For lunch we went to a private home in the colorful area of Cape Town known as the Bo Kaap. This is a very old part of the city where the first slaves settled. These people were not Africans; rather, they were brought by the Dutch from the East Indies and they kept many parts of their culture. Cape Malays, as they are called now, are highly multicultural, with food influences from Indonesia, India, Africa, and Europe. They are still Islamic, and as we walked up the cobblestone hills to get there, we heard the call to prayer sing out over the neighborhood. All the houses are small and colorful, built side by side up steep hills going up the side of Table Mountain. It's a charming and bright little neighborhood.
Our visit was so we could learn about cooking. Cape Malay food is really very distinct from more traditional South African fare. Our host was wonderful and very friendly, welcoming us into her home where we packed in around the counters in the kitchen. She was showing us how to make several traditional dishes: chicken curry, rotis that we buttered and rolled and smacked into shape before frying, samoosas filled with chicken or vegetables before being sealed and folded tightly into small triangles and fried, and what she called chili bites (fried dough balls made with chick pea flour, onion, and spices). We all got a chance to try making these dishes before everything was cooked up and eaten. And eaten. Yum!
Our visit was so we could learn about cooking. Cape Malay food is really very distinct from more traditional South African fare. Our host was wonderful and very friendly, welcoming us into her home where we packed in around the counters in the kitchen. She was showing us how to make several traditional dishes: chicken curry, rotis that we buttered and rolled and smacked into shape before frying, samoosas filled with chicken or vegetables before being sealed and folded tightly into small triangles and fried, and what she called chili bites (fried dough balls made with chick pea flour, onion, and spices). We all got a chance to try making these dishes before everything was cooked up and eaten. And eaten. Yum!
