The one thing that South Africans throughout the world always seem to be able to drag along with them is their food! South African food is totally unique having being developed by a mix of so many multi ethnic cuisines such as Dutch, Malay, English, French, African, German, Indian and even Indonesian and also developed in relative isolation to create a most unique and yet modern cuisine. You can buy a hamburger or pizza in virtually any country in the world but try to find a Boerewors roll, Koeksuster or a Sosatie ? and yet our food had an early start, I once read an article of Samp being a type of porridge consumed by the early pilgrims when they arrived and settled in America at Plymouth Rock or how about a meat loaf type dish called Boboti found in early New Orleans ? Rusks, Rooibos tea, Biltong, Boerewors, Koeksusters, Vetkoek, Bobotie, Sosaties, Pronutro, Mealie Meal, Chakalaka, Samp, Monkey Gland Sauce, Dried Fruit Rolls, Peri-Peri and so much more are all uniquely part of the South African diet.
Before travelling to the USA I used to be under the impression that beef jerky and pemmican were US versions of biltong, so when I first arrived in the US I purchased some jerky at the local Walmart, only to throw away a partially consumed packet as I found the jerky to be inedible. There are also so many things South Africans take for granted, they have no idea that they have some of the best and most innovative chocolates, nougat and candy in the world, Peppermint Crisps, Chocolate Logs, Top Deck, Tex Bars and Tempo's are all South African chocolate innovations and wait for it! A Spur burger will beat it's America counterpart any time of the day, In the US the typical steakhouse menu will offer a burger or a cheeseburger and maybe some bacon as well, in SA the menu will offer: Hamburger, Cheeseburger (With real cheddar) Mushroom burger, Monkey Gland burger, Garlic Burger, Chilli burger, the list just goes on and on. What about seafood ? The Cape must have some of the finest seafood in the world, South African Kingklip has to be the ultimate tasting fish in the world and what about LM Prawns peri-peri or Cape Lobster (Crayfish) served cold with real mayonnaise and you Brits, the best Fish and Chips on the planet is to be found at Plumstead Fisheries, a little Portuguese Fish & Chip shop located on Main Road Plumstead in the Cape, on a Friday you get in line!
I remember as a child scoffing hot vetkoek with butter and golden syrup and speaking of golden syrup, to all you yanks out there, golden syrup and peanut butter sandwiches beat golden syrup and grape jelly hands down! and when last have you had a koeksuster ? we would store them in the freezer as this makes them even crispier on the outside while still exploding with sweet syrup inside, I suppose you could call koeksusters South Africa's baklava!
My quotation for the day: "When you travel to South Africa you arrive with dollars and you leave with kilo's!"
Lekker bly!
