History of Food in South Africa

South Africas history is one of much hunger caused by fractured populations and human causes. Human-caused mass starvation comes about as a result of population displacement, interruption of transportation systems, absent populations due to wars, and the sudden influxes of people to a land where food was short to begin with. Geographically, the country of South Africa has a terrain which is divided into thirds: plateau country to the north, a great basin south of it, then this is rimmed by a narrow coastal plain bounded by the Indian Ocean on the east and the South Atlantic Ocean on the west. The population of South Africa is over 43 million people. Her history is very mingled with her cuisine today. At the southern end of South Africa, the African continent is the Cape of Good Hope where sailors from all countries had to sail through to gain access to Asia. Early Dutch settles arrived at the Cape 1652 chiefly to grow fresh vegetables for fellow sailors passing by in the future, that they might fight off scurvy when enroute to and from the Dutch East Indies. By 1688 the French Huguenots arrived bringing grape cuttings for wine, plus fresh herbs. In the 1700s the Dutch imported slaves from Indonesia and with them their tropical spices. Later, the British came who transported indentured workers from southern India and with them came their chutneys, sambals, and atjars and other fiery and savory cuisine. The British and Germans contributed their meat pies and sweet pastries.

Now, with the Boer War, then the rigors of apartheid behind them, South Africans, with first president Nelson Mandella and now his hand-picked

successor, Thabo Mbeki look toward to postive growth and new freedoms in a promising future. South African cuisine is a splendid one. Its the result of a mix of vastly different

cultures and the foods of drop-by sailors navigating their ways between new quests and return trips home. This blend became the South African cuisine.

HISTORY OF FOOD
Early South Africans were mostly hunter-gatherers. They depended on foods such as tortoises, crayfish, coconuts, and squash to survive. Biltong, meat that is dried, salted, and spiced (similar to jerky), and beskuits (dried sweetened biscuits, like zwiebeck or rusks) were popular food among the original pioneers and are both still enjoyed by twenty-first century South Africans. Dried fruits, eaten whole or ground into a paste, are also popular treats. The practice of modern agriculture was introduced by the Bantu, natives of northern Africa. They taught inhabitants to grow vegetables such as corn ("mealies"), squash, and sweet potatoes. Modern Zulu people, most of whom live in northeastern South Africa, enjoy a soft porridge made from mealie-meal (cornmeal), and dishes combining meat and vegetables such as dried corn and yams. Nearly 200 years after the Portuguese first arrived in South Africa, Dutch settlers, known as Boers, built the first European settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. The Dutch planted gardens with pumpkins, watermelons, cucumbers, pineapples, and potatoes.

Meanwhile, the Dutch East India Company increased trade between South Africa, Europe, and India, bringing new and unfamiliar people and cuisines to South Africa's culture. Slaves from the east, mostly from Malaysia, helped work as farmers or fishermen.

They brought with them various spices that added flavor to commonly bland Dutch and English stews and dishes. Other countries also brought diversity to South African cuisine. The French, known for making wines, began establishing vineyards. The Germans introduced baked goods and pastries and the British brought meat pies. Foods from India, China, and Indonesia also influenced the South African diet. Early settlers simmered potjiekos (stew) for hours in a three-legged iron pot over a very small open fire. Ingredients would be added to the pot of potjiekos as they became available, such as animals caught by hunters or trappers and vegetables or wild plants harvested from the open fields.

FOODS OF THE SOUTH AFRICANS

Seafood, a staple food in South African diets, is plentiful along the country's Atlantic and Indian Ocean coastlines. Hake is the most common fish, caught in

the Atlantic Ocean waters. It is sold as "fish and chips" (pieces of

deep-fried fish with French fries) EPD Photos and pickled. Rock lobster, mussels, octopus, and cod

are

also

popular

seafood

selections,

particularly at the country's southern tip. South Africa's mild climate produces a

variety of fruits and vegetables.

Potatoes, cabbage, corn ("mealies"), sunflower, peppers, and green beans are commonly grown. The abundance of rain in the northern tip of the country allows tropical fruits to grow, including bananas, pineapples, and mangoes. Such fruits make delicious desserts. Dishes of British origin are seasoned and flavorful in South Africa. Spices were added to popular meals, such as the meat pie. The Boer (Dutch) Chicken Pie is a crusted chicken potpie with plenty of seasonings, topped with eggs and ham. Bobotie , a beef or lamb potpie, contains raisins, apples, almonds, and curry powder, a savory seasoning. Sausages (made of beef or pork) and sosaties , seasoned lamb on a skewer, are commonly eaten at meals. Sosaties are most frequently served at a barbecue, or braai , party and served with sauce and biscuits. South Africans make sosaties in different ways, with a variety of seasonings to make the meal more flavorful. Other meat favorites are ostrich and chicken. Frikkadels ("little

hamburgers" usually seasoned with nutmeg) are sometimes served wrapped in cabbage leaves. Bredies , meat and vegetable stews of all kinds, are usually named for the primary vegetable ingredient (such as carrot bredie or tomato bredie). Wine, water, mechow (a fermented beer-like drink made from cornmeal), and tea are often served with meals. Rice pudding, melktert (milk custard tart), and cookies remain popular desserts.

FOOD FOR RELIGIOUS AND HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS

More South Africans practice Christianity than any other religion. Like other Christians around the world, South African Christians celebrate Christmas Day on December 25 and Good Friday and Easter in either March or April. Such occasions are normally celebrated with family and close friends.

Green Bean Salad is accented by the salty, slightly bitter, tang of sliced, stuffed olives. A typical holiday menu may include rock lobster tail or seasoned lamb or pork accompanied by cabbage. Serving appetizers depends on the size of the dinner. People want to save room for dinner, dessert, and after-dinner drinks. Sambals (condiments such as chopped vegetables and

chutneys), atjar (pickled fruits and vegetables), yams, geel rys (yellow rice), and green bean salad are popular side dishes. Mealie bread (corn-bread) is a South African favorite and is often served before or during the meal.

Wine, beer, tea, or water may be refreshing to adults, while children may enjoy soft drinks or other non-alcoholic beverages. Rooibos tea (pronounced roy boy), a strong, caffeine-free herbal tea made from a plant that is native to South Africa, is served without milk, sugar, or lemon.

Rice pudding is a common dessert. No matter what meal is chosen, it is certain to be full of flavor. A much smaller number of South Africans are either Muslim or Hindu. Muslims celebrate the Islamic holiday of Ramadan, a movable month-long holiday. During Ramadan, Muslims fast (avoid eating and drinking) from sunrise to sunset to worship and practice self-control. After sunset, people gather together to enjoy dinner, called iftar . Dinner may include rice, dates, and a variety of spiced dishes. Hindus celebrate Diwali , or Festival of Lights. On this important day, the Hindus eat a small portion of lamb, chicken, or fish with beans or lentils. Their festive dishes often contain up to fifteen different spices and are accompanied by bread.

MEALTIME CUSTOMS
South Africans eat three meals per day. For breakfast, most eat some kind of hot cooked cereal, such as putupap (cornmeal porridge, similar to grits), served with milk and sugar. Putupap and mealie bread (corn bread) are frequently also served as part of a main meal and lunch or dinner, too. Other breakfast foods might be beskuit, a crusty, dried sweet bread (similar to rusks). Tea and coffee are popular morning beverages.

South Africans are known for their hospitality and love to cook for visitors. During a hearty meal featuring a main course such as bobotie, seafood, or mutton stew, accompanied by vegetables and rice, it not uncommon for a host to offer guests a variety of drinks, such as wine, homemade beer, or tea.

Fruits, puddings, and cakes round off a great meal.

POLITICS, ECONOMICS, AND NUTRITION

From 1948 until 1994, South African society was strictly divided according to racial groups in a structure called apartheid, or racial separation. While the government officially referred to this structure as "separate development," there were, in reality, few resources devoted to development of the black portions of the country. In 1994, the policy of apartheid ended and a multiracial government was elected. Since then, the economy has been adjusting to the new structure of society. Some areas of the economy, such as tourism, suffered because people were concerned that the changes might lead to instability. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the white minority population enjoyed a high standard of living, but the 85 percent majority black population still lived with low health and economic standards of living.

History of Beverages in South Africa

Food and Wine
If you are looking for the best in food and wine, which can be savoured among the most breathtaking settings on earth, then South Africa is the country to visit. And don't stop with your wishes there. Also make sure the food and wine have pedigree from awards to history to ingredients to terroir.

South Africa is known for its superb food and wine South African Tourism South Africa is a well-deserved reward for those who like the good things in life and the perfect incentive destination. Superb cuisine is paired with exquisite, award-winning wines. You'll find a wide range of fabulous restaurants in our major cities, specializing in everything from Italian and Indian to Thai and Chinese. But, you'd be missing out if you didn't try our homegrown cuisine - we're talking about a good old-fashioned braai (barbeque) with all the trimmings, a Cape Malay curry to make your heart sing, an enormous platter of piri

piri prawns served up with a view of the ocean, and a groaning table of Afrikaner specialities such as boerewors. You'll find a number of township restaurants serving up chisa nyama, chakalaka and home-brewed beer. African restaurants are also popular, where music, art and traditional face painting mix well with the hospitable atmosphere. While in South Africa, make sure you take advantage of our great natural settings. You can eat with your feet in the sand or the water, in caves overlooking the ocean, under starry skies deep in the bush, with sharks swimming in the background, at the edge of a cliff, and on a luxury yacht - the options are as endless as your imagination. When it comes to good wines, look no further than the Cape Winelands. Follow wine routes in Stellenbosch, Paarl or Franschhoek and buy spectacular bottles of local Pinotage, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to take back home. Many of the wine estates boast award-winning restaurants where you can taste world-class local cuisine, or book a picnic basket and enjoy feasting in the Winelands as you watch the grapes grow. Grape foot stomping festivals, carriage and horse rides through vineyards, and hot air ballooning are just some of the fun adventures you can partake in.

Food and wine highlights:

A good old South African braai Cape Malay cuisine Chisa nyama at a township tavern A gourmet tour in Franschhoek A wine tasting sojourn along Route 62 Biltong, boerewors and bobotie Wine-tasting in Stellenbosch

The Food and Beverage industry tough challenges ahead

Introduction Since the advent of ArchestrA technology in 2003, its been categorically proven that simply throwing more applications and money at a problem doesnt necessarily make it disappear. What production personnel and managers were looking for was a flexible infrastructure or framework that would unify disparate solutions, protect their investments, help define standards and provide the necessary flexibility to grow and change to meet their companys evolving business needs. While this sounds as if it could apply to any industry, its particularly true for the food and beverage industry with its need for consistent quality, regulatory compliance and working with increasingly tighter budgets in a highly competitive field. Today, Wonder ware is a leading supplier of industrial automation and Manufacturing Execution System (MES) solutions to the food and beverage industry worldwide through the supply of software and hardware products that help companies in that industry overcome their challenges profitably.

In what follows, we have largely stayed away from product names (except in the case studies) since they are unimportant. You are probably much more interested in how your operational and business needs can be met by open solutions that wont box you in and that will protect your investment while improving plant performance and, ultimately, your bottom line in the short, medium and long term.

Editors Notes The worlds enormous population has led to huge increases in industrial output which, in turn, is making a signifi cant contribution to pollution and global warming which has led to unpredictable weather patterns of excessive droughts and floods which is affecting food production worldwide which means that it is becoming increasingly difficult to feed the population that started it all in the first place (figure 1).

Figure 1: U.N. estimates of world population growth There is no evidence that this cycle will change because there is no talk about changing it.

While people are up-in-arms about global warming, sustainable green energy and anything prefaced by eco, there is no talk about addressing the real problem of too many people making yet more people ad infinitum.

Theres probably never been a bigger elephant in the room. Well, were certainly not going to fix the problem here but this serves to highlight the role of the world-wide food and beverage industry that shoulders the responsibility for feeding the Earths billions.

We may be able to do without a new TV but food isnt an option. So, if you wanted to get into a business today that promises no dip in demand for ever more, you could do a lot worse than venture into the food and beverage industry.

This may come as a shock to some but food productio n is South Africas largest manufacturing sector. South Africas food and beverage industry is a strongly competitive sector, producing high quality products for local and international niche markets. Consumers in the middle to upper income brackets demand healthy, convenient, quality foods with strong emphasis on meat and meat products, while the poorer sections of the population need staple foods at low prices.

South Africa produces a wide variety of crops and has a substantial number of secondary food processing industries. Fresh fruit is the largest export followed by sugar, processed vegetables and fruit, fish products, alcoholic products, cereals and grain. South Africas food processing industry is generally technically advanced and able to compete with major food processing companies

internationally. Major international companies such as Nestl, Unilever, Dole, Parmalat and McCain have local companies or links with South African companies. This means that brands such as Kellogg, Marmite, Maggi, Coke and Pepsi are on the supermarket shelves.

Major South African companies such as Pioneer Foods, Tiger Foods, Distell, Capespan, Clover, Ceres Fruit Juices and SAB Miller are important world-class food processors.

For many decades, these companies have kept up with demand through careful management and the adoption of the latest technologies and theres no reason to believe that they will not continue to do so in the foreseeable future even though things are getting increasingly more challenging for them.

Figure 2: Income from F&B industry

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN FOOD

Filed under A brief history of South African food (http://www.sliver.co.za/?p=309)

CAPE TOWN was built on spice and wine, and the city is as robust with flavour today as it was at its founding as a victualling station in the mid17th century.

The city has been cosmopolitan since Dutch adventurer Jan van Riebeeck first sighted it in 1652 although it was 72 years earlier in July 1580 that the English admiral Sir Francis Drake had gazed upon Table Mountain and described it famously as a most stately thing and the fairest cape we saw in the whole circumference of the earth.

Those two words, fairest Cape, are used to market the modern Cape Town still today.

Then, a world of adventurers and opportunists made the Cape a bustling sea port and tavern of the seas.

Now, a world of cuisines can be found in its hundreds of excellent restaurants. Cape Town has become a world food capital, as visits to any number of the citys hundreds of great restaurants will attest.

In the 17th century, the Dutch came here first, and as a settlement grew to feed and water the passing sailors of the Dutch East India Company during the flourishing 6000-mile spice trade from Europe to the exotic spice lands of the east, people from other nations began trickling in to live at the Cape of Good Hope.

Not everyone came by choice, for there were slaves too, and the citys culinary traditions owe their greatest debt to the influx of state prisoners

from Java who started coming to the Cape in the early 18th century and were soon popular for their excellent skills in the kitchen. Many a Dutch household employed a Javanese chef and todays Cape Malay community is largely descended from these Javanese cooks. But as time went by there were new Capetonians from Flanders, Germany and France, from Italy and Portugal, and Chinese who ran their coarse chop shops and lent an additional Oriental hue to the brew that became Cape Towns wide-ranging spicy cuisine. Peculiarly, the city is not packed, today, with restaurants on every street showing off the citys own traditional cuisines, which were long dominated by Cape Malay and Dutch fare. With some happy exceptions, where you will find the best Cape Malay fare is in corner shops and hidden street cafes where you may find a lady in a headscarf cooking in the kitchen at the back. Find these places on foot, follow the aromas, and youll find the real thing. There is no street map to them. Watch out too for the spice shops not commonplace, but hidden in pockets of the city. The restaurant scene is quite another thing. In 20 years, the industry has exploded. Where there were mainly steakhouses, a few seafood specialists, a handful of Italian restaurants and the odd posh nosh palace, today Cape Town is a global food capital with restaurants specializing in Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese to others serving British, French, German, Austrian, American, South American, Middle-Eastern and, of couse, African fare. Leavening the brew is the influence of the fiery colonial cuisine of neighboring Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony, and of the large

Portuguese community in the country, some of whom found their way south from Angola, Madeira or Portugal itself. Few in Britain know that Nandos, the huge peri-peri chicken franchise youll find in almost every British town and village, is a South African concern. Peri-peri chicken or prawns are as South African as potjiekos and boerewors. Potjiekos is an Afrikaans tradition of cooking al fresco in a heavy threelegged cast-iron pot with a tight-fitting lid. Meat or poultry is cooked for many hours with layers of vegetables over mild coals, with rice often included in the mix, moistened by stock and/or wine, and plenty of herbs and spices. Boerewors is the staple meat for braaing, deliciously spiced, and biltong is the famous dried beef, spiced with coriander seed. The braai (barbecue) is a national pastime. If the weathers good, youll smell braai fires wherever you go, and youre bound to be invited to a braai during your visit to South Africa. We even have indoor braais an entire industry is built around these modern-day equivalents of the old-fashioned kitchen range. Accept the invitation. Just keep an eye on the guy wielding the tongs some braaiers are better than others, and you do not want your lamb chops (tjoppies) to be dry and tough. Theyre best cooked on very hot coals, turning frequently, so that the skin and fat are crisp and golden and the meat is pink at the centre. Thats when to whip them off. Boerewors, too, should be moist when taken off the coals.

Look out, too, for restaurants specialising in South Africas indigenous cuisine, which is hearty and very meaty, and includes local ingredients such as indigenous spinach and pap, which is similar to polenta and eaten with meat.

There are local liqueurs too, such as Amarula Cream, made from the luscious marula berry.

This is now exported to many markets. There are other influences. South Africa has a sizeable and influential Jewish community, especially Johannesburg and Cape Town; there are many Greek South Africans, as there are Germans, particularly in the Mother City (Cape Towns nickname). More recently as recently as the new century there has been an influx of immigrants from other African countries, including Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Malawi and further afield, whose cultures and cuisines are beginning to influence the already cosmopolitan and exotic brew.

So it can be no surprise that there is a great deal of innovation going on in Cape restaurant kitchens.

In the 1990s, local chefs quickly climbed on the fusion bandwagon, some more successfully than others.

This has all been distilled over the years and today there are many local restaurants serving highly imaginative fare that is not just a mishmash of anything that doesnt really belong together on the plate (as happens with too much fusion).

Some top chefs are now regularly including local ingredients, traditions and influences in their posh nosh menus, but we need more of this to give the regions cuisine a thorough stamp that says Cape cuisine.

This is something Sliver campaigns for and which I feel more chefs should strive for.

Were so close, but not quite there. The city is, undoubtedly, the countrys food capital (although

Johannesburgers will argue the point, and Durban is making great culinary strides). Restaurants in the city and nearby enclaves such as Franschhoek have in recent years found themselves in the top 100, and even top 50, in the world as selected by Restaurant magazine (UK). Two La Colombe in Constantia and Le Quartier Francais in Franschhoek made the top 50, way ahead of Gordon Ramsays London operations. Ramsay, too, now has a branch in Cape Town right across the lobby from Nobu in the seriously swank One&Only Hotel in the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. By the way, that Alfred isnt an error. Its named not for her husband Albert but for Victorias son Alfred who visited the Cape in his younger years a century ago, just as young Harry occasionally pops into town these days. The more pretentious of Cape Town restaurateurs do things like that. In Franschhoek, where there are only about three French-speaking people

(locals mostly speak Afrikaans, recent emigres English), everything has a poncy French name. Franschhoek has been flavour of the month for, well, some years now, having successfully and cleverly marketed itself as the gourmet capital of the country. All well and good, but greater Cape Town itself is really the true food capital of South Africa, and indeed of Africa. Welcome to Cape Town, and our well-flavoured, heady brew.

SOUTH AFRICAN FOOD

(http://www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&vi

ew=article&id=124%3ASouth+African+food&catid=41%3Avisit_bg&Itemid =58) Barbara Ludman A delicious way to experience the Rainbow Nation is through its food. Contributions from the cultures that created South Africa make its modern cuisine one of the most exciting in Africa.

For the more daring diner, South Africa offers culinary challenges ranging from crocodile sirloin to fried caterpillars to sheep heads.

All three are reputed to be delicious.

For the not-quite so brave, there are myriad indigenous delicacies such as biltong (dried, salted meat), bobotie (a much-improved version of Shepherd's pie) and boerewors (hand-made farm sausages).

Umnqusho, a stew of roughly crushed dried maize kernels mixed with sugar or butter beans, is said to be former president Nelson Mandela s favourite food.

Maize meal porridge, crumbly or soft, accompanies most meals. And fried chicken from fast-food outlets is widely popular.

Those who prefer to play it altogether safe will find that most eateries offer a familiar global menu - anything from hamburgers to sushi to pad thai to spaghetti bolognaise.

And you can drink the tap water. Restaurant guides list close to two dozen national styles, including Vietnamese and Swiss.

On a single street in a Johannesburg suburb, one finds Italian restaurants, two or three varieties of Chinese cookery, Japanese, Moroccan, French, Portuguese and Indian food, both Tandoor and Gujarati.

Not far away are Congolese restaurants, Greek, even Brazilian and Korean establishments, and, everywhere, fusion, displaying the fantasies of creative chefs.

But there are niche specialities as well, and not a few surprises. Some of the worlds best curries can be found in Durban; fine French cuisine in Franschhoek; the freshest fish, caught only hours before, in Cape Town and Hermanus.

Wine estates in Western Cape province offer meals, often French- or English-themed, along with wine tastings.

High tea is on offer at most major hotels throughout the country: high tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town is a traditional treat.

Those in search of authentic South African cuisine have to look harder for those few establishments that specialise in it - like the justly famous Gramadoelas in central Johannesburg, Wandie's Place in Soweto, the Africa Caf in central Cape Town or smaller restaurants in that city's BoKaap, in Khayelitsha and Langa.

MEAT
Basically, however, South Africans eat meat and lots of it. Lamb from the Karoo is highly prized. Game is ubiquitous: restaurants and butchers offer mostly impala or kudu, but springbok, warthog and crocodile are sometimes available. So, for the brave, is the mopani worm, the caterpillar of the emperor moth, which is boiled, then sun-dried. Ostrich goes as guilt-free red meat, low in cholesterol and farmed in the Karoo. Whatever the meat chosen, there are braais or barbecues everywhere: on the pavement during the week, as fast food for labourers; and in backyards in the suburbs on weekends.

What goes on the backyard grill will almost certainly be boerewors, a spicy sausage and as close to a national food as one can get.

Steak houses may specialise in flame-grilled aged sirloin, but they also offer boerewors.

Even celebrity chefs become involved in boerewors cookouts. There are varieties of biltong in every caf, in big cities and little dorps. Every weekend there wafts from neighbourhoods rich and poor the smell of spicy sosaties being grilled over the braai.

RAINBOW CUISINE It was the search for food that shaped modern South Africa: spices drew the Dutch East India Company to Java in the mid-1600s, and the need for a half-way refreshment stop for its ships rounding the Cape impelled the company to plant a farm at the tip of Africa. There are sections of Commander Jan van Riebeeck's wild almond hedge still standing in the Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town. That farm changed the region forever. The company discovered it was easier to bring in thousands of hapless slaves from Java to work in the fields than to keep trying to entrap the local people, mostly Khoi and San, who seemed singularly unimpressed with the Dutch and their ways. The Malay slaves brought their cuisine, perhaps the best-known of all South African cooking styles. The French Huguenots arrived soon after the Dutch, and changed the landscape in wonderful ways with the vines they imported. They soon discovered a need for men and women to work in their vineyards, and turned to the Malay slaves (and the few Khoi and San they could lure into employment).

Much later, sugar farmers brought indentured labourers from India to cut the cane.

The British, looking for gold and empire, also brought their customs and cuisine, as did German immigrants.

In the 20th century, Chinese workmen and Japanese entrepreneurs arrived to seek their fortunes.

While all these groups brought new customs and cuisine, black communities continued to eat their traditional foods: beef and game, sorghum, maize, root vegetables and wild greens like morogo.

Today the resultant kaleidoscope - the famous "rainbow" - applies not only to the people but to the food, for one finds in South Africa the most extraordinary range of cuisines.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN CUISINE

(http://www.ravenoustraveler.com/2012/08/a-brief-history-of-south-african-

cuisine.html) Before the Europeans arrived in 16th century, various peoples lived throughout the area now known as South Africa. I believe that the Xhosa people, the San peoples, the Bantu-speaking peoples, and the Tugela peoples were some of the more prominent, but don't quote me on that. Some of these peoples herded livestock, but agriculture was not popular and most fruits and vegetables were foraged. To try and grasp the effects of that these native people's culinary traditions upon modern South Africa would be like trying to show the effects of Native American cooking traditions on modern America.

Koeksister When the Dutch colonized South Africa, they brought with them European ingredients and cooking traditions. This was back in the 17th century. To untangle to origins of the numerous dishes that arose back then would require a grant or two, suffice it to say that some of these dishes are still popular. They include potjiekos, a thick meat and vegetable stew; Tomato bredie, another stew only heavily spiced and typically featuring fewer vegetables that potjiekos; melktert, a milk tart that tastes a bit like horchata; and koeksister, a fried pastry absolutely saturated with sugar syrup.

Melktert, eaten at Village Shop in Hoekwil

The Trekboers, who were somewhat like our pioneers, were groups of nomadic colonialists who left Cape Town to move throughout South Africa's interior, subsisting off of herded livestock and temporary farms.

The Voortrekkers were a similar group, only they set out from the Eastern Cape.

Together, these people eventually became known as the Boers: rougharound-the-edges farmers of European ancestry who lived alongside the native peoples.

They created frontier towns and they too developed a somewhat cuisine independent of the coast colonial cities.

Boerewors sausage, photo by by AndyRobertsPhotos One of the reasons I bring up the Boers is the Boerewors sausage. Because of the name, it would seem as though the Boers invented this delicious sausage, which is typically heavily spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon, but spiced sausages were already a part of everyday life in The Netherlands.

Boerewors have become a South African staple.

The Boers and the native peoples developed the language Afrikaans, which gave us the wonderful term, braai. Braai is an event and a cooking style. Similar to a barbecue, a braai involves grilling meat over an outdoor, wood-fired grill, and the cooking style is common throughout most countries in the southern portion of Africa. It is a truly authentic African meal, and you better believe you'll find Boerewors sausage in spades. In the 19th century, Indians came to South African, and they quickly helped shape South African cuisine. The first Indians were Dutch slaves. Whether they or the curry-loving Dutch are responsible or a combination of both, curry dishes soon became popular in South Africa, beginning in the Eastern Cape around Durban, and one of South Africa's most famous dishes was born: Bunny Chow. Bunny Chow is a half loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with curry. Cape Malay cooking was developed by the community living in the BoKaap neighborhood in Cape Town, which is known as the Cape Malay community. This community, like the Indians on the Eastern Cape, also finds its roots in slavery, These people came from Southeast Asia, India, and Indonesia (Malay as in Malaysian).

Today, the Cape Malay community is Muslim, and the Bo-Kaap areas is one of the most beautiful parts of Cape Town, with wonderful mosques and brilliant, pastel-colored homes.

Andulela Culinary Tour, which takes food lovers into a local home, where they prepare awesome dishes with home cooks who've made the dishes a million times already.

Lamb curry (Cape Malay-style) Cape Malay-style food involves masalas, curries, and delicious breads, including roti and samosas. Some traditional Cape Malay dishes are bobotie, comprised of mincemeat spiced with curry and other spices and topped with an egg-based topping (this dish is very versatile, and I had a tremendous bobotie that reminded me of a crust-less mincemeat pie topped with whipped potatoes); oumens onder die komber, which are similar to dolma; and smoorsnoek, white fish gently smoked then simmered with tomatoes and onions. Of course, rich curries made from the excellently prepared, fresh masalas (curry mixes) of Cape Town are truly unbeatable.

Antelope steak, eaten at 5 Ryneveld in Stellenbosch Thanks to this mix of cultural influences, South Africa's cuisine has earned the monicker, rainbow cuisine. Other traditional dishes that I found during my time in South Africa include sosaties, or kebabs; biltong, a very tender beef jerky; lots of steaks, from South African lamb and beef to ostrich and antelope; frikkadelle, meatballs; the Gatsby, a Capetonian sandwich involving a baguette, French fries, and meat (late night food!); and smoked fish pate, aka snoek pate. Two dishes I didn't come across but that sound pretty wacky are Walkie Talkies, deep-fried chicken heads and feet, and Mashonzha, a dish of mopani caterpillars sauteed with onion, pepper, tomatoes, and curry spices.

Mopani caterpillars by NH53 Today, South Africa's cuisine continues to develop, and, as the prior posts suggest, many of the restaurants draw international inspiration. Sushi restaurants are just as common as Ethiopian restaurants, and local fast food chains compete with the bizarrely popular Kentucky Fried Chicken chain.
(http://www.foodbycountry.com/Kazakhstan-to-South-Africa/South-

Africa.html)

South African Languages

South Africa is the Rainbow Nation, a title that captures the country's cultural and ethnic diversity. The population of South Africa is one of the most complex and diverse in the world. Of the 51.7 million South Africans, over 41 million are black, 4.5 million are white, 4.6 million are coloured and about 1.3 million Indian or Asian. About 51.3% are female, and 48.7% male.

The black population of South Africa is divided into four major ethnic

groups; namely Nguni (Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi), Sotho, Shangaan-Tsonga and Venda. There are numerous subgroups within these, of which the Zulu and Xhosa (two subgroups of the Nguni group) are the largest.

The majority of the white population (about 60%) is of Afrikaans descent, with many of the remaining 40% being of British or European descent. The coloured population have a mixed lineage, which often comprises the indigenous Khoisan genes combined with African slaves that were brought here from all over the continent, and white settlers. Most of the coloured population lives in the Northern and Western Cape provinces, whilst the majority of the Indian population lives in KwaZuluNatal. The Afrikaner population is especially concentrated in the Gauteng and Free State provinces and the English population in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

There are eleven official languages in South Africa. These are English (9.6%), Afrikaans (13.5%), Ndebele (2.1%), Sepedi (9.1%), Xhosa (16%), Venda (2.4%), Tswana (8%), Southern Sotho (7.6%), Zulu 22.7%), Swazi or SiSwati (2.5%) and Tsonga (4.5%). Much of the countrys media has been tailored to include as many of these languages as possible. Of course, many other languages from all over the world are spoken here too; including Portuguese, Greek, Italian, French, Chinese, and so on.

South Africa's Official Languages Zulu Xhosa Afrikaans Venda

Ndebele Sepedi Setswana Southern Sesotho Swati Tsonga

South Africa - Customs and Etiquette

Meeting Etiquette

There are several greeting styles in South Africa depending upon the ethnic heritage of the person you are meeting.

When dealing with foreigners, most South Africans shake hands while maintaining eye contact and smiling.

Some women do not shake hands and merely nod their head, so it is best to wait for a woman to extend her hand.

Men may kiss a woman they know well on the cheek in place of a handshake.

Greetings are leisurely and include time for social discussion and exchanging pleasantries.

Gift Giving Etiquette

In general, South Africans give gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Two birthdays - 21 and 40 - are often celebrated with a large party in which a lavish gift is given. It is common for several friends to contribute to this gift to help defray the cost.

If you are invited to a South African's home, bring flowers, good quality chocolates, or a bottle of good South African wine to the hostess.

Wrapping a gift nicely shows extra effort.

Gifts are opened when received.

Dining Etiquette

If you are invited to a South African's house:

Arrive on time if invited to dinner. Contact the hostess ahead of time to see if she would like you to bring a dish.

Wear casual clothes which include jeans or pressed shorts. It is a good idea to check with the hosts in advance. In Johannesburg, casual is dressier than in other parts of the country. Do not wear jeans or shorts unless you have spoken to the hosts.

Offer to help the hostess with the preparation or clearing up after a meal is served.

Business Etiquette and Protocol Relationships & Communication

South Africans are transactional and do not need to establish longstanding personal relationships before conducting business.

If your company is not known in South Africa, a more formal introduction may help you gain access to decision-makers and not be shunted off to gatekeepers.

Networking and relationship building are crucial for long-term business success.

Relationships are built in the office. Most businessmen are looking for long-term business relationships. Although the country leans towards egalitarianism, businesspeople respect senior executives and those who have attained their position through hard work and perseverance.

There are major differences in communication styles depending upon the individual's cultural heritage.

For the most part, South Africans want to maintain harmonious working relationships, so they avoid confrontations.

They often use metaphors and sports analogies to demonstrate a point. Most South Africans, regardless of ethnicity, prefer face-to-face meetings to more impersonal communication mediums such as email, letter, or telephone.

Business Meeting Etiquette

Appointments are necessary and should be made as far in advance as possible.

It may be difficult to arrange meetings with senior level managers on short notice, although you may be able to do so with lower-level managers.

It is often difficult to schedule meetings from mid December to mid January or the two weeks surrounding Easter, as these are prime vacation times.

The first meeting is used to establish personal rapport to determine if you are trustworthy.

After a meeting, send a letter summarizing what was decided and the next steps.

Dress Etiquette

Business attire is becoming more informal in many companies. However, for the first meeting, it is best to dress more conservatively. Men should wear dark coloured conservative business suits. Women should wear elegant business suits or dresses.

South Africa Culture

The A to Z of South African culture
Read more: http://www.southafrica.info/about/arts/a-zculture.htm#.UsJBi7SGHvy#ixzz2p1TKZO64

South Africa is more than a cultural melting pot, it's a big warm potjie of culture, full of different ingredients and yummy surprises, and developing its rich flavour over centuries.

Get a taste of cultural alphabet soup from archaeology to Zulu, with a dash of Corn, jukskei, kwaito and quagga on the way.

A is for Archaeology B is for Battles C is for Corn and Twakkie D is for Dance E is for Earth F is for Festivals G is for Goldblatt H is for Handicrafts I is for Indigenous Art J is for Jukskei K is for Kwaito L is for Literature M is for Mbube N is for Nguni O is for Owl House P is for Palaeontology

Q is for Quagga R is for Robot S is for Shuttleworth T is for Tsotsi U is for Unesco World Heritage V is for Villages W is for Wine Y is for Yum Z is for Zulu

Read more: http://www.southafrica.info/about/arts/a-zculture.htm#.UsJBi7SGHvy#ixzz2p1ThuyHk

FMCG PRODUCTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Beer Brandy Cider Cream Liquer
Sparkling Wine Wine Fortified Wine Flavoured Alcoholic Beverages

BISCUITS & SNACKS

Baked Snacks

Biltong Corn Snacks

Extruded Snacks

Popcorn

Potato Based Snacks

Rusks

Savoury Biscuits

GENERAL FOODS
Bread

Flour

Jam

Maize

Pasta

Rice

Sugar Sweetners

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ALCOHOL SUPPLIERS
Bottega, by Profumi D'Italia Cape Legends DGB DISTELL Spirits, RTDs, Fruit Cocktails Distell Wines KWV Stellar Winery Stellenbosch Vineyards Swartland Winery

HOME CARE SUPPLIERS

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Fore Good Group Philips

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A.J. North (Pty) Ltd ACDOCO South Africa African Extracts Rooibos Bayer HealthCare Bioflora Calora Fore Good Group IVOhealth Kimberly-Clark Nampak Tissue Vita-thion

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Abba Seafood ACE Alpen Food Company Aqua Spa Mineral Waters Aspen Nutritionals Bokomo Boland Pulp Bull Brand Meat Products Cape Herb and Spice (PTY) LTD Carmin Tea Cresta Del Monte Fruits South Africa Denny Convenience Foods Eat Smart Organics Entyce Beverages Foodcorp Consumer Brands Goldcrest Heinz IFFCO Lucky Star Mondelez South Africa

Rhodes Soda King Tastic Vesuvio