Choose your country and language:

Africa

  • Global
  • Angola
  • Botswana
  • DRC
  • Ethiopia
  • Ghana
  • Kenya
  • Malawi
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Nigeria
  • South Africa
  • Tanzania
  • Uganda
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe
  • shotLeft

Americas

  • USA
  • Argentina
  • Brazil

Asia Pacific

  • China
  • India
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Australia

Europe

  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • United Kingdom
Back
South Africa
Culture
History
Food
Family
Cape Town
Johannesburg
Bloemfontein
Durban
Nelspruit
Pretoria
Port Elizabeth
Polokwane
Kimberley

AAmaXhosa love meat, and during rituals where animals are slaughtered, no part is wasted - the head, feet and tripe (stomach) are all eaten. Beef tripe and sheep tripe are both a delicacy, and are usually cooked like a stew. Tripe is eaten on its own, or with samp (dried corn kernels that have been stamped and chopped until broken) or stiff mieliepap (maize meal porridge). Samp is a staple dish of the Xhosa people, and it can be eaten on its own or mixed with mashed potato. It can also be cooked with beans and eaten with meat and gravy.

Sheep heads and trotters, and chicken feet and heads are eaten as snacks, accompanied by samp or mieliepap. A cow head can feed a family and is not as expensive as regular meat such as steak and brisket, which is why it’s so popular. A cow head is usually given to men when they attend a ritual, while the women are given tripe.

A popular summer meal known as “African salad” is umphokoqo, a crumbly maize meal with sour milk or butter milk. Other well-loved side dishes are umqa, umxhaxha and umkhuphu. Umqa is a stiff maize meal porridge and can be cooked with curried cabbage or spinach, umxhaxha is a combination of pumpkin and corn, and umkhuphu is maize meal and beans. Another favourite is boiled mielies which can be eaten as a snack. In townships, eating mealies is called “playing the harmonica”. They’re also eaten after funerals, and served at the gate of the home where the funeral is. Guests are given water to wash their hands, and there will be dishes filled with corn at the gate, which guests eat before the main meal is served.

IIn Xhosa culture, meals were not typically controlled by time like they are in the European culture. Eating in the morning would be done before families dispersed to do their daily chores, otherwise people ate when they were hungry. Meals would be cooked in the morning and late afternoon when people returned from the fields or from herding cattle and so on. Usually if people felt hungry during the day they would eat whatever had been left over from the morning meal.

Things have changed a lot, since Africans have been greatly influenced by European eating habits, and now we look at our watches before eating because meals have titles nowadays. African cuisine has also become very popular for tourists who flock to the townships for authentic African meals.

AAbout the author

Fatima Dike is a Cape-Town based playwright, director and teacher, and is well versed on Xhosa culture. Her writing career started in 1976 and spans decades of written plays and directing work. She has been a writer in residence at The Open University in Milton Keynes, London and has lectured at John Carroll University in Cleveland Ohio. Since 2005 she has been a member of SIT, an international organisation that brings university students from the US to South Africa to study multiculturalism. They are hosted by black families in Langa where they live as family members and are encouraged to speak Xhosa as much as possible. Fatima is also a founder member of a multi-disciplinary company called Umbonowethu, which teaches drama, photography and dance.

Where to visit

Related articles

Vibrant culture

Bunny Chow 101

Vibrant culture
Bunny Chow 101
Discover the traditional South African curry dish - bunny chow
Vibrant culture

Ronnies Sex Shop

Vibrant culture
Ronnies Sex Shop
Along Route 62, between Barrydale and Ladysmith is the world-famous Ronnies Sex Shop. It is one of the most popular pubs on the route and travellers on the road stop for refreshments and a photograph of themselves next to the ‘Ronnies Sex Shop’ sign.
Vibrant culture

Road tripping for the hops: Craft breweries of Gauteng

Vibrant culture
Road tripping for the hops: Craft breweries of Gauteng
Explore the craft breweries in and around Gauteng.
Vibrant culture

Cape Malay Merang ceremony

Vibrant culture
Cape Malay Merang ceremony
Merang is a Cape Malay celebration focused on food. Whether you savour the penslawar or salivate over the sweet potato and coconut pudding, a Cape Malay Merang meal is a delicious slice of community history.
Vibrant culture

Sacred journeys and temples in KwaZulu-Natal

Vibrant culture
Sacred journeys and temples in KwaZulu-Natal
Sacred sites in KwaZulu-Natal include the Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo, the charming Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple in Chatsworth and the majestic slopes and valleys of the mighty Drakensberg mountain range. Throw in some isiZulu culture, San rock art and Bhangazi legends, and let the journey begin.
Vibrant culture

South African English culture: introducing a new urban influence

Vibrant culture
South African English culture: introducing a new urban influence
Eastern Cape province is the heartland of South African English culture, as the site of the first mass settlement of British settlers around the city they called Grahamstown – now renamed Makhanda.
Vibrant culture

The Anglo-Zulu War: final stand against a ruthless empire

Vibrant culture
The Anglo-Zulu War: final stand against a ruthless empire
The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 saw the world’s mightiest empire struggle to overcome a brave indigenous people; today, history buffs can relive that desperate conflict in KwaZulu-Natal’s battlefields.
Vibrant culture

Pan African Market, Cape Town: craftmanship and art from across the continent

Vibrant culture
Pan African Market, Cape Town: craftmanship and art from across the continent
Located in a national monument in historic Long Street, Cape Town’s Pan African Market offers visitors to Western Cape an impressive display of African culture, craftsmanship and artistic talent.

South Africa on social media