bredie
Cape Malay lamb-and-tomato stew perfumed with cinnamon, allspice and cloves — served over yellow rice.
Cape Malay Samoosas
Crispy triangular pastries filled with lightly spiced mince — a Ramadan iftar essential in Bo-Kaap.
Denningvleis
Cape Malay tamarind-and-clove lamb stew — dark, sweet-sour, one of the oldest recipes in Cape cooking.
Malva Pudding
Sticky, spongy apricot-jam cake soaked with hot butter-cream sauce — the crown of any Cape Sunday lunch.
Gatsby
The Cape Flats' giant sub — a footlong roll stuffed with chips, achar, cheese and steak, masala fish or polony.
Braaied Snoek
Cape West Coast snoek butterflied, basted with apricot-jam-and-garlic and grilled skin-side down.
Durban Mutton Curry
Fiery red Durban curry with mutton, potato and Mother-in-Law masala — served with roti or rice and sambals.
Durban Breyani
Layered Durban Indian rice, marinated mutton, lentils, potato and fried onion sealed and steamed on dum.
Durban Roti
Flaky layered Durban roti — rolled with ghee, folded and griddled soft to wrap around curries and bunny chow.
Morogo Wild Greens
Wild spinach or amaranth cooked down with onion and tomato — the everyday green served with pap.
Mogodu (Tripe)
Tender long-braised beef tripe with onion, curry powder and stock — a township Sunday staple with pap.
Kota (Bunny Chow's Cousin)
Township quarter-loaf hollowed and stuffed with chips, polony, cheese, atchar and Russian sausage.
Shisa Nyama
Township braai plate — mixed marinated meats grilled over hot coals with chakalaka, pap and atchar.
Boerewors Roll
The rugby-stadium classic — coiled coriander-spiced boerewors on a soft hot-dog roll with fried onions and tomato relish.
Rooibos Tea Latte
Cederberg red-bush tea steeped strong and stretched with steamed milk, honey and a shake of cinnamon.
Amarula Milkshake
Creamy blended milkshake of vanilla ice cream and Amarula cream liqueur — dessert in a glass.
Home-Brew Ginger Beer
Naturally fermented ginger beer with lemon, cream of tartar and raisins — the picnic classic in every South African fridge.
Boere Ontbyt
The full farmer's breakfast — boerewors, bacon, eggs, fried tomato and mieliepap on one platter after a cold Free State morning.
Mieliepap Breakfast Porridge
Soft mielie-meal porridge cooked to a pillowy consistency and served with warm milk, butter and brown sugar — breakfast for millions.
Mosbolletjies
Cape Dutch sweet aniseed buns leavened traditionally with grape must — pulled apart warm with butter and coffee at breakfast.
Breakfast Bunny Chow
Durban-style morning twist: a quarter loaf hollowed and filled with spicy mince curry, baked beans and a fried egg on top.
Amagwinya with Polony & Atchar
Fried dough buns split hot and stuffed with sliced polony and tangy mango atchar — the taxi-rank breakfast of townships nationwide.
Hertzoggies
Little Cape tarts named for PM Hertzog — apricot jam in short pastry crowned with coconut meringue.
Peppermint Crisp Tart
No-bake layered tart of tennis biscuits, caramel-whipped cream and grated peppermint chocolate — every South African birthday table.
Souskluitjies (Cinnamon Dumplings)
Steamed sweet dumplings drenched in a buttery cinnamon-sugar sauce — an Afrikaner oupa-and-ouma pudding.
Boeber
Cape Malay milk pudding of vermicelli, sago, cardamom and rose water — served on the 15th night of Ramadan.
Cape Brandy Pudding (Tipsy Tart)
Sticky date and pecan pudding soaked with a hot brandy syrup — a Cape farmhouse classic since the 1700s.
Russian & Slap Chips
A fat Russian sausage split and grilled beside a mountain of vinegar-soaked slap chips — the quintessential taxi-rank meal.
Slap Chips
Soft, vinegary hand-cut chips scooped into newspaper cones — the pavement staple outside every fish-and-chips shop.
Walkie Talkies
Grilled chicken feet and heads seasoned with peri-peri — a Joburg township braai-stand favourite eaten with pap.
Skopo (Smiley)
Slow-cooked sheep head — the 'smiley' — flame-cleaned then boiled until tender, sold hot from Zulu street braziers.
Amagwinya & Polony Roll
The R10 township lunch — a hot vetkoek slit open and packed with thick polony slices, cheese and tomato sauce.
Christmas Braaied Gammon
Whole gammon simmered in ginger beer then glazed with apricot mustard and finished over the Christmas Day braai — the Southern-hemisphere centrepiece.
Geelrys (Yellow Rice & Raisins)
Turmeric-and-cinnamon rice tossed with plump raisins and butter — the Sunday and celebration partner to bobotie and bredies.
Cape Malay Pickled Fish
Fried firm-fleshed fish layered under a golden turmeric-curry pickle of onions and vinegar — Cape Malay Easter Friday tradition.
Cape Malay Akhni
One-pot fragrant lamb-and-rice biryani cousin cooked with potato, lentils and whole spice — served in the Bo-Kaap for Eid.
Durban Diwali Burfee
Fudgy milk-powder squares perfumed with cardamom and topped with slivered almonds — trays of these travel between Durban homes on Diwali.