Thursday, November 24, 2011

South Africa...The food

To sum up our culinary experience in South Africa, I would say:  The cheese and ice cream were unbelievably delicious. The meat was too gamey and popular.  I'm not a meat lover and vegetarianism is almost an insult here.  Not enough fresh fruits and vegetables.   Fish was fantastic.  

our meal in Soweto.  I'm not sure what everything was, but I will not be eating cow tongue again.
Our South African fellow tourist travelers couldn't believe that we weren't familiar with this "companion to every meal"  It tasted like straight bouillon to me and some people spread it on their bread like butter.
Honestly, with the name like marmite, it screams rodent jerky.  That is exactly what it tasted like.  No thanks.
Oh, how we had such fun with the candy bars and snacks.  Our favorite was the p.s. bar, which is like eating a personal valentine.   One of our safari guides told us that he used to give them to girls he fancied, with messages such as, "Watcha doin' later, or I miss you," to be taken quite seriously.  America, what is wrong with your chocolate?  Please, get it together and bring the Nosh bar and P.S. bar here soon.   And why are our potato chips so boring?

There is no root beer in South Africa.  The closest you can get is this ginger beer.  And just ask Ansel;  it is not even close. 


Emmy will be permanently radioactive after drinking this creme soda.  


Bags of Macadamia nuts for about two dollars.   I kick myself everyday for not throwing away all my clothes and filling my suitcase with these.  Stupid Stupid Stupid


Even though they are exciting and mysterious in name, they are not worth repeating in taste.  Emmy said that they taste like barbecued chicken in a bad way.  


One unforgettable meal was in Hout Bay.  The clam chowder was unforgettable and the fish was........let's just say that it is one of those things that I will forever crave.  




We did have to resort to a few petrol station meals.  This breakfast drink was actually fantastic.  I am on a search to find someone that sells it here in the U.S.  

I can't believe that I never tasted ostrich.  I think it was because it seemed like such a tourist attraction food. 

Ansel and I both loved the  Rooibos( Pronounced Roy-Boss), also known as Bush Tea.  The red bush is a native shrub of south Africa, where people have made tea from it for hundreds of years and is used by some tribes for medicinal purposes for treatment of hay fever symptoms, asthma, eczema and to soothe heartburn, ease the pain of stomach ulcers and relieve nausea.  I didn't notice any magical powers, but I didn't get sick in South Africa.   We were at a Halloween party recently where the kids were offered hot chocolate.  Ansel replied, "I don't like hot chocolate, but I would love some Bush tea".  

2 comments:

The Spokanite said...

Love! I was raised on Marmite and Crunchie bars! Once my vegetarian sister remarked that there was no vegetarian food (or even a single vegetable) on the dinner table at my uncle's farm for dinner. My uncle looked wounded and said, "What do you mean? I prepared a duck just for you!" Luckily you were spared the liver pate, which I was force-fed on every slice of bread not spread with Nutella as a kid.

Joal said...

Funny comment about the macadamia nuts. Is Marmite similar to Vegemite? They're both yeast extract and the description fits. I liked Vegemite, though. It has a strong but appealing flavor.