logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2023
13m 29s

Cape Malay South African Cuisine

Bbc Radio 3
About this episode

Writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns completes his exploration of South African food, as he discusses the national dish, and what it says about the Rainbow Nation.

South African cuisine is as varied as South Africa itself, and in this set of Essays, Lindsay has delved into its different cuisines for five personal and lyrical ruminations on what these foods evoke for him. Each Essay - covering one of South Africa's racial groups - offers distinct memories of different aspects of his many experiences in South Africa. We'll sample the different cuisines, and experience these nuanced and complex communities through Lindsay's eyes, ears, and taste buds.

In today's final Essay, Lindsay strolls through the picture postcard community of Bo-Kaap in Cape Town, on his way to eat a personal favourite - tomato bredie. His lunch companion, meanwhile, orders bobotie - a meal which originated in the country's Cape Malay community but has now become the national dish. And as he reflects on the series, Lindsay wonders what this development says about finding a balance between acknowledging South Africa's troubling past and making a future together.

Producer: Giles Edwards

Up next
Mar 2025
Digging for Words
In 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American to publish a collection of poems. Jade Cuttle looks at the way her poems were described and asks what do we categorise as nature writing? Her essay considers the idea of "coining" and the work of a new generation of poet ... Show More
13m 49s
Mar 2025
Workplace performance
What connects actors with baristas? In 1983, the American sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild published a book called The Managed Heart which studied the working world of airline stewards. Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal’s essay considers what it means when a waiter smiles as they serve ... Show More
11m 10s
Mar 2025
The crime of creation
The Japanese philosopher Yujin Nagasawa says the majority of people are what he calls ‘existential optimists’. What does this mean for ideas about evil and the creation of life? Jack Symes’ essay takes us through the views of thinkers including Schopenhauer, Stephen Law and Camus ... Show More
12m 53s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2022
Fried Chicken: a story of race and identity
Since the American Civil War to the present day, fried chicken has been used to create negative stereotypes of black people. These stereotypes and this history has seeped into today’s consciousness which has established a complicated relationship between chef and author Melissa T ... Show More
28m 58s
Aug 2022
Food For Thought: African Cooking and It’s Future Featuring Leslie Leigh
Leslie Leigh from West African Cooks join us and talks his website (https://www.westafricacooks.com/africa/) and his inspiration for building his site, pop up restaurants, and the future of African cooking. Below are some of the links and information Leslie mentioned during this ... Show More
42m 44s
Jul 2023
Speaking for themselves
Kaaps is a language widely spoken in the bleak townships of Cape Town, South Africa. It’s often denigrated as a lesser form of Afrikaans – the language that was used as a tool of white supremacy during the apartheid era. Spoken predominately by working class people on the Cape Fl ... Show More
27m 15s
Feb 2023
The growth of food banks in Africa
Food banks have operated for decades in North America and Europe. They are generally operated as non profits, connecting food businesses that have waste with individuals, families and charities that need food. In 2006 there was just one African food bank in Egypt. A second opened ... Show More
31m 29s
Oct 2021
My South African identity
‘I am African first’: Exploring race and identity for South Africans of Indian descent. Karnie Sharp has spent years discussing the complex crisis of identity that many feel in modern South Africa. In the wake of rising tensions between communities, and vitriolic statements from ... Show More
25m 57s
Dec 2021
#82 - Cuisines indiennes, clichés en sauce
Cheese nan, curry, tandoori… Quand on parle de cuisine indienne en France, c’est souvent à ces plats que l’on pense. Ces mots-valises sont à mille lieux de traduire toute la diversité du monde culinaire sud-asiatique et font référence à des déclinaisons gastronomiques bien éloign ... Show More
41m 55s
Jul 2019
Hugh Masekela: The iconic South African musician
The story of Hugh Masekela’s life is intertwined with the history of South Africa itself. Born into a relatively privileged family in a mining town east of Johannesburg, Masekela was aware from an early age of the separatist and exploitative legacy of colonialism. As he grew up a ... Show More
39m 28s
Jun 2024
A master chef's take on food, culture and community | Marcus Samuelsson
The secret magic of good food is that it brings people and cultures closer together. Chef Marcus Samuelsson taps into that magic at his acclaimed restaurants and through his cross-cultural approach to cooking. In conversation with art curator Thelma Golden, he expands on the rich ... Show More
55m 49s
Dec 2021
South Africa
Anthony Bourdain visits the Johannesburg suburb of Hillbrow and spends a day in the life of a taxi driver, discovering the culture and, of course food, that makes up modern day Johannesburg. Original airdate: 2013, Season 2 To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, v ... Show More
47m 23s
Dec 2022
Shining the Light on Indigenous Food Systems
How many of us know anything about food systems? What are food systems and what guides the foods eaten? Answering that question is something we all should consider. When it comes to indigenous communities how do we answer that question? Indigenous people have had their lives, foo ... Show More
55 m