South Africa

Recipes by the places recorded in their sources.

South Africa

33 recipes

South African pumpkin atchar in its finished form.

South African pumpkin atchar

South African pumpkin atchar: Freeze for winter; refrigerated 48-hour limit includes overnight marination.

South Africa · Modern method
· Vegetables
Cape-style lamb sosaties: grilled lamb cubes on skewers with dried apricot and onion.

Sosaties

Cape skewers of marinated lamb or mutton threaded with onion, fat or dried fruit and grilled, their marinade balancing curry spice against vinegar or tamarind and something sweet.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Meat
finished chakalaka

Chakalaka

A spicy South African vegetable relish of onion, carrot, pepper, tomato, curry seasoning and beans, cooked briefly and served warm or cold beside pap and grilled meat.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Vegetables
finished maize porridge

Mieliepap

South Africa's maize-meal porridge, which the same white meal turns into a soft breakfast pap, a firm sliceable mound or the separate moist granules of phuthu depending only on water and handling.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Grains and starches
Charcoal-grilled beef strips seasoned with toasted coriander and black pepper, served with onion relish and bread.

Tassal-inspired grilled coriander beef

Beef rump takes vinegar, toasted coriander and pepper from the flavour family of tassal, then meets a thermometer-checked braai fire as a fresh-cooked meal.

South Africa
· Meat
Illustrative dried-peach-and-apricot South African fruit chutney, thick and amber-brown with soft golden fruit pieces and restrained chili flecks, served in a plain bowl.

South African fruit chutney

South African fruit chutney ranges from Cape-style sweet-sour fruit pastes to spiced dried-fruit versions; this page records a measured peach and apricot home recipe inspired by Mrs Ball’s.

South Africa · Modern adaptation
· Condiments
finished braided biltong bread

Braided biltong loaf

Yeasted bread wrapped around biltong, tomato pesto, Cheddar and feta, split lengthwise into a braid and baked; served with chilli-biltong butter.

South Africa
· Meat
cooked braaiwors sausages
Elevated risk

Braaiwors

South Africa's regulated grilling-sausage class, looser than boerewors: a minimum of 40% meat, vegetable protein and mechanically recovered meat allowed, and sold raw.

South Africa · Modern method
· Meat
Three pale, round, tin-steamed dombolo portions on a ceramic plate, one split to show its soft crumb.

Tin-steamed dombolo (South African steamed bread)

This tin-steamed South African dombolo uses yeast dough with bread flour and olive oil. It rises twice, steams for about an hour, and is checked with a clean skewer.

South Africa
· Grains and starches
finished boerewors and chickpea stew

Boerewors and chickpea stew

Lesego Semenya’s contemporary South African stew combines browned boerewors, chickpeas, tomato, spinach and warm spices.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Meat
Sliced South African yeast-raised sweetcorn loaf with whole kernels in its golden crumb

Mieliebrood (yeasted sweetcorn loaf)

A South African sweetcorn loaf made from a rich, yeast-raised batter with both creamed sweetcorn and drained kernels. This version is baked in a loaf tin; it is distinct from steamed mielie breads and from maize-meal quick breads.

South Africa · Modern adaptation
· Grains and starches
boerewors cooking on grill
Elevated risk

Boerewors

A coarse South African farmhouse sausage of beef with pork or mutton fat, defined by its coriander seasoning and cooked fresh over coals rather than preserved.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Meat
finished biltong pâté

Biltong pâté

A cold biltong spread with sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon and herbs; serve it with crackers, crostini or bread.

South Africa
· Meat
finished whole-muscle biltong
High risk

Biltong

Strips of whole-muscle beef or game seasoned with salt, vinegar, roasted coriander and pepper and air-dried without cooking, sold anywhere from soft and moist to hard and very salty.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Meat
Whole tender green figs cooked in golden syrup with cinnamon and dried ginger, served on an olive-green plate.

Green-fig konfyt

Whole unripe figs are softened and cooked in cinnamon and ginger syrup as a refrigerator-only South African konfyt; this method does not provide a shelf-stable canning process.

Cape · Modern method
· Fruit
Finished droëwors sticks on a wooden board; one cut piece shows the coarse interior, with a few coriander seeds nearby.
High risk

Droëwors

South Africa's dried sausage: seasoned minced meat in narrow casings, dried until it can be eaten without cooking, which makes it a far more demanding product than fresh boerewors.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Meat
finished tomato and onion smoor

Tomato and onion smoor

A thick South African tomato-and-onion relish simmered slowly and served warm with boerewors, pap or bread.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Condiments
A glossy, anise-speckled mosbolletjies pull-apart loaf made of six round buns, one separated to show the soft crumb.

Mosbolletjies (grape-juice and yeast buns)

This modern South African mosbolletjies recipe uses white grape juice and instant yeast in an anise-scented enriched dough. It makes two pull-apart loaves; grape juice with commercial yeast is not the traditional fermenting-must leaven.

South Africa · Modern adaptation
· Grains and starches
Illustrative South African roosterkoek: small golden, hand-shaped braai breads with irregular grid browning and a soft, cooked crumb.

Roosterkoek (South African braai bread)

Roosterkoek is a small yeast-raised South African bread cooked over gentle braai coals. This enriched dough rises twice and is turned on the grid until browned and cooked through.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Grains and starches
Fully cooked lamb-liver skilpadjies wrapped in crisp caul fat, served with grilled lemon on warm ivory.
Elevated risk

Skilpadjies

South African braai parcels of seasoned lamb liver wrapped in caul fat (netvet), which crisps and renders as the filling cooks.

South Africa
Meat
finished boerewors roll with tomato and onion

Boerie roll

A South African boerie roll puts fully cooked boerewors in a soft bread roll and tops it with warm tomato-and-onion smoor.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Meat
A round golden potbrood loaf in an open black cast-iron Dutch oven lined with baking parchment.

Potbrood

A modern South African potbrood home method: a yeast dough proofs in a 4 L cast-iron pot and bakes covered, then uncovered, in a domestic oven.

South Africa · Modern adaptation
· Grains and starches
Creamy biltong pasta served in a cast-iron potjie.

Biltong potjie with creamy pasta

Biltong, bacon and vegetables simmer in tomato-herb stock, then join cooked pasta, milk, cream and Cheddar in this outdoor potjie.

South Africa
· Meat
Photograph of Monkey gland sauce.

Monkey gland sauce

A sweet and tangy South African condiment of fruit chutney and tomato sauce, served with grilled meat and steak. It contains no monkey gland.

Johannesburg
Condiments
Whole unripe green figs cooked tender in golden syrup, served in a shallow dish with a fresh green fig alongside.

Green-fig konfyt without lime soak

Hard green figs are parboiled and cooked whole in a lemon-sharpened sugar syrup as a refrigerator-only South African konfyt; the method does not establish shelf-stable canning.

South Africa · Modern method
· Fruit
Cloudy tan umqombothi in a rustic earthenware pot and serving bowl.
Elevated risk

South African sorghum-and-maize umqombothi

A South African opaque beer soured from sorghum malt and maize meal, cooked as a thick porridge, then fermented again after a second addition of malted sorghum.

South Africa · Modern method
· Drinks
Plain golden vetkoek (amagwinya), shown intact on a paper-lined plate.

Vetkoek (Amagwinya)

This South African vetkoek batch uses margarine-enriched wheat dough with instant yeast, shaped into 24 portions and deep-fried until golden.

South Africa
finished toasted biltong sandwich

Biltong braaibroodjie

Chopped biltong, sweet onion, cream cheese and Cheddar fill bread toasted in a hinged grid over gentle coals, then finished with biltong dust.

South Africa
· Meat
Illustrative finished Omagongo, shown as cloudy pale-yellow marula drink beside a carved wooden cup and ripe marula fruit.

Omagongo

The fermented marula drink of northern Namibia's Aawambo communities, pressed from ripe Sclerocarya birrea fruit and left to the yeasts already on it, and drunk at the Oshituthi shomagongo festival.

Northern Namibia · Traditional method
· Drinks
Cloudy muted pinkish-tan umqombothi with coarse bubbles in a dark earthenware serving pot.
Elevated risk

Umqombothi

South Africa's opaque sorghum beer, soured by lactic acid bacteria before its mash is cooked and fresh malt stirred in, leaving a cloudy, creamy, cereal-thick drink that keeps only a day or two.

South Africa · Traditional method
· Drinks
cooked masala wors sausages
Elevated risk

Masala wors

South Africa's spiced fresh sausage family, sold as masala, dhania or Punjab wors: cumin, ginger, garlic and chilli in place of the mild coriander-and-clove seasoning of boerewors.

South Africa · Modern method
· Meat