South Africa: Food

South Africa has many traditional dishes; however, it also caters to international palettes by offering a mixture of different cultures’ cuisines. Overall, South Africans eat similar food that is eating in the U.S. Below is some of the traditional foods South Africans eat.

One of the long standing traditional foods is biltong. This food is dried meat, similar to the dried jerky style meats we have here in the U.S. It comes in many flavors and types such as ostrich, beef, kudu or any other red meat. Potjiekos is another South African favorite as it is similar to a meat and vegetable stew. It is slowly cooked over an open flame. Frikkadel is a traditional South African meat ball made from tomatoes, onion, minced beef and other ingredients, and shaped into round balls.

South Africans LOVE to barbeque! They say you shouldn’t mess with a South African man’s braai! Boerewors is a spicy sausage that is most commonly used to barbeque. If you love barbeque, South Africa is clearly the place for you!

If you want to get really adventurous, you might try Skop, which is the head of a sheep, goat or cow. All the “parts” are removed as well as the skin and then the head is boiled, simmered and flavored. Bon Appetite!

South Africans also drink a lot of tea. Rooibos tea is a popular South African herbal tea made in the Cape from the Cyclopia genistoides bush. Rooibos is an Afrikaans word meaning "red bush". Rooibos has no caffeine and less tannin than tea.

Of course, South Africans also enjoy lots of fruits and vegetables. The pioneers of SA commonly ate dried fruit and berries. The produce is very fresh which makes it a big part of their daily diet. They usually shop for fresh produce and fruit a few times a week as they have little room to store things and hate to waste the fresh food! Fish, prawns and other seafood are common foods the enjoyed by South Africans as part of their daily diets.

What is your favorite dish?