The Diversity of South African Cuisine Quiz

Answer: Onions, tomatoes, peppers, beans and spices

This dish has a mixed heritage. It has its origins in the gold mining townships around Johannesburg where Mozambican mineworkers made meals from tinned food such as tomato and beans mixed with chili, onions and garlic to produce a fiery meal. Chakalaka is a staple food of South Africa often served with pap or sometimes cut with amasi (thickened sour milk). Usually a requirement at barbeques.

Many variations exist.

Answer: Minced beef, malay spices, egg custard

This dish is the South African equivalent of British shepherd's pie, but the minced meat is curried - and the topping is savoury custard instead of mashed potatoes. Traditionally, the dish includes dried fruit like raisins and sultanas.

The first recipes used ginger, marjoram and lemon rind but replacement by curry powder has simplified the recipe. The origin of the word Bobotie is controversial. Afrikaans heritage claims that the likely origin is the Malayan word "boemboe", meaning curry spices. Others link it to "Bobotok" an Indonesian dish with dissimilar ingredients. The recipe first appears in a Dutch cookbook in 1609 and has been adopted by the South African cape Malay community thereafter.

Answer: Eggs, milk and sugar, pastry case and cinnamon

Melktert is a South African desert of definitive Dutch origins consisting of a sweet pastry crust and a custard filling made from sugar milk and eggs. Unlike the Portuguese custard tart (Pastéis de nata) or Dan Ta (Chinese egg tart) (the latter also via Portugal), the milk-to-egg ratio in Melktert is higher, hence the name. Cinnamon can be infused into the custard or sprinkled over the finished tart.

Answer: Sausage made from ground meat and spices

A sausage that originated in South Africa, the name literally means farmer (boer) sausage (wors). By law there must be 90% meat, always beef and either lamb, pork or both. There is a high fat content. The remaining 10% is made up mainly of spices, typically coriander seed, black pepper, nutmeg, cloves and allspice and preservatives such as salt and vinegar. It is traditionally served in a coiled shape with Pap which is a ground maize porridge.

It is not necessarily a South African dish but a southern African meal, Pap (Dutch for porridge) is a staple food of the region made from ground maize. It can vary in consistency from soft (consistency of porridge) to very firm which means it can be held in the hand. In the north of South Africa, it is a breakfast staple served with milk, sugar and butter. However if served with other meals, it can be served with tomato-onion stew and meat. In the south of the country it is almost always a breakfast food often laced with vegetables.

Answer: Dutch oven meal of meat and vegetables

This is not a stew. The dish has its origins with South African pioneers who shot game and added it to a pot like a three-legged Dutch oven (the dish's name translates as small pot food). Meat was braised in a little oil then vegetables, Dutch/Malay spices and starches (rice, potatoes) were added.

The dish is not a stew as stirring was not allowed. This allows the meat at the bottom of the pot to flavour all the vegetables through the slow cooking process. There is very little liquid added, and traditionally the meal is cooked outdoors over an open fire.

Answer: Fried dough bread sweet or savoury

Fried dough bread is common in South Africa and can be eaten served with ground minced meat or served sweet with syrup or jam. It is similar to a Caribbean Johnny Cake or a Mexican sopapilla. Vetkoek means fat cake in Afrikaans and is similar in size and texture to a doughnut (without the hole).

As it is a bread, it contains yeast as well as flour and salt. The dough is rolled into balls then deep fried. Koeksister (sister cake) is a similar food but always sweet and usually the dough is braided.

The hot cake is dunked in really cold syrup to give a crunchy coating.

Answer: Dried cured meat

Similar to Beef Jerky, this South African meat is dried and cured for preservation. Many meats including game and ostrich are made into biltong. Because of the warm climate, food preservation was essential. Early settlers, who travelled extensively over days and weeks, cured meat in brine or with saltpetre. Drying and the use of vinegar in its manufacture helped preserve it. Salt and spices also serve as anti-bacterial agents. Traditionally the spices used in biltong are pepper, coriander, and cloves.

Answer: Curry served in a hollowed out loaf of bread

The South African equivalent of fast food, this dish originated in the Durban Indian community. Sometimes only a quarter of a loaf is used, in which case it is known as kota (quarter). The origins are speculative but it is plausible that Indian labourers bought to South Africa needed a method to carry their lunches to work in the sugar cane fields.

The lunches were usually a vegetable curry, meat being added much later in the evolutionary process of the dish. The meat used is traditionally mutton and it would be poor form to use utensils when finger are just as effective. Authentic bunny chow is wrapped in old newspapers.

Answer: Mutton based stew

In Afrikaans, 'tamatiebredie' is a South African Stew usually made from Mutton. The name is confusing as "Bredie" means spinach but tomato is used instead. "Bredie has become the Afrikaans word for stew. The dish has some notable ingredients: pumpkin, green beans and waterblommetjies (water lilies). Spices include cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves and chilli.

Answer: Dessert of sponge and apricot jam

This desert has Cape Dutch heritage. It is a caramelised sponge with apricot jam and a cream sauce, served hot with ice cream or custard. There are many variations: ginger can be added; brandy (now called Tipsy tart); brandy and dates (Cape Brandy pudding). The origin of the name is not definitively known but the most plausible is after "Malva" meaning marshmallow.