Dishing out the goods

moyo uShanka Pier, Durban

moyo Melrose Arch, Johannesburg

moyo Stellenbosch, near Cape Town

I learned South Africa first at breakfast, by lunch I was well-acquainted with her passions, but by dinner—that’s when we became friends.

A country’s cuisine is the breath and life of its people. And food is the very soul of South Africa—but South African cuisine is often (wrongly) overlooked as one of the country’s attractions.

In a country rich with glorious scenery, glistening coastlines, warm hospitality and that whole safari thing, food is generally low on the list of a tourist’s priorities, but modern day South African cuisine (influenced by a blend of Indigenous, Dutch, French, Indian and Malaysian flavours), is the melting pot on the stove that will have you coming back for more.

Eating the Big 5,6,7,8
‘South Africans love their meat’, my South African expat friends warned, so vegetarian-me arrived in South Africa expecting a week of avoiding game burgers and mysterious stews…until I stumbled into the Hosted Buyers’ Lounge in Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg.

Here, chefs from one of the seven moyo restaurants across South Africa, fed us on some of the most delicious salads I have eaten, Moroccan-spiced pumpkin, wild rice and more delicately flavoured breads than even the biggest carb-starved vegan could eat.

Meaning ‘soul’ in Swahili, moyo promised more than food. It was an experience: a shard of African life in taste, music and face-painting. 

So, days later just outside of Cape Town, I was happy to be visiting moyo Stellenbosch on the Spier Wine Estate. As diners were welcomed by the songs of Wishy-Washy Ladies, the soft touch of a face painter dotted our faces.

Seated in Bedouin tents lit with Moroccan lamps, we were thus decorated, filled (with springbok or ostrich or beef or vegetables) and entertained with rhymes and rhythms that perhaps we didn’t understand, but certainly felt.

Pap the Pinotage
The polenta-like mailie pap was my constant of the traditional African meal. This was often served with a vegetable stew made from the freshest of local produce. I was told wines made with the Pinotage grape (unique to South Africa) were a great accompaniment for these dishes (however, I was also told Pinotage made a great accompaniment to ‘eating’).

The sauce of much debate
A word to the wise: do not suggest the barbeque is better loved in Australia than in South Africa (where it is called ‘braai’). Furthermore, do not engage in a debate over sauce or marinade concoctions. If caught in the middle of such arguments in South Africa (which may or may not have been your fault just because you mentioned that you liked the chilli sauce), feign a sudden interest in grass growth or cricket (much the same thing). DO NOT MENTION BILTONG (cured meat) as this WILL prompt arguments over whether game or beef is best.

*Pretty obviously, ‘Come let us eat’.