Traditional African Cuisine - An Introductory Guide
Each Southern African country has very distinct traditional foods that were strongly influenced by the European countries that were eminent in their past, slave trading and indigenous foods. Over the years these dishes fused to create very typical meals that are enjoyed by all people.
In South Africa Indian people came to work on the sugar cane fields in the Natal of that time. They brought with them their knowledge of curries and spices. Today all cultural groups create their own fusion curry dishes. A curry potjie is a good example of this. A potjie or potjiekos is like a stew with a variety of meat and vegetables. It is normally cooked on an open fire.
The Malay people that came to the Cape, as slaves, added their own curry dishes to the tradition. Bobotie came from the Cape Malay culture which is a curried mince dish.
It is normally eaten with yellow rice which is flavored with turmeric or saffron and raisins. Atchar and sambals are condiments to go with curry dishes. Sambals consist of cucumber, tomato, onion and yogurt.
The Afrikaner people created a lot of very typical dishes that have become favorites with all cultural groups. Milk tart is a delicatessen where the filling is milk based and flavored with cinnamon. Biltong is air dried meat that can be made with beef or game meat and even ostrich biltong has become popular lately.
The German influence is quite strong in Namibia where German bakeries and pastries are quite common as are German smoked meats such as rauchfleish.
South African food also had an influence on Namibian food and some of their specialty dishes are Biltong, game meat (Kudu, Springbok and Gemsbok) and Potjiekos. Local beer is Tafel Lager or Windhoek lager. The Mopane worm, a large edible caterpillar, is popular in the northern parts of Namibia and some South Africans also eat Mopane worms.
In Mozambique, it is the Portuguese who have left their mark in such dished as Prego roll, piri-piri chicken or espetada. Pap is a staple part of the diet that is made from cassava.
Even urban people love their pap. It is a very healthy meal which is normally combined with vegetables and a little meat, if available. Deuce M or 2M is the local beer in Mozambique.
The Indians, French and Chinese have all had some influence on the food of Mauritius. Baguettes are cheap and plentiful on the island.
A common meal you might eat on a boat trip around the islands would consist of salad, baguettes, fish cooked over an open fire and maybe flambe banana to top the meal off. This could be served with rum and fresh juices.
Experiencing the local food of a country, with the locals, is always an interesting way of getting to really understand a place and its people.
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