Eating and Drinking in Southern Africa - Gerrie du Rand and Hennie Fisher
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Eating and Drinking in Southern Africa
Gerrie du Rand and Hennie Fisher
Contents
The Cuisine of Southern Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
People of Southern Africa and the Development of the Cuisine of the Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Cuisine of South Africa in the Twenty-First Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Food Struggles of Twenty-First Century People of the South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Abstract
The Republic of South Africa has for many years been one of the economic
powers on the African continent and has always played a major role in relations
with its neighboring countries. It is therefore natural that cross-border exchanges
would take place on all levels of cuisine development. This chapter offers an
introductory insight into the environmental and agricultural business of
South Africa within the larger Southern African and African continent context.
An introductory summary of the cuisine of the four demographic groups of
South Africa is discussed, with reference to similarities found in countries sharing
South Africa’s borders. The chapter ends with the unfortunate obesity and
overweight situation of the region, possibly as a result of increased dietary
changes that come with advanced lifestyle and challenges modern Southern
African people have to compete with.
G. du Rand (*) · H. Fisher
Department of Consumer and Food Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
e-mail: gerrie.durand@up.ac.za; hennie.fisher@up.ac.za
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 1
H. L. Meiselman (ed.), Handbook of Eating and Drinking,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_179-1
2 G. du Rand and H. Fisher
Keywords
Southern African cuisine · South African cuisine · South African agriculture ·
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) · South African demographic groups
The Cuisine of Southern Africa
Introduction
This chapter broadly discusses the cuisine of South Africa, first through briefly
introducing the region in the larger context of the African continent, and then within
the regional characteristics of Southern Africa. Environmental data and in-depth detail
of cuisine specifics of South Africa’s neighboring countries are not yet fully researched
and often limited. In this chapter, therefore, the emphasis is specifically on the
geography, general agricultural practices, and cuisine of South Africa, with some
comments on the bigger Southern African region in order to inform the reader of
how these aspects of the larger region impact food provision, availability, and the
cuisine as a whole. Cross-border influences between South Africa’s cuisine (Du Rand
et al. 2016, p. 2; Essop and Fraser 2012; Sackett and Haynes 2012) and that of her
neighboring countries, and the movement of people into the region over time and how
this shaped the cuisine to what may currently be considered Southern Africa cuisine,
are discussed. In Southern Africa, such cuisine adoptions are similar to those across the
whole of Africa, as proposed by Oktay and Sadıkoğlu (2018, p. 145) who stated that
“every country has adopted a different food culture from a neighbouring society and
every society has taken the food culture from those who migrated from far away
countries.” The chapter does not aim to give comprehensive detail of all the food and
drink practices of the Southern African region but rather to provide a tempting
introduction to further explore what the region has to offer. In this regard, the summary
in Table 1 is in no way meant to be an all-inclusive catalogue of all the unique foods of
Southern Africa. It is rather a presentation of some examples of foods and beverages
enjoyed by the four major cultural groups. Since various cultural influences may apply
to the same dish (Essop and Fraser 2012, p. 19), different language users may have
adopted slightly different names for the same dish. Finally, on a lesser note, to
contextualize the current health patterns of the nation, a brief mention is made of
South African families’ struggles with modern commercial food.
Originally, anthropologists such as Jack Goody of Cambridge University (Goody
1982) narrowly described African food as not being a properly defined “cuisine.”
According to Goody, everyone had the same diet regardless of their status in life and
therefore food did not mark rank in power or class. However, this notion that African
food did not display stratified food consumption habits and that it was mundane and
unremarkable is very much contested today (McCann 2010, p. 4). Perhaps African
cuisine as a whole may appear simplistic because African societies were often “on
the run” as a result of hunger, disease, or tribal wars, with the result that they were
unable to stay in situ for generations, an essential condition for developing a
Eating and Drinking in Southern Africa 3 Table 1 A summary of unique South African Food and Drink items and dishes
4 G. du Rand and H. Fisher
sophisticated cuisine (Van der Post 1970, p. 6). The defining characteristic of the
continent is diversity, with more than 800 languages and dialects spoken. As a
continent, it is often in turbulence, with ever shifting borders and governments
coming into power (Samuelsson 2006, p. xvii). Van der Post’s views echo what
other Western scholars have maintained for many years, namely, that African cuisine
is the result of European colonial and cultural dominance, and that African cooking
shows distinctive qualities of technique and adoption (McCann 2010, p. 3).
Although African recipes are therefore viewed as mostly a combination of simplistic
ingredients (Marlène 2015, p. 9) and adopted techniques, cookery book author
Dorinda Hafner (1993, p. 8) maintains that it is “some of the most exciting cuisines
in the world.” Africa’s cooking is mostly “poor man’s food” – simple stews, grilled
meats and fish, vegetables and filling starches with side dishes, and a range of breads
– “yet these simple foods are anything but dull,” and lots of flavor is coaxed out of
ingredients, while no scrap is wasted (Samuelsson 2006, p. xvii). In Africa, food as a
topic should be approached from two viewpoints: firstly, many African people face a
daily struggle for sustenance, as evidenced by the devastating famines of Ethiopia,
Niger, and Sudan, and, secondly, to consider cooking and cuisine “at the heart of all
cultural expressions of ourselves as human,” where food becomes a marker of
cultural identity (McCann 2010, p. 2). Various authors have referred to Africa’s
food as a double-edged sword: on the one side the immense variety, diversity, and
quality in some parts of the continent, and on the other side the dire lack of even the
basic staples in other parts of it (Hafner 1993, p. 8).
Africa’s cuisine therefore exhibits prominent regional characteristics, linked to
broad historical themes. In the developed world where the regional differences of
African cuisine are unfamiliar, African restaurants often serve a hybrid menu that
mixes a number of African national cuisines, cherry picked from around the conti-
nent, rather than presenting a coherent cultural and historical setting behind the true
cuisine of a specific country or region in Africa (McCann 2010, p. 8). This can be
likened to the TexMex phenomenon associated with Mexican food. “There is simply
too much to African cooking for any one man to know it all” writes the editor of
Foods of the World, Richard L Williams, when introducing Sir Laurens van der Post,
who authored the volume on African Cooking in the series (Van der Post 1970, p. 6).
Understanding the food of a continent this enormous and diverse is no easy task
(Samuelsson 2006, p. xvii).
Like most ethnic food genres around the world, the African cuisine of today
cannot be confined only within the borders of the continent. The trans-Atlantic food
migration and the historic African diaspora, resulting from among others the slave
trade, exerted vast influence on the cuisines of the Caribbean, Latin America, the
United States, and others (Samuelsson 2006, p. xiii). In southern America “a rich
culinary tradition was born out of necessity and innovation” (Yentsch 2008, p. 32).
While a meal in the modern developed world (and parts of Africa) may often
consist of a hamburger, fries, and a Coke, in other parts of Africa, it might still more
likely be a dish of pounded yam, fish, and a garden egg (Solanum melongena var.
esculentum (Ray 2010, p. 41)) or one of many combinations of a starch and sauce
(McCann 2010, p. 5).
Eating and Drinking in Southern Africa 5
The Environment
A regional cuisine is developed from a unique combination of factors based on
geography, history, and culture (Sackett and Haynes 2012, p. 4), thus also identifying
similar techniques, ingredients, and approaches to food preparation as used through-
out the Southern African region. Four main geographical cuisine regions have been
suggested for the African continent: north, west, east, and southern region (Samu-
elsson 2006, p. xvii). This chapter primarily focuses on the cuisine of South Africa,
referring to cross-border similarities found within the larger Southern African area,
which includes South Africa’s neighbors Lesotho, eSwatini (formally Swaziland),
Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. Many culinary traditions spilled
over borders, causing many parallels to be found between Namibian and
South African Afrikaner recipes, some of which were strongly influenced by Ger-
man and other settlers (de Chavonnes Vrugt et al. 2009, p. 7).
The following maps, tables, and graphs elucidate the geography, land character-
istics, climate, topography, agriculture, and demography of the region, contextual-
izing the environment and land use for food production.
The Southern African countries under discussion in this chapter are
(in alphabetical order) Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique,
South Africa, and Zimbabwe (Fig. 1). The people of these countries interact with
each other on a regular basis and therefore their influences on daily life are taken as
matter of fact. All seven countries are part of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), which works toward the common goal of regional integration
and poverty eradication. Two of the main themes of cooperation are sustainable
agriculture, which provides food security, and the protection of natural resources.
Geography
The map in Fig. 1 presents the Southern African region that stretches from roughly
10 S (northern border of Mozambique) to 35 S (Cape Agulhas in South Africa) and
from 12 E (Namibia in the west) to 41 E (Mozambique in the east).
South Africa is the most southern country on the African continent and shares its
borders from east to west with Mozambique, eSwatini (former Swaziland), Zimba-
bwe, Lesotho, Botswana, and Namibia with a total surface area of +/ 3.9 million
square kilometers, larger than the size of India. Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho
are landlocked while Mozambique, South Africa, and Namibia have a combined
coastline of 6840 km. On the east coast, the warm Mozambique/Agulhas current
(in the Indian Ocean) runs southward from the tropics, meets the cold Benguela
current at Cape Agulhas, and then flows northward along the west coast of Southern
Africa. Due to rich nutrients, the cold water of the Atlantic Ocean offers good fishing
as a food source.
Topography
The topography of the demarcated Southern African region (Fig. 1) comprises a
coastal zone between 60 and 240 km wide around the outer designated area with a
much higher inland plateau. Namibia and South Africa’s plateau have an average
6 G. du Rand and H. Fisher Fig. 1 Map of Southern African countries and topography discussed in this research height of around 1200 m above sea level. South Africa also boasts the second highest point in the Maluti/Drakensberg/uKhahlamba escarpment to the east while moun- tainous Lesotho has the highest peak (3,482 m) of the region. eSwatini spans across the broken inland plateau with an average height of 1,100 m in the west. All of Zimbabwe lies on a plateau with a height of not less than 300 m above sea level. Just less than half of Mozambique covers coastal lowlands rising toward the western border with an average height of 776 m at the Ubombo Mountains. Botswana’s highest point, 1,490 m is an outcrop called Tsodilo Hills (a UNESCO World Heritage Site of approximately 10 km2 where 4500 rock art paintings going back
Eating and Drinking in Southern Africa 7 Fig. 2 Map of Southern Africa reflecting the mean annual precipitation/rainfall. (Adapted from Dintwe et al. 2014) at least 100,000 years are preserved) in NNW Botswana, while its lowest point is 660 m in the east. Natural Environment and Climate The natural environment and climate of the demarcated area as reflected in the precipitation map in Fig. 2 follows. Rainfall is generally higher (>900 mm p/a) in the northern area of Mozambique thinning down to smaller area along its coastline in the south. Inland westward to Mozambique’s border with South Africa’s
8 G. du Rand and H. Fisher precipitation reduces to approximately 200–300 mm p/a. Mozambique, due to its location along the Indian Ocean, is exposed to extreme climatic conditions like cyclones, heavy storms, and floods, while the central and southern regions are prone to drought, which can drastically affect food security. Zimbabwe has a subtropical climate due to its high average elevation with the highest precipitation in the Eastern Highlands (900–1,000 mm) and to the north. Western Zimbabwe has an average rainfall of around 500 mm and a lesser amount (200–300 mm) toward the southern border with South Africa. Botswana is a semi-arid to arid region. The average summer rainfall is 500 mm per year in the northeast and less than 250 mm in the rest of the country. Eighty percent of Botswana is covered by the Kalahari Desert. Namibia generally has a hot and dry climate. The amount of precipitation increases from the coastal zone (Namib Desert, 0–100 mm) in the west to a maximum of 600 mm in the northeast, the Caprivi Strip. Demography The number of people residing in the demarcated Southern African region totals 111,641,399 (111 million persons) according to the World Bank estimate of 2019 and makes up 8.7% of Africa’s total population. The density of persons per square kilometer ranges between 3.1 in Namibia and 81 in eSwatini. South Africa, Mozam- bique, and Zimbabwe have a density of 47, 39, and 44 people per square kilometer, respectively. Mozambique has the highest population growth rate (2.95%) and Lesotho the lowest (0.80%) as presented in the graph reflected in Fig. 3. Agriculture The agricultural sector plays an important role in Southern Africa in providing food for consumption and production and as an export product. The following section contextualizes the contribution of the agricultural sector of South Africa to the sustainable provision of food products and creating food security in Southern Africa. At the end of June 2017, 748,113 people were employed in the agriculture and related services industry in South Africa. South Africa’s Census 2011 included (for the first time in South Africa’s recorded history) households involved in subsistence agriculture or smallholder farming, and not only those involved in commercial agriculture (Statistics South Africa/Stats SA 2018, p. 6). The income earned in the agriculture and related services industry in South Africa was R302,8 billion in 2017. As can be seen in Fig. 4, in 2017 “animals and animal products” generated the largest sales (R128,2 billion), followed by “horticultural crops and products” (R74,4 billion) and “field crops” (R57,0 billion). The highest percentage increase was recorded for income earned from the sale of “horticultural crops and products” 15.0% 7.9% and 5.9%. Flowing from this information, 20% (2,9 million) of the approximate 14,5 million households in South Africa are categorized as agricultural households. From the Census 2011, Agricultural Households Report No. 03-11-01, 2011, involvement in various types of agriculture and percentage of households active in these agricultural sectors were calculated (Fig. 5). Take note that one agricultural household can have more than one agricultural activity (Statistics South Africa/Stats SA 2013, p. 5).
Eating and Drinking in Southern Africa 9 Fig. 3 Graph reflecting the population and growth of selected countries in Southern Africa (data extracted from: World Bank 2019. https://databank.worldbank.org) Fig. 4 South Africa: income by type of product in agriculture and related service industries, 2016 and 2017 (Statistics South Africa/Stats SA 2018, p. 6)
10 G. du Rand and H. Fisher
South Africa: Agricultural type by province
100.0
90.0
80.0
70.0
Percentage (%)
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
Western Eastern Northern KwaZulu- North Mpuma- South
Free State Gauteng Limpopo
Cape Cape Cape Natal West langa Africa
Other 15.8 2.0 4.4 3.5 3.1 4.9 14.1 4.1 3.5 4.7
Mixed farming 23.3 30.7 14.8 13.3 24.6 15.3 20.5 18.4 16.2 21.8
Crop only 34.9 18.0 17.6 56.8 30.3 17.2 48.8 32.2 34.4 31.2
Animals only 26.0 49.3 63.2 26.5 41.9 62.6 16.6 45.2 46.0 42.4
Fig. 5 South Africa: distribution of agricultural households by type of activity and province
(Statistics South Africa/Stats SA 2013, p. 5)
Information derived from Fig. 6, for South Africa as a whole, is evident that most
of the agricultural households are involved in poultry production (1,299,288), with
1,123,524 households ranking second in vegetable production and in third place,
with just more than one million (1,096,854) households active in livestock
production.
Farming Activities in South Africa
South Africa is diverse in its vegetation, climate, soil, and biodiversity; therefore,
farming activities range from intensive crop production in both winter rainfall
(Western Cape) and summer rainfall regions (the rest of South Africa) to cattle
farming in the Northern Free State and Eastern Cape on the Grassland Biome. Sheep
farming is mostly in the arid and semi-arid regions of the Northern Cape, where the
Nama Karoo Biome and the succulent Karoo Biome are both sparsely vegetated and
covered with low shrubland.
The map in Fig. 7 shows the land cover and land utilization, including agricultural
production in South Africa. A brief overview of the agricultural production follows.
Grain
Grain is the largest of South Africa’s agricultural industries, comprising 25–30% of
the total gross agricultural production while Maize is the largest sector in the grain
industry. More than 9,000 commercial maize producers are responsible for the main
production of maize, together with thousands of small-scale maize farmers. The
main maize producers are found in the North West, Free State, Mpumalanga
Highveld, and KwaZulu-Natal’s Midlands. Maize production is about eight million
ton per year, and the surplus is exported to neighboring countries.Eating and Drinking in Southern Africa 11
South Africa: Households per agricultural type
1,400,000 1,299,288
1,123,524
Number of households
1,200,000 1,096,854
1,000,000
800,000 659,740
600,000
400,000 278,051
175,968
200,000
0
Livestock Poultry Vegetable Production Fodder/ Other, e.g.
production production production of other grazing bee keeping
crops production
Fig. 6 South African households per agricultural type
Fig. 7 South Africa: land cover and land use, 2013/14. (Source of original spatial data downloaded
from https://www.environment.gov.za)
Wheat is produced in the winter rainfall areas of the Western Cape and in the
Eastern Free State. Barley fields are found on the Southern Coastal plains of the
Western Cape.
Sorghum crops are cultivated in the drier areas of Mpumalanga, Free State,
Limpopo, North West, and Gauteng.12 G. du Rand and H. Fisher Sunflower fields are found in the Free State, North West, Mpumalanga Highveld, and Limpopo while groundnuts are grown in the drier areas of the Free State, North West, and the Northern Cape (Agri News Net/Farmingportal/Agriportal South Africa 2019). Other South Africa also produces soya beans, groundnuts, and canola. Income from these crops at the end of June 2017 was 32.3%, 304.6%, and 29.35%, respectively (Republic of South Africa, 2019. South Africa Yearbook 2017/18, p. 7). Field crops as discussed above are reflected by the bright pink areas on the land cover/ use map labeled as “Cultivated Commercial Fields” (Fig. 7). Worthwhile mentioning is South Africa’s success with the macadamia industry. According to the Macadamia Magazine (The Macadamia, 2018), in 2017/2018, South Africa was the world’s largest producer and exporter of macadamia nuts. Macadamia orchards are mostly found in Mpumalanga (49%) while Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal follow with 21% and 20%, respectively. Local consumption is low while 98% of the yield is exported annually to mostly China and Europe. Sugarcane The land cover/land use map shows that the cultivated sugarcane fields (pink-orange color) are mainly found along the coast in KwaZulu-Natal, spreading approximately 100 km inland around Pietermaritzburg in the Midlands. Other sugarcane producers are found northward in eSwatini, in the southern Mpumalanga lowveld and in northern coastal regions of the Eastern Cape. In 2018 there were more than 20,000 registered sugarcane growers, of which more than 90% were small-scale farmers (South Africa Online (Pty) Ltd. 2018). According to the South Africa Cane Growers’ Association and the South African Sugar Millers’ Association, the sugar industry contributes R12-billion to South Africa’s economy and provides 350,000 jobs, especially in the rural areas (Wilson 2017). South Africa ranks 13th as sugar producer in the world with an annual production of around two million tons of sugar (Agri News Net/Farmingportal/Agriportal South Africa 2019). Fifty percent of this sugar production is exported to nearby Southern Africa and the rest to other African countries, the Middle East, North America, and Asia. Fruit The main producers of deciduous fruit, i.e., plums, apricots, peaches and nectarines, apples, and pears are located in the Western Cape’s Langkloof region around Ceres, Paarl, Wellington, Franschhoek, Villiersdorp, Robertson, and Ladismith. The cli- mate north of Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape province lends itself toward the cultivation of plums, nectarines, and peaches. Prince Albert produces fresh and dried figs. Apple and pear orchards are found around Elgin and Grabouw while irrigated apple farms started producing fruit in the Eastern Free State from 1996 according to The Farmers Weekly magazine (Uys 2015). Citrus farms are found around Citrusdal along the Olifants River (Western Cape), Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape), Marble Hall in Limpopo, the Mbombela/Nelspruit-
Eating and Drinking in Southern Africa 13 Komatipoort region in Mpumalanga, around Pongola in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, and along the Orange River. Smaller citrus producers are also located around Rustenburg in the North West Prince. A total area of 68,263 ha was under citrus production in South Africa during 2016 (South Africa: Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: Citrus 2017, p. 6). Since 1995, South Africa’s export of citrus fruit has been growing steadily to become the largest citrus exporter in the Southern hemisphere. This can be accredited to the good quality of the citrus products grown. In 2015, 117 million 15 kg cartons of citrus fruits were exported worldwide. Pineapples (see dark purple areas on land cover/use map). Of the more or less 262 fresh pineapple suppliers in Africa, South Africa is the largest. The pineapple industry is seasonal, mainly operating between March and November. Pineapples are subtropical fruit and are mainly produced in the coastal areas of the Eastern Cape around East London, Port Elizabeth, Alexandria, Port Alfred, and along the Great Fish River. Northern KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo also contribute to South Africa’s pineapple production. The total pineapple production during 2016/17 was a declin- ing 88,763 tons in comparison to the previous 104,379 tons in 2015/16 due to international competitive markets (South Africa: Department of Agriculture, For- estry and Fisheries: Pineapples 2018, p. 6). Ninety percent of the pineapples are canned in the Eastern Cape (Alibaba.com). South Africa also produces avocados, mangoes, bananas, litchis, guavas, paw- paws, and granadillas. These are grown in the more subtropical regions of Mpu- malanga, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape. Grapes and Wine Wine is one of South Africa’s largest agricultural exports (Sihlobo 2019). The Western Cape province is the main wine region of South Africa (see land cover/ use map – maroon colored areas) mostly concentrated around Cape Town, Stellen- bosch, Paarl, Franschhoek, Robertson, Tulbagh, Darling and Cape South Coast, Northern Cape, and the Little Karoo. Wine producers employ over 60,000 people, and in 2018 South Africa ranked sixth in the world export of wine valued at Euro 663 million. According to 2018 data of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), South Africa ranks 9th among the wine-producing countries in the world, producing 9,5 million hectoliters (mhl). South Africa has 2,873 farms where grapes are grown for winemaking. It boasts 542 wineries in total, 213 are classified as Wine Estates, 121 are wholesalers, 47 cooperative wineries, and 468 independent winer- ies. The total area under vine and wine grapes are 93,021 ha (275 m vines) vs 94,545 ha in 2017. Annual wine production in 2018 was 824 million liters. In 2018, export sales totaled 420,2 million liters while annual domestic sales came to 431,4 million liters, i.e., just more than 50% is sold locally (Top Wine 2019).
14 G. du Rand and H. Fisher
Vegetables
Potatoes
South Africa is self-sufficient in the production of potatoes (Harvest 2017), which is
achieved on less than 1% of the land utilized for agricultural purposes. Limpopo,
Eastern and Western Free State, and the Sandveld (West Coast) contribute to 68% of
the total annual production, while other high-lying areas in Mpumalanga, Western
and Northern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal produce the rest. Between 45,000 and
50,000 people are employed, permanently and seasonally, in the potato industry.
South Africans consume 90% of the potato production, and approximately 8% is
exported to neighboring countries. Consumer spending for 2016 on potatoes and
potato by-products was around R25 billion and demand gradually increases on a
year to year basis (Harvest 2017).
In South Africa, potatoes (40%) and other vegetables (38%) like onions, green
mealies, and sweetcorn generate farmers’ main gross income. Onions are grown in
Mpumalanga, the Western Cape, and the Southern Free State. Cabbage is concen-
trated in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal around Greytown and Camperdown.
Other mentionable products:
Tea (honeybush and rooibos) has had increased production over the past few
years. Honeybush tea grows mainly along the coast and in the mountains of the
Western Cape but also in the Eastern Cape. Rooibos tea is an indigenous herb
produced in the Cederberg (Clanwilliam area) of the Western Cape (http://www.
farmingportal.co.za). Approximately 8,000 farm laborers produce 14,000 tons of
rooibos a year (sarooibos.co.za), of which half is exported and the rest is consumed
locally (The South African Rooibos Council 2018).
Livestock Farming
Livestock comprises mainly sheep, cattle, poultry, and pig farming as part of the
agricultural sector in South Africa, with 13,8 million cattle and 28,8 million sheep in
2017. The poultry industry, both on commercial and subsistence farms, is larger than
the cattle farming and very intensive (Agri News Net/Farmingportal/Agriportal
South Africa 2019).
Poultry
According to the South Africa Poultry Association, which was established in 1904
and is one of SA’s oldest agricultural organizations, the poultry industry remains the
largest single contributor (19.8%) to the agricultural sector in South Africa. Of the
total agricultural gross value, 19.9%, and 40.0% of animal product gross value in
2017 stemmed from poultry production. The industry provides direct employment
for over 54,000 people (South African Poultry Association 2017). Approximately
76% of poultry is used for meat production and the remaining 24% in the egg
industry. The poultry industry continues to be the highest feeder of animal protein
sources combined. South Africa dominates regional production of chicken meat,
accounting for 73.1% of total production in the SADC bloc in 2017 (Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2019). Although egg exportsEating and Drinking in Southern Africa 15
(R316 million) decreased by 13% in 2017 compared to 2016, the main destinations
for South African egg exports in 2017 were Mozambique (78.2%), eSwatini (9.5%),
Lesotho (5.8%), Zimbabwe (2.9%), Namibia (2.0%), and Botswana (0.3%).
The gross value of primary agricultural production from poultry meat (inclusive
of all types of poultry) for 2017 was R40,04 billion (South Africa: Department of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries/DAFF). Poultry meat production is the largest
product sector in agriculture in South Africa, ahead of all other animal sectors (beef
production (R36,6 billion), milk (R17,5 billion), and eggs (R10,8 billion)) and ahead
of all field crop and horticultural sectors. The maize sector, for example, had a gross
value of R29,8 billion and deciduous and citrus fruit were valued at R19,0 and R19,2
billion, respectively. Poultry meat’s share of the gross value of all agricultural
production was 15.9%, and of all animal products 32.1% (South African Poultry
Association 2017). Poultry and pig farming are found near metropolitan areas of
Gauteng, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth.
Beef Farming
South Africa produces only 85% of its meat requirements because demand is higher
than production. Fifteen percent of meat is imported from Namibia, Botswana,
eSwatini, Australia, New Zealand, and the EU. Cattle farms are mostly found in
the Eastern Cape, some areas of the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and
the Northern Cape (Agri News Net/Farmingportal/Agriportal South Africa 2019).
Sheep and Goat Farming
Sheep farming is concentrated in arid and semi-arid regions of the Northern and
Eastern Cape, Northern area of Western Cape (includes the Karoo region), and the
Free State. Indigenous boer goats are adaptable to various climate conditions and
make 30% of commercial goat numbers. Angora Goats in South Africa produce
mohair from approximately 700 commercial and 300 smaller farms.
The game farming and aquaculture industries also play an important role in the
farming sector. The main game farming areas are in Limpopo, North West, Mpu-
malanga, Free State, Eastern Cape, the Karoo, Kalahari (in the Northern Cape), and
the thorn scrub region of KZN. The major aquaculture species in South Africa are
mussels (Saldanha in the West Coast of the Western Cape), trout, tilapia, catfish,
oysters, and waterblommetjies (Western Cape).
In summary, GDP from Agriculture in South Africa decreased to 69,058.48 ZAR
Million in the third quarter of 2019 from 70,443.35 ZAR Million in the first
quarter of 2019 (Trading Economics 2019). South Africa’s exports for 2018 came
to $9,9bn, which is 0.5% lower than that of 2017. South Africa’s top export products
were edible fruits, beverages (largely wine), spirits, vegetable, and wool (Sihlobo
2019). The estimated volume of agricultural production in 2016/2017 was 7.7%
more than in 2015/2016 (Republic of South Africa 2019 – Agriculture, p. 7). Africa
remains South Africa’s largest market for agricultural exports, i.e., 38% (Sihlobo
2019).
The maps, tables, and graphs used in Section 1.2 addressing the environment
provides contextual information explaining why South Africa is regarded as an16 G. du Rand and H. Fisher important country in the production of food and a major role player in providing food security in Southern Africa and Africa as a whole. However, the Southern African region is not without its problems. Climate changes such as higher temperatures and prolonged droughts affect agricultural food production in many regions. As devel- opment increases and people choose more convenience foods, they are faced with similar health related problems as other societies of the world. People of Southern Africa and the Development of the Cuisine of the Region Often cited as the birthplace of humans, Africa has been inhabited for millions of years (Ackerman 2013, p. 137; Lelliott 2016, p. 2). Homo sapiens have been around the landscape of South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, eSwatini, and Namibia (collectively referred to as Southern Africa) for more than 50,000 years, and tribes have distinct cultures (Samuelsson 2006, p. xxi). These original inhabitants of Southern Africa are believed to be the ancestors of the San or Sanqua people (San correctly referring to the language), from places such as the Tsodilo Hills in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa (Osseo-Asare 2005, p. 51). A further group of early inhabitants of Southern Africa is the KhoiKhoi (KoiKoi or Kwena), who were cattle herders and who lived a more sedentary life than the San. They were important traders with the seventeenth century European explorers for provisions to their ships (Osseo-Asare 2005, p. 52). Apart from the Khoi and San people, the Bantu migration roughly 4000 years ago into Southern Africa saw the introduction of skills such as iron work, agriculture, and distinctive pottery. Many of today’s black Southern African ethnic groups are descendants of these earlier groups (Osseo-Asare 2005, p. 53). The diet of the country’s first people obviously consisted of veldkos (field or bush food) (Leipoldt 1982, p. 29). The food that could be foraged included leaves, such as mustard leaves, sorrel and wild asparagus that were staples of the Khoisan people’s diets (Osseo- Asare 2005, p. 57). The first Dutch colonists of the Cape, in 1652, encountered a related group of local inhabitants, whom the they named Strandlopers (beach walkers), and who “kept no cattle and did not hunt but lived off the sea consuming things such as mussels, abalone, crayfish, seagulls, penguins, and seals” (Osseo- Asare 2005, p. 57). In Renata Coetzee (2018), A Feast from Nature: Food Culture of the First Humans on Planet Earth (2018), the author meticulously recounts the food culture of early humans, as well as how the indigenous KhoiKhoi transformed natural edible products and developed their own cuisine. Additionally to the local San people (Coetzee and Miros 2009) and the Bantu and Khoi people who migrated into Southern Africa, other non-African immigrants (such as the Arab traders linked to Great Zimbabwe, as well as Malay and Indian indentured slaves), including the colonial powers (the Dutch, English, Portuguese, French, and Germans), played crucial roles in the formation of the culinary heritage of the region from the sixteenth century onward (Osseo-Asare 2005, p. 57). The formation of the maritime empire at the Cape of Good Hope promoted the processes
Eating and Drinking in Southern Africa 17
of migration, which resulted in class hierarchies, cultural overlays, and social
borrowing, which were fundamental to the emergence of the cuisines of Southern
Africa over time (McCann 2010, p. 4).
Initially, Cape Malay people cooked very much in the style of the Dutch colo-
nists, but by the middle of the eighteenth century, food habits had been modified to
suit the surroundings, owing as much to the east as it did to the west (Gerber 1978,
p. 10). Slaves who were good cooks were sought after as domestic servants, “a
circumstance which affected in a high degree the alimentary customs of both master
and slave,” with the result that many of today’s South African food show Orient and
Occident blends (Gerber 1978, pp. 11, 12). A distinct cuisine, known as Old Cape
Cookery or Cape Malay cuisine evolved through a blend of European cuisine with
those of people that came to the Cape as slaves from Angola, Guinea, Mozambique,
Madagascar, Java, Bali, Indonesia, Malaysian peninsula, China, and India (Osseo-
Asare 2005, p. 57). Traders from Mozambique and Angola, sister colonies of
Portugal, brought with them corn, beans, chili peppers, particularly to the southern
parts of Africa (Samuelsson 2006, p. xxii).
Cuisine of South Africa in the Twenty-First Century
In a time where global racial polarization is again at the forefront of human
consciousness (Abramowitz and McCoy 2019, p. 137), and furthermore, in context
of South Africa’s historic system of institutionalized racial segregation, it is impor-
tant to introduce the cuisine of South Africa along cultural divisions with sensitivity.
It is important to not marginalize one South African group over the other, but rather
that this introduction to South African cuisine should celebrate the uniqueness and
cultural diversity of the nation as a whole. After more than 25 years of democracy in
South Africa, the struggle against persistent inequality among the Rainbow Nations’
different population groups remains real. Food is one of the few unifying cultural
aspects, as evidenced by the fervor with which National Braai Day (actually Heritage
Day) is celebrated annually on 24 September. However, even though today a much
more inclusive food culture is celebrated, 10 years ago “if anything [were] men-
tioned about South African cuisine, it [was] usually only about Afrikaans or Cape
Malay food” (Sitole 2009, p. 4).
The cuisine of South Africa has been shaped over time and influenced by many
factors previously mentioned. In order to describe current food practices in Southern
Africa, one would probably need to refer to recipes and recipe books, as they are
considered to be the primary historical source about cooking, and furthermore are
believed to be markers of accumulated experiences of previous generations of cooks
(McCann 2010, p. 11).
In the remainder of this section, the cuisine of South Africa is explored in four
main groups, much like most ethnic classifications are made in the country, namely,
Colored South Africans, South African Indians, African ethnic groups of
South Africa, and finally European races of South Africa. It is however important
to understand that the cuisine of those classified as colored South African would18 G. du Rand and H. Fisher
differ between those who consider themselves colored and those who consider
themselves Cape Malay. Similarly, the cuisines of black ethnic South African groups
would differ among the different ethnic groups, such as Zulu, Xhosa, Bapedi (North
Sotho), Ndebele, Basotho (South Sotho), Venda, Tsonga, Swazi, and Batswana.
Similarly, English-speaking white South Africans eat differently from Afrikaans or
other European descendant white South Africans and Hindu South African Indians
have different food habits from Muslim South African Indian people. Table 1 pre-
sents a summary of unique South African food and drink items and dishes and
indicates to which of the four cultural groups these dishes are specific, but also which
items are shared as a nation. Some of the items in the table may further also be part of
South Africa’s neighbor’s cuisine, possibly with small variations and with language-
specific names for such dishes.
As per the previous discussion regarding the Southern African agricultural
practices, the region of Southern Africa is rich in nutritious robust foods such as
dry beans, samp, maize rice and maize meal, corn rice, sorghum, groundnuts, offal,
caterpillars, dried meat, vitamin-packed morogo, unusual vegetables such as
amadumbe and others (Sitole 2009, p. 5). Interactions and consequent influences
between South Africa and neighboring countries (Du Rand et al. 2016, p. 9) have
shaped the current cuisine and will likely continue in the future, such as peri-peri
sauce which originated from countries with Portuguese influences like Mozambique
and Angola (Niezen and Fitzpatrick 2012, p. 101).
Colored South African People
Colored South African or Cape Malay people are mostly descendants from people
originating from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia who were enslaved in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by the Dutch East India Company and brought
to the Cape (Samuelsson 2006, p. 309). Even though many colored people still suffer
economic hardship, particularly in areas on the Cape Flats such as the suburb of
Mannenberg, it is made bearable by the “togetherness through food” says cookbook
authors Sydow and Sydow Noordien (2019, p. 6). Since those early days, a hybrid
cuisine was created, melding curries, chilies, and spices such as ginger, cinnamon,
and turmeric and the concept of serving meat with cooked fruit (Samuelsson 2006,
p. 164). Over time, dishes evolved with delightful names, such as a warme worsie
smoortjie that is made from “oulap worsies” or Penny Polonies, an inexpensive
Vienna sausage and tomato stew (Sydow and Sydow Noordien 2019, p. 36).
Colored or Cape Malay people delight in eating and feast often, which is also part
of their religious tradition, with food mostly being about flavor, rather aromatic than
hot (Gerber 1978, p. 9). Dhaltjies, for instance (a deep-fried chickpea flour, masala,
and chili fritter, also referred to as a chili bite), is often served during the month of
fasting on the Boeka table (Sydow and Sydow Noordien 2019, p. 22) and mavrou “not
quite curry nor a bredie – but somehow meets in the middle” (also mafrew (Abrahams
1995, p. 69)) – a beef and tomato dish traditionally served at weddings (Sydow and
Sydow Noordien 2019, p. 116). Kabobs, oblong frikadelles are hard-boiled eggs
wrapped in mince and fried and are often served at Eid-ul-fitr, also called Labarang
or Lebaran (Gerber 1978, p. 16; Lagardien 2008, p. 106). Finally, for prayer gatheringsEating and Drinking in Southern Africa 19 a plain sugar biscuit called a Saboeratjie, studded with a row of three dried currants down the middle of the round biscuit is served (Lagardien 2008, p. 131; Sydow and Sydow Noordien 2019, p. 174). Cape Malay people even have a special cook/chef, the motjie kok, who is highly regarded in the community to cook for weddings and funerals for up to a 1000 people (Abrahams 1995, p. 9). Says contributor Kubra Mohamed “every Saturday for the past 18 years, I’ve been cooking koesisters [koesisters] for the people of the Bo-Kaap” (Riffel et al. 2016, p. 270). African Ethnic Groups of South Africa Many of the previously differentiated black South Africans in this group enjoy simple food, often cooked on open coals for maximum flavor (Samuelsson 2006, p. 278). “The concept of Shisa Nyama comes from our African identity, culture and heritage. Customer[s] come in, pick the meat of their choice, and our braai masters cook it to perfection” says Rita Zwane (Riffel et al. 2016, p. 132). Urban and rural black South Africans also display differences in their diets, such as rural people who may also partake in the consumption of insects, although perhaps not to the extent people from the neighboring countries do. Just a little north of Zimbabwe, in Malawi, a group of housewives included recipes for a range of insects in their Malawi Cookbook, such as bee larvae (ana a njuchi), large green bush crickets (bwamnoni), grasshoppers (dziwala), red locusts (dzombe), flying ants (inswa/ mbulika), black flying ants (mafullufute), green caterpillars (mofa/pphalabungu/ kawichi/mbwabwa/katondo), sand crickets (nkhululu), large green shield bug (nkhunguni), lake fly (nkhungu), shield bug (nsensya), and cicadas (njenje) (McCann 2010, p. 149). Other traditional dishes, as per Table 1, include steamed breads, simmered farm chicken, grain beers, and many more. Leafy green vegetables, or morogo, the generic term for such wild leaves, include examples such as bean plants, beetroot leaves, and sweet potato (Sitole 2009, p. 42). Also referred to as mukusule, these variety of greens may even be sun-dried and kept for the future when in excess, particularly during the winter months (Sitole 2009, p. 58). European Races of South Africa White South Africans are mostly differentiated by their home language, such as Afrikaans, English, or other European languages such as Greek, German, or Portu- guese. The cuisine of these specific language users often direct their home food habits: English-speaking white South Africans probably eat foods based on tradi- tional English food practices, while Afrikaners’ food is historically based on Dutch cuisine that was very much influenced by English food, German, and French influences, as well as some of the local black and Portuguese cuisine influences. It is, however, specifically the Malay influence for spices that contribute to what is considered Afrikaner cuisine or Boerekos (Van Zyl 1985, p. 5). As can be observed from Table 1, many meat dishes exist in the repertoire of this group.
20 G. du Rand and H. Fisher
South African Indian People
Indian cookery in South Africa dates back to the first boatload of indentured laborers
who arrived in South Africa in 1860 (Parbhoo 2008, p. 7). Even though these arrivals
were for the same reason, they were by no means a homogenous group, bringing a
vast array of food variances that came with their linguistic, geographical, and
religious differences (Mayat 2007, p. 18). Even though Indian cookery in
South Africa is typically Indian, it differs from India and Pakistan, and have biryanis,
bhajias (chili-bites), samosa, curry and rice, and achars, which have become
familiar fare for all racial groups in South Africa (Mayat 2007, p. 18). Curry, the
generic term that the British used to group all spicy sauce and gravy-based Indian
dishes under one label (Govender-Ypma 2017, p. 7), is another much loved
South African cross-cultural dish, so much, so that author Ishay Govender-Ypma
(2017, p. 6) identified no less than 64 distinct curries, spread over seven of
South Africa’s 9 provinces, to such a degree that the concept of a Durban curry is
said to be “not a blend of North and South”, “. . . not a clone. It originated here!”
(Platter et al. 2015, p. 10). Many preparation and cooking methods for South African
Indian dishes follow styles such as those in India, where, for instance, spices and
flavorings in curry dishes, for example, are fried off prior to other South African-
specific ingredients that are added.
A Rainbow Cuisine of South Africa
From Table 1, it is clear that many dishes are only specific to the particular cultural
group as discussed before. However, it would be impossible to “dress up and
package” the cuisine of South Africa into stand-alone separate groups (Engelbrecht
and De Beer 2005, p. 8), to the extent that the concept of a Rainbow Cuisine, as an
inclusive South African cuisine, has been proposed (Snyman and Sawa 2001). It
should however be noted that some of the food items in Table 1 will also be found as
part of the cuisine of South Africa’s neighboring countries, possibly with small
variations and certainly called by a different name.
A dish such as biriyani that may be considered a very Indian dish is equally found
in the Cape Malay cuisine and that of the Afrikaner (Van Zyl 1985, p. 36). Crossover
flavors include the use of dried naartjie (clementine) peel, which is ground into a
powder and used to flavor cakes, puddings, meat dishes, and vegetables (Sydow and
Sydow Noordien 2019, p. 13). Samuelsson (2006, p. 285) writes that there is one
dish South African families gather for on Sunday afternoons, whether Afrikaner,
Cape Malay, or of black descent, that is called bobotie (a curried minced meat dish,
baked with a savory custard topping) – colored families may add almonds and
raisins, while Afrikaners may prefer a simpler version, also sometimes made with
venison, such as made by Annatjie Reynolds (Riffel et al. 2016, p. 74). Colored
people often also serve their bobotie (and other dishes) with yellow rice, made
slightly more flavorsome with sultanas and cardamom (Lagardien 2008, p. 81).
Potjiekos, a meat and vegetable stew cooked in layers in a three-legged cast iron
pot over an open fire, is another firm favorite of the whole nation, irrespective of
culture, and many potjiekos competitions are held countrywide. Even thoughEating and Drinking in Southern Africa 21
boerewors, in Table 1, is indicated as a food item from the European and black
cultural groups, it is one of the quintessential South African foods (Samuelsson
2006, p. 281). Although made with a myriad of spice mixes and flavors, these days it
should essentially be made a mixture of beef and pork meat, coarsely ground and
stuffed in a continuous intestine casing, and often braaied on an open fire (Van Zyl
1985, p. 83). Pickled fish, also referred to as curried fish (Van Zyl 1985, p. 24), is
equally revered by many population groups of South Africa, even though colored
people often serve it on Easter Friday with hot cross buns (Sydow and Sydow
Noordien 2019, p. 38). Roosterkoek (Essop and Fraser 2012, p. 22; Roodt 2016,
p. 75), basically bread rolls cooked on a grid over a “braai” fire, by Thelma
Ntombozi Magwadi (Riffel et al. 2016, p. 282), or vetkoek (Van Zyl 1985, p. 156),
deep-fried yeast bread dough buns such as that made by Ntombenhle Mtambo (Riffel
et al. 2016, p. 150) and possibly even askoek (Essop and Fraser 2012, p. 115), bun
sized pieces of bread dough baked directly in the coals, are essentially all made with
the same dough recipe but cooked in different ways. Vetkoek would be what black
South Africans sometimes may call fatcakes or magwenya (magwinya as they are
known in Botswana). The bunny chow, from the slang term for hunks of bread with a
saucy bean curry, bania chow, eaten by the mercantile class (Mayat 2007, p. 297), is
indeed a shining example of the saying “necessity is the mother of invention.”
Essentially half a “government” loaf bread, of which the inside is scooped out and
filled with meat and/or vegetable curry such as made by the Patels (Riffel et al. 2016,
p. 296) in the apartheid years when places to sit down and consume a meal were
reserved for whites only (Platter et al. 2015, p. 11), the bunny chow provided both
container and filling starch in one go. Other street food sandwiches, such as the
Gatsby (Sydow and Sydow Noordien 2019, p. 118), spatlo (also spelled sphatlo and
spathlo), and kota, are South African sandwiches popular in the townships of
Gauteng. It is made from a hollowed out quarter loaf of bread, filled with a variety
of ingredients, often chips, cheese, polony, and atchar and even chakalaka (Sitole
2009, p. 55), a delicious condiment salad made with carrots, onions, peppers, and
curry powder.
Finally, one of the staples of the region, pap, is made of ground maize flour and
water cooked together to varying thicknesses. Stywepap (Van Zyl 1985, p. 99) is stiff
porridge, often eaten at a braai (barbeque) but also often eaten with milk and sugar
for a filling breakfast. Even though maize, whole, dried, crushed, or ground, may be
a staple of many African countries, Dorah Sitole (2009, p. 21) considers the isiXhosa
of the Eastern Cape the “custodians” of the grain. Even presentation is important in
such a humble dish, such as vhutetwe/vhuswa, where the cooked porridge is poured
out in layers on a plate to resemble thick pancakes that are kept covered so they stay
moist and the layers are peeled off when required (Sitole 2009, p. 60). When a
straight maize porridge is made that is fermented, it is called vhuswa (Sitole 2009,
p. 59), while imbila is a sour fermented porridge made with maize meal and
sorghum. When the porridge itself is not fermented or soured, such as ting (Sitole
2009, p. 38) (also made from mabele meal (Sitole 2009, p. 63)), but made with sour
milk, it is called imphalishi elimuncu by Zulu South Africans (Sitole 2009, p. 32), or
sebube of the Setswana (Sitole 2009, p. 63). Krummelpap, or putupap (or simply22 G. du Rand and H. Fisher
phutu (Sitole 2009, p. 30)), is another variance of the nation’s staple food that is
made in a crumbly version that resembles bright white couscous (Roodt 2016, p. 16).
On the Highveld of South Africa and Lesotho, it is called mealie pap (mielie pap) or
papa, while in Venda near the Limpopo river it is referred to as mutuku, and further
across the border into Zimbabwe it is called sadza, and called xima or upswa in
Mozambique (McCann 2010, p. 137). When made by Xhosa speaking people from
the Eastern Cape, it is often cooked together with a variety of wild green vegetables
and called umfino (McCann 2010, p. 152). In this region, maize rice is also often
cooked the same way (Sitole 2009, p. 26). When made simply with spinach leaves
and maize meal, it is called isijabane by Swazi people (Sitole 2009, p. 46), or a sugar
bean and maize meal porridge that is called sishwala, also made by Swazi people
(Sitole 2009, p. 48). As one of the core staples of a large part of the African
continent, “it is remarkable that it almost never appears in published literature on
cooking” (McCann 2010, p. 138) – there are only three references of maize (none of
them referencing the porridge that most populations consume, but rather as samp, a
dried whole maize kernel), in Jessica Harris’s The African Cookbook. In the much
more academic comprehensive work by Fran Osseo-Asare, Food Culture in
sub-Saharan Africa, only one recipe for a maize dish, namely, Congolese bidia, is
offered. Similarly, Laurens van der Post’s African Cooking provides only two
recipes, of which one is for a green mealie bread (made with fresh white maize
kernels), which makes little sense, considering maize is Africa’s most produced food
crop (McCann 2010, p. 139). It is also the food item people rely on in times of need,
such as Mozambique women’s account when there is severe poverty, and they say
that then the xima is even eaten without a sauce, instead a small piece of dried fish
will be cut off and roasted over the fire, so that people can sit around and smell the
fish, which makes the xima more appetizing and makes people feel more full
(McCann 2010, p. 139). A similar tale, as told by Lizz Meiring, is called pap en
tik, of Knysna forest workers that were so poor, that they hung a piece of meat from a
string above the table, so that each person could touch (tik) their ball of porridge
(pap) against the meat to get a bit of the flavor of the meat. These days pap however
even comes in a modernized luxurious tart, made with layers of tomato sauce,
mushrooms, bacon, and cheese (Roodt 2016, p. 147).
Ginger beer, a slightly effervescent sweet drink made from water, sugar, yeast,
and various gingers, sometimes with raisins added (Van Zyl 1985, p. 183), is one of
the cross-cultural drinks of the nation, while rusks (those dried-out slightly sweet
bread-like biscuit with a cup of coffee or tea) and biltong are eaten by most people in
the country as snack food (Essop and Fraser 2012, p. 63; Roodt 2016, p. 278). Other
beverages may include Klippies en Coke, a brandy and Coca Cola drink made from a
brand of brandy called Klipdrift. Fermented home brewed beers are made by various
black cultural groups, such as those displayed in Table 1, umqombothi from the
Xhosa and Zulu people that is produced from maize, maize malt, sorghum malt,
yeast, and water.
In conclusion, whether the specific food dishes belong to any of the four specific
demographic or ethnic groups of South Africa, or is considered a true Rainbow food,
the cuisine of the region is vibrant and evolving. These days celebrity chefs andEating and Drinking in Southern Africa 23 restaurants celebrate the inclusive cuisine of South Africa in a variety of ways, such as Zayaan Khan (Riffel et al. 2016, p. 182) and restaurateur Kobus van der Merwe, who celebrate the notion of a foraged cuisine that includes items such as seaweed, grey leaves (Salvia africana-lutea), Aasbos (Coleonema alba), tortoise berry (Muraltia spinosa), crowberries (Searsia), sour figs or vygies (Carpobrotus edulis), and kei apples (Dovyalis caffra). Other modernizations of traditional dishes include Swartland Eggs Benedict, skilpadjies (minced sheep’s liver in caul fat (Essop and Fraser 2012, p. 155)) with pan gravy and poached eggs, as made by Adi Badenhorst (Riffel et al. 2016, p. 112) or an amadumbe, mbuya, and purslane salad by Nompumelelo Mqwebu (Riffel et al. 2016, p. 244). Indigenous ingredients are often celebrated and even given certified status, such as Karoo lamb that is defined as Karoo lamb or Karoo mutton which denotes the origin of sheep meat products and can be associated to carcasses, freshly packed or frozen meat or derivative products complying with the certification standards (KD Foundation 2019). A cuisine develops over time with many contributions, which are, among other, also deter- mined by specific indigenous ingredients, such as waterblommetjies (water flowers) or Cape pondweed; Aponogeton distachyos, grown in dams and vleis of the Cape (Sitole 2009, p. 16); mawuyu or umkhomo, a baobab fruit dessert made in Zimbabwe (Sitole 2009, p. 74); or muthumbula (mandioca), deep-fried cassava from Mozam- bique (Sitole 2009, p. 81). Kalahari truffle, from which several dishes can be made, such as truffle oil (de Chavonnes Vrugt et al. 2009, p. 22), is an edible dessert fungi, Kalaharituber pfeilii (once known as Terfezia pfeilii), that forms a symbiotic rela- tionship with the roots of several plant species, most commonly, the Tsamma melon. Particular names are also often given to dishes, such as Pofadder (in fact the name of a snake) (Van Zyl 1985, p. 93) is chitterling stuffed with liver and mutton tail fat (Essop and Fraser 2012, p. 29); slaphakskeentjies (Van Zyl 1985, p. 121), a sweet and sour whole small onion in sauce dish; smileys – cows heads – because of the way the cow’s lips curl over the teeth (Samuelsson 2006, p. 278); a chicken neck curry, called fluitjes (whistles), that may be considered poor man’s food (Sydow and Sydow Noordien 2019, p. 72); krapvleis (scratch meat), the fine meat removed with a spoon between the chine bones (Essop and Fraser 2012, p. 106); or Karoo oysters, lamb’s testicles baked until tender (Essop and Fraser 2012, p. 153). Finally, an influx of migrant people from other countries means that much of the food in Johannesburg’s inner city is now a vibrant mix of Ethiopian, Indian, Nigerian, and Congolese cuisines according to Jo Buitendach (Riffel et al. 2016, p. 314), similar to what is found in some of South Africa’s other major centers. Food Struggles of Twenty-First Century People of the South Individuals and societies, who display upward economic mobility, such as in growing parts of Southern Africa, experience lifestyle changes, which may affect their food and nutritional behavior. Referred to as the nutrition transition, this epidemiologic transition is associated with an increased prevalence of obesity and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Although correlations are also drawn between
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