Indigenous Ingredients Used for South African Cooking Dishes

Maize is an important part of South African cuisine.

Modern South Africa has been heavily shaped by the influx of different cultures and people who have not only integrated themselves into the indigenous landscape, but also brought their own particular cultural influences. An easy way to see this is by looking at the way traditional South African dishes carry not only the influences of the indigenous population as well as different European cultures, but also how those cultures have been shaped by the local indigenous ingredients.

Meats

Meats of all kind are very popular in South Africa, comprising the main part of almost every dish. Traditionally the meats would be from local herd and game animals such as crocodile, boar, goats and, more recently, cattle. Local insects were also gathered and used, notably the mopane worm, which is a type of caterpillar that is still used today. Offal, also known as trite, is popular in South Africa and is often used in many dishes. Offal is generally the parts of an animal left over after butchering and can be items such as livers, kidneys, tongues, tails, brains or even the entire head.

Maize and Millet

Maize (also known as corn) is another large part of traditional South African cooking. Maize is roasted and eaten off the cob or it is dried and has the kernels stripped off. The dried kernels can be used whole in certain dishes or ground into a meal in order to create a wide variety of foods such as porridge or dumplings. Millet and sorghum are two other wheat type plants native to the region and are used alongside maize to create many dishes, including several types of local beers.

Seafood

Seafood can be found in many traditional South African dishes. While historically ancient South African tribes did not subside on seafood, there was one group who did almost exclusively. The Strandlopers, which means beach walkers, had a diet of mussels, abalone, crayfish and seals. Modern South African dishes can use plenty of local indigenous seafood such as the kingklip and snoek fish which are both native to the region.

Other Indigenous Ingredients

Before the colonization of South Africa, hunter-gathers foraged for all manner of ingenious food items such as squash and coconut as well as nuts and berries. Another ingredient used in many dishes that is native to the entire African continent is the black-eyed bean. Settlers have brought many different fruits and vegetables to South Africa over the years that have found their way into South African crops and cooking. These food items, such as the sweet potato, are very popular in the region even though they are not an indigenous ingredient.