FOOD ARTICLE

CUISINE IN THE WESTERN CAPE

Cape Town is well known for its cosmopolitan atmosphere and with that comes a vast array of delicious mouth-watering cuisine, so diverse in choice, that one wishes you were able to enjoy an endless holiday in the Cape region, just to savour it all!

From traditional Cape Dutch style cooking right thro’ to Eastern cuisine, with well enthused flavours and all manner of cooking methods used to create exquisitely gastronomic meals; so creatively dished up, that it’s not unusual to desire a few cooking books to take back home too! But be warned – no recipe book will come to its full without a complete wine guide book too. Remember the Western Cape is South Africa’s wine country after all.

How about an Ostrich fillet steak with chilli chocolate sauce or a delicious venison steak of – Springbok, Kudu, Eland, Wildebeest, Oryx or Impala; Lamb or Springbok shank slowly marinated in red wine or savour the wilder side with a Warthog or Crocodile steak.

We have all heard of Peri Peri sauce, but have you indulged in Monkey Gland sauce? And no, it’s not made from monkeys!

Fresh seafood is plentiful and extremely tasty. If you yearning for local seafoods, there are a number of beach restaurants cooking a variety of fish on open fires, serving pot breads and sweet potatoes baked in the coals. Game fish, line fish, mussels, calamari, prawns, langoustine, crayfish and huge lobsters. Guaranteed to be a very enjoyable experience!

Bobotie is a deliciously flavored curried mince dish (a spicy Shepherd’s Pie), which originates from the Malay people of Cape Town. It’s normally baked in the oven, with a savoury egg & milk mixture on top. Served with yellow rice cooked with raisins, a side salad and a well selected glass of Cape Town’s unique Pinotage wine, will certainly suit a Sunday lunch very well. 

Waterbommetjiebredie is a delicious lamb stew cooked with a green plant and its flowers which grow in ponds / dams during winter time. Very unique to Cape Town and a speciality in selected restaurants.

On a sunny day there is nothing more social or tasty than a typical South African barbeque (braai) in your garden or down by the beach – with chicken wings, pork ribs, oepsies (thin sausages wrapped in bacon), Griddlers, all sorts of steaks, Boerewors sausage, lamb chops and gammon fillets.

For those who are home sick, then there is all sorts of international tastes – Indian, Mexican, Italian, Thai, Portuguese, Chinese, Turkish, French, African………and much more.

For dessert, choose a typical Capetonian style hot Malva pudding with ice cream or a Milktart or a Dom Pedro (an amazing alcoholic milk shake) or deep fried ice-cream and you would have just experienced another perfect meal in the Cape Province.

Topped it off with an espresso, a grappa, a Springbok liqueur (Amarula and peppermint shots) or a Jagermeister and you know the cosmopolitan influence in this province is true!

In the Western Cape there are frequently held, very well organized Food and Wine Festivals, Cheese and Olive Festival’s and the famous Knysna Oyster Festival. It’s time to celebrate and enjoy the fast varieties of delicacies this Western Cape Province has to offer. The Champagne Festival in Franschhoek is a real treat to visit and to enjoy not only the locally produced Cap Classics, but also the cheeses, olives and its oils from surrounding areas.
To heighten the festive atmosphere, local musicians stringing their Kaapse Klopse or jazz tunes, giving us all an excellent opportunity to dance, meet and socialize with local Capetonians, while sampling incredibly mouthwatering cuisine.

South African olives and olive oil are on the world’s top list of expanding new cooking ingredients in the Food Industry. The Cape has quite a few well awarded olive oils on the market, (with Morgenster of Somerset West leading the way) and tours of tasting are very advisable (and unique).

What is better than to sip a glass of afew top South African wines, snack on olives, biltong and delicious cheeses, while you watch the sunset end another beautiful day in Cape Town or Hermanus?

The Western Cape promises not only magnificent scenery, but to satisfy all your senses…….top of the list is - cuisine!

As part of Percy Tours services while you are on tour with us, we will willingly suggest and book any restaurants reservations you require, as well as provide you with our chauffeur door to door transfer.