Out of Africa (+recipes)

Traditional bobotie. Photo / Ian Jones

The first time I ever had a crack at making creme brulee, my baked custard became a voluptuous and oozy mess. The problem was I was using small eggs and needed more egg yolk.

I was reminded of this story when an African maitre d' I was working with casually remarked he'd worked in a kitchen in which they made 48 creme brulees from one ostrich egg. Problem solved.

He explained that Kalahari bushmen known as the San had a wealth of knowledge of southern Africa's flora and fauna and were particularly fond of ostrich eggs - though you'd be unlikely to find them making creme brulee.

The San eat everything from antelope, zebra, porcupine, wild hare, lion and giraffe to fish, insects, flying ants, snakes and wild honey. The most perishable food is eaten first, and larger cuts of meat is cured, dried and cut into strips, known as biltong.

In the wetter areas along the western and southern coasts, the first indigenous South Africans to come into contact with Europeans were the "Khoi". Their diet was a little more regal, including mussels, abalone, crayfish, seals, penguins and seaweed. They also favoured meat and are still fond of crisply fried sheep-tail fat, called kaiing.

Xhosa migrating from the north with sophisticated iron tools introduced agriculture, from which maize was the staple. South African cuisine changed again with the arrival of early Dutch settlers, the Boers, who began to establish vegetable gardens. They brought with them Malay slaves, who added their own touch to South African food with aromatic spice. The slaves cooked bobotie, a dish of curry-spiced mince with an egg topping.

Many other colonists came, like the Germans who brought with them tasty wurst sausage, from which the famous boerewors sausages evolved. And during British rule, in the early-19th century, the English managed to impart some influence with their puddings, pies and roasts.

Considerable numbers of Portuguese colonials then migrated south and introduced delicious, fiery peri peri dishes and sauces.

But the most important food lesson, that same maitre d' imparted, was that South African men are passionate about their braai (barbecues). Do not dream of interfering with their sosaties (seasoned lamb on a skewer), or you may well end up on a skewer yourself!