South Africa
A crossroads on a plate — braai smoke, Cape Malay spice, and a Durban curry served in a hollowed loaf.
Get invited to a braai and you've seen the real South Africa: a fire lit hours early, a coil of spiced boerewors sausage spitting over the coals, lamb chops and marinated chicken following, and everyone gathered round the flames with a drink while the cook — always the cook — holds court. It's less a barbecue than the national way of gathering, and the smoke gets into everything.
Beyond the fire, the country's crossroads history is on every plate. Cape Town's Malay kitchens fold sweet spice into bobotie, curried mince under a set savoury custard; Durban's Indian community hollows out a loaf and packs it with curry to make bunny chow; road trips run on air-dried biltong by the bagful. Add a slow-simmered potjiekos stew and a spoon of fiery chakalaka relish, and you've a table where Africa, Europe and Asia sat down together and stayed.
- braai (barbecue)
- boerewors (spiced coil sausage)
- bobotie (curried mince bake)
- bunny chow (curry in a bread loaf)
- biltong (air-dried meat)
- potjiekos (three-legged-pot stew)
- chakalaka (spicy vegetable relish)
