In search of SA's definitive cuisine
Melting Pot
Does South African cuisine amount to more than braaivleis? Anna Trapido examines local food culture.
If we are what we eat, who are we? The human species uses food to define identity. We mark signifi cant political, cultural and emotional moments in our mouths.
A president is inaugurated with a banquet. A child's birthday requires cake. We recognise Japaneseness in every mouthful of sushi and Jewishness in a sip of chicken soup. So what does it mean if the majority of South Africans are not sure if we have a national cuisine?
Before anyone gets into a panic and decides that their inability to describe a set of uniting tastes signals South African specific social collapse, it is worth pointing out that the concept of national cuisine is rather out of fashion. In a post-modern world, the significance of the nation state is facing a combined onslaught from the very old and the extremely new. Ancient regional identities are coming to the fore and intersecting with an internet-inspired global consciousness. We live and eat in a world where a man who defines himself as a Catalan rather than a Spaniard is the foremost exponent of the ultra-modern molecular gastronomy movement. If discarding national notions works for Ferran Adrià, how bad can it be?
So perhaps the question is not whether we have a national cuisine but rather whether there are valuable regional food genres in South Africa. And the answer is of course there are. If diversity is the gastronomic watch word du jour then it is auspicious to be a nation that can say "yum" in 11 official languages. From anise-infused skuinskoek in the Free State to Vhavenda lunonya seed-sprinkled Vhuswa cakes in Limpopo, we are deliciously regionally specific. We taste Durban in a bunny chow, and Cape Town's Bo-Kaap district in every tamarind and clove-laden mouthful of denningvleis. South Africa has more plant biodiversity than any other nation on earth. From kambro with wild rosemary in Calvinia to pelargonium-seasoned dombolo in the Kamberg and marula wine in Polokwane, we have been blessed with indigenous edible variety.
FUSION FOOD TRADITIONS
In addition to South Africa's indigenous plenty, we are the inheritors of several very fine fusion food traditions. Africa, Asia and Europe have marinated and seasoned each other into Cape Malay, Boerekos and Kwa-Zulu Natal Indian Diaspora cuisines. In every piri-piri prawn we are graced with tantalising hints of the Afro-Lusitanean wonders of our northern neighbours.
So far, so good. Now for the bad news. Very little of the food described above is easily available in a restaurant setting. Even less of it has been modernised and refined by the kind of artistic flair that a professional chef can bring to a plate. Home food is wonderful at home but where are our high art versions of the same dishes? Where are the restaurants that will transform family flavours we know and love into contemporary epicurean events?
While other new world regions are assertively (and profitably) marketing themselves as foodie destinations many South Africans are still not sure if they have anything to offer and, if they do, whether they want to share it. Our problem is not with recipes or ingredients but rather with the ways in which we relate to each other and think of ourselves. South Africans have a very long history of disliking, disrespecting and disregarding each others' creativity and it's getting in the way of everything.
Painful past experiences have taught many of the keepers of indigenous knowledge that sharing their secrets seldom brings equitable distribution of subsequent rewards. Consequently unique ingredients and recipes are seldom put into the public domain. Even when they are on the menu customers are often conservative and defensive about the kinds of modifications that occur when traditional tastes are translated into modern restaurant dishes. Fiddle the seasoning in a chakalaka recipe or add a non-traditional spice to a koeksister syrup and the wrath of a thousand aunties will make itself manifest.
All of this is tragic because it means that many creative chefs have given up trying to work within a local culinary language and instead opt for imitation of overseas food genres. Far from protecting our flavour repertoire, this leaves only crass Afro-Disney-style theme park eateries for those wishing to explore the gastronomic glories of our land. And a face painter does not a decent meal make.
CULTURAL WORKERS
The culinary arts, like any art form, require the artist to bravely expose their inner-most self in their work. There are chefs who have struggled through the barriers described above and do reflect the local flavour repertoire in a stylish, modern manner. Do we celebrate their effort? Like hell we do. Chefs such as Topsi Venter, Cas Abrahams and Dorah Sitole are significant cultural workers of long standing and yet when national honours are awarded they are consistently overlooked.
It's not about being a food snob. Rather about understanding that marketing accessible modern versions of our culinary genres has the potential to bring with it desperately needed economic and social benefits. Whatever the reasons behind our current confusion, we really do need to get over ourselves and promote our best tastes. The one thing we all agree upon is that South Africa is desperate for more jobs. We have so much to offer and there are excellent economic spin-offs to the assertive promotion of food culture. Gone are the days when American tourists would only eat Kentucky and the Brits wanted bangers and mash. Modern travelers want authentic alimentary experiences abroad.
Australia has built a whole tourism industry around reinventing a wine and food genre that the Monty Python team compared with an armpit. Italians sell a lot of mediocre booze on the strength of the basic human truth that a pizza without wine is no pizza at all. Our wine industry operates with one hand tied behind its back because it doesn't have recognizable foods to support sales.
So, who are we? As it stands we are unforgivable squanderers of plenty. The Irish Minister for arts, sports and tourism was recently quoted as saying that he envied his South African counterpart because "you've got so much to work with. I market rain". We have in our power to conjure up cuisine filled with hope, joy and plenty. So let's.
WHERE TO EAT
MODERN SA CUISINE
The restaurants described here are not where you
will find a traditional sosatie or a "ye olde" authentic
plate of umngqusho. This list reflects some of the
best of those taking our core culinary traits into a
delicious future...
Skye
Fordoun Hotel and Spa, Nottingham Road, KZN.
Tel 033 266 6079.
The unique culinary collaboration of Chef Graham
Nielson and Zulu traditional doctor Elliot Ndlovu
has begun to bear fine-dining fruit at this rural
hotel. Offerings are seasonal but the on-site indigenous
herb garden plays a significant role in menu
planning and a glamorous infusion of Zulu chic on
Eurocentric classics is the order of the day.
Spice
362 Windermere Road, Morningside, Durban,
KZN. Tel 031 303 6375
Now in a smart new space, Chef Linda Govender
continues to offer her intriguing culinary fusion
of the Indian spice blends of her ancestors and the
European culinary traditions of her formal training.
The taste of modern Durban deluxe; this is KZN
cuisine come of age with a sophisticated and terroirspecific
identity.
Reuben's
Oude Stallen Centre, 19 Huguenot Road,
Franschhoek, Western Cape. Tel 021 876 3772.
Reuben Riffel's book Reuben Cooks is subtitled "taste
as time travel". The chef is brave and unselfconscious
about merging flavours and textures of family food
with international trends and personal preferences.
His plates allows diners to travel through time
and space to a place of authenticity, grounded in
Franschhoek yet modern and utterly delicious.
Watch this space...
Rudi Liebenberg is the recently appointed Executive
Chef of the Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town. In his
last job at Johannesburg's Saxon he offered worldclass
food with a South African twist. His ability to
infuse his ultra-modern work with core Afrikaans
flavours has made him a Johannesburg legend in
his own lunch time. Gauteng's loss is the Western
Cape's gain.
Potjie "