Wanderlust: Éliane, Chloé, Carlos: Interlude: Food 1 (Southern Africa

Abandon all your preconceived ideas about food in Africa, ye who read this! I, for one, have been delighted and somewhat surprised by our experience up to now. Of course I knew about S. African wines, but had not tasted some really good ones, just OK table wines. It is NOT the same here...

Some quick notes below.

Meat: Southern Africa is a meat-eating region! And I don't mean "carne" as we use it in Rio de la Plata, meaning just beef; I mean all sorts of game, lamb, venison, mutton, fish, crocodile; grilled, stewed, boiled, sautéed, fried; spicy or not. But always, always meat with your meal.

Nile crocodile stir-fried, with lemon, sauce tartare or sweet chili sauce. Texture falls between chicken and fish, not particularly flavourful by itself. Needs good sauce.

Kudu (big deer) in a stew: not so different from a regular stew, a bit chewy.

Eland and oryx (wildebeest): not Éliane's favourite! Very gamey meat, depends where (and when) it was butchered, what it ate, according to knowledgeable Namibians, who prepare it themselves.

Steaks and hamburguers: really good. Steaks tend to be served with some sauce, or chutney, or chili sauce.

Biltong (much like beef jerky or South American “charque”), made from beef or game, like oryx, which is less fat, but feels dryer. Can be straight or with flavours, like spicy chili sauce. Found in deli counters of all supermarkets, everywhere, really.

Seswaa: beef dish, a bit dry, in Zimbabwe.

Boerwors (Boer sausages)

Veggies and other:

“Pap”, Mabele and other names: everyday starch filler or staple of most Africans in this region, most often but not always white, like polenta made from white corn.

Wonderful local grapefruit and maracujà in Botswana and Zambia. Not so much in more southerly South Africa.

Coffee: very so-so, after 5 years in Vienna! Mostly filter.

Morogo/marog: delicious spinach-like veggie, sautéed with a bit of onion, with some spices.

“Ouma" buttermilk biscuits (“Karringmelk beskuit" in Afrikaans). Great South African brand. Excellent for breakfast, specially camping, since they are dry and will keep a long time. Have been dipping in tea or coffee every morning since arriving here...

Rooisbos tea: got used to drinking it almost every day! With or without milk.

Best meal in Africa to date: at the restaurant The Wreck in germanic Swakopmund. Grilled calamari with pineapple and aceto balsamico

Most memorable meal: at the Rest en Vrede Wine Estate. Big, thick steak, with a salad, perfect french fries and 6 different, excellent red wines. All this, within sight of the vines and the abrupt. I wanted to cry…

Most fun meal: at Mama Africa Restaurant in Cape Town, with Ainhoa and Israel, a fun couple from Madrid, whom we had met a few days before while shark diving.

Most strange meal: at the Zoo Café in Windhoek. We had ordered some salads and sandwiches, and it was taking a very long time. As we had to get back to the hotel to go to the airport, and I had seen our waitress walking in the park outside the café, I complained and was told that the waitress had just been fired! The food was ready, but nobody had thought of bringing it to our table. Timing is all.