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If
you're a gourmet and you enjoy a good plate of food, South Africa is
definitely the country for you. A lot of traditional South African
cuisine is tasty, filling and well worth every penny.
South Africans love their braais
(barbeques) and are passionate about how it should be done, so be
warned - don't interfere with a South African man and his braai! But
there are many more delicious, traditional South African foods
available; the most famous of this is probably biltong , which is
strips of dried meat which come in various flavour and types.
Potjiekos is a delicious slowly cooked meat and vegetable stew, which
is traditionally cooked over an open fire.Mielie Pap, is a stiff corn
meal mix, is a staple food of a South African diet.
Boerewors, a spicy sausage almost
always cooked on the braai. For those with a sweet tooth, melktert
(milktart) and koeksisters which are very sweet doughy treats, but
also quite delicious.
But if you really want to treat
yourself why not try Skop, which is the head of a cow, sheep or goat.
The head is first scrubbed to remove the skin and unwanted parts like
the ears and nose are cut off before the head is boiled and simmered.
A dish favoured by African men.
Although there are many South
African traditional foods, you will also find Chinese resaturants,
Indian restaurants, fish and chip shops and many other more
mainstream eateries. So don't worry if Kudu and Crocodile aren't to
your taste, everyone is catered for in South Africa
South African Wine is probably
most well known in the area of the Western Cape, with pinotage and
hanepoort being made from specially cultivated grape in the Cape
area. Beer is drunk widely in South Africa especially with a braai or
when the rugby or cricket is on! Castle is South Africa 's own beer,
but Amstel, Black Label and many others are available.
South African cuisine is probably
the most cosmopolitan on our planet. It has evolved from the marriage
of many different palates, peoples and lifestyles. Many of the more
spicy and dry cured meats and fish were formulated due to the lack of
refrigeration, and long months on the trek to the hinterland. It is
interesting to note that not one single traditional recipe has been
found for processing poultry; only latter day enthusiasts have dried
and cured poultry using modern presrvatives and additives. The
abundance of wildfowl, ducks and the ease of taking domestic fowl on
the treks probably accounts for this.
The cuisine evolved from the
following peoples:
The San People (Bushmen)
Hottentots
Many indigenous tribes -
Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana
Portuguese
Dutch
French (Hugenot)
Belgian (Flemish)
German
English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish
Indian
Malay
Chinese
Sri Lankan (previously Ceylonese)
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