Biltong and other traditional South African foods

South African is known as the Rainbow Nation. This title refers to the variety of cultures that created South Africa. Contributions from all the cultures make its modern cuisine one of the most exciting in Africa. The indigenous delicacies include foods such as biltong (dried, salted meat), bobotie (a more exciting version of Shepherd's pie) and boerewors (hand-made spicy farm sausages).

Those visiting South Africa, will find that most restaurants offer a familiar global menu with anything from hamburgers to sushi to spaghetti bolognaise. There are, however many national style restaurants, namely Vietnamese, Swiss Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Moroccan, French, Portuguese and Indian to choose from should you want to experience an array of cultural meals in one country.

There are niche specialties as well. Some of the world’s best curries can be found in Durban and the freshest fish caught off the Cape coast only hours before being served. Wine estates in Western Cape offer meals, often French or English-themed, along with wine tasting. High tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town is a traditional treat.

Main South African Food Ingredients

Maize and meat are the staples in most of the traditional food menus in South Africa. It is believed that maize has been growing in many parts of South Africa since the ancient times. Since then, maize has become a staple food of Africans. Other important food crops include millet and sorghum. The latter of which is used for making traditional beer.
The meats of goat, cattle and sheep are most preferred in South Africa. However, other meats are also enjoyed. Lamb from the Karoo is succulent and makes a most delicious meal. Game meat likely to find in restaurants and butchers are mostly impala or kudu, but springbok, warthog and crocodile are sometimes available.

Biltong, Boerewors and other traditional foods

The most popular traditional food of South Africa is 'mieliepap', a maize and meal porridge. It can be served at breakfast with butter or in the main course of a meal. Mieliepap is also a delicious accompaniment with barbecued meat and often has onion and tomato gravy poured over it.

A favourite traditional dish of South Africa is the 'Braai' (meaning barbecue). The traditional way of preparing meat is by grilling over an open fire or stewing on hot coals with the help of a three-legged cooking pot called a potjie (made of cast iron). Vegetables usually accompany meat cooked in a potjie pot. This dish can be ordered in some traditional South African restaurants. Chakalaka is a favourite dish of the foreign tourist, which is a vegetable stir-fry served with the roasted meat.

Another favourite food is 'boerewors', which is a spicy sausage. Boerewors, in traditional style, is presented in a continuous spiral fashion. It is prepared by using coarsely minced meat (preferably meat of beef, pork, lamb or a combination) and a wide variety of spices that usually include coriander seeds, nutmeg, cloves, pepper and allspice. For this particular dish, the sausage is preserved in Worcestershire sauce, salt and vinegar. A true boerewors contains 90 percent of real meat (of which 75 percent is beef and remaining is pork) and less than 30 percent of fat.
 
The list of traditional food of South Africa is incomplete without mentioning 'biltong'. It is a type of cured meat, made by adding other ingredients like coriander, vinegar, sugar, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. For making biltong, the meat pieces are marinated in vinegar for a few hours, which are then flavoured with spices. Biltong is found in any food shops and is a favourite of many people.

Well! These are some of the traditional food dishes of South Africa. So delicious is the cuisine in South Africa that many who have moved abroad can’t live without their biltong and boerewors, so we have bought these foods and more into the UK for all to taste and enjoy!

Go on you know you want to order biltong

For more information on Traditional South African Foods and our selection of biltong, droewors, boerewors and other South African foods, visit Cruga- Tastes of South Africa. Cruga makes the best bitong, droewors and boerewors to a secret family recipe.