The major input the Portuguese had on South African food was the introduction of chilies which helped to create the famous peri-peri sauce.ĭuring the 1500’s the British first set foot on the Cape en route to India and the East, namely Admiral Francis Drake and James Lancaster who describes a trade with the Khoisan and in it the wonderful woolless sheep.Ī few Dutch ships traversed the tip of Africa, but it wasn’t until 1652, with the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck, that a refreshment station was erected. He then traversed Africa and landed in India which solidified the Europe-Africa-East trade route. His contemporary, Vasco da Gama, first set foot in the Cape of Good Hope in 1497. And with his discovery, Europe had found a new trading route to India and the Far East (although he didn’t make it all the way to India on his voyage).
Table Mountain, what the first Europeans saw when arriving at the Cape of Good HopeĮuropean influence in South Africa started with Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, who landed in the Cape of Good Hope (present day Cape Town) in 1488. There are several outside protagonists that shaped the food in South Africa, beyond the indigenous people. It is no wonder that one can see various influences from around the world in a single dish. South Africa’s history is one of colonisation, slavery and segretion. Adding spices from the East and vinegar to create the dried meat called biltong (similar to beef jerky). While the Khoisan had been curing meat for centuries, European settlers introduced a more sophisticated curing process. The Zulu tribes brought mealie-meal (locally known as pap) to the country along with a diet of meat and vegetables. It was later when the north Africans arrived that they introduced modern agriculture and foods such as corn (locally called mealies), squash and sweet potatoes.
It starts with the indigenous people of South Africa, the Khoisan, who were hunter-gatherers. European and African cooking techniques combined with Eastern spices have brought a real melting pot into South African cuisine, quite literally! The story of South African food is one of blending, borrowing and adapting.
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