South African cuisine
South African cuisine reflects the diverse range of culinary traditions embodied by the various communities that inhabit the country.
Subsequent encounters with Bantu pastoralists facilitated the emergence of cultivated crops and domestic cattle, which supplemented traditional Khoisan techniques of meat preservation.
[3] In addition, Bantu-speaking communities forged an extensive repertoire of culinary ingredients and dishes, many of which are still consumed today in traditional settlements and urban entrepôts alike.
Agriculture was introduced to South Africa by the Bantu peoples, who continue in the cultivation of grain, starch fruit and root tubers — in the manner of maize, squash and sweet potatoes, following their introduction in the Columbian exchange, displacing the production of many Old World food crops.
In addition, French Huguenot refugees, many of whom settled in Franschhoek, played an instrumental role in developing South Africa's viticultural industry.
During the period of British colonial rule, immigrants from Asia, many of whom arrived as indentured laborers in the 19th century, further enriched the culinary oeuvre of South Africa.
At this time shebeens, situated in urban townships, became very popular and often served as non-formal community centers, especially for black South Africans who pursued their cultural and culinary traditions.
Following the end of apartheid, South African cuisine witnessed a renaissance, with diverse culinary options available in most of the country's major cities catering to tourists, expatriates and local residents.
The pre-colonial diet consisted primarily of cooked grains, especially sorghum and millet, fermented milk (somewhat like yogurt) and roasted or stewed meat.
[4] People also kept sheep and goats, and communities often organised vast hunts for the abundant game, but the beef was considered the absolutely most important and high-status meat.
The influence of their diet is reflected in the common Southern African love of barbecue (generally called in South Africa by its Afrikaans name, a braai) and biltong (dried preserved meat).
As in the past, when men kept cattle as their prized possession in the rural areas, South Africans have a preference for beef.
Today, South Africans enjoy not only beef, but mutton, goat, chicken and other meats as a centerpiece of a meal.
Participants often say that spilling the blood of the animal on the ground pleases the ancestors who invisibly gather around the carcass.
On holiday weekends, entrepreneurs will set up pens of live animals along the main roads of townships—mostly sheep and goats—for families to purchase, slaughter, cook and eat.
The recipe originates from the Dutch East India Company colonies in Batavia, with the name derived from the Indonesian bobotok.
Bunny chow, a dish from Durban ("the largest 'Indian' city outside of India"[12]), consisting of a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with curry, has been adapted into mainstream South African cuisine.
