One of my favorite parts
of our South African journey was sharing meals in the homes of so many
different people! In Cape Town, we
participated in Dine with Khayelitsha, a program where guests are given a tour
of the township Khayelitsha, created during apartheid for black South Africans
forced out of white group areas of Cape Town, and then invited into the homes
of Khayelitsha residents to eat with their families. During the walking tour portion, we
experienced a friendly, lively neighborhood where on the Sunday evening we
visited, people hung out on the streets listening to music, chatting, dancing,
and laughing. Then, we got to sit in the
living room of one of our guides, Luthando, and share delicious home-cooked food
and conversation with his family. Residents of Khayelitsha created this program
to reduce negative stigma around the people living in townships for outsiders
like residents of Cape Town and tourists. It was incredible to spend quality
time in a cozy, intimate setting with friends old and new, not to mention to
eat the best serving of pap and chakalaka I had all trip!
When we visited the
neighborhood of Bo-Kaap near Cape Town’s center, we were invited to the homes
of two witty women as colorful in personality as the houses they lived in! There, we were taught how to cook a
traditional Cape Malay meal of curry, roti, and samosas. The Cape Malay culture and cuisine prevalent
in Bo-Kaap draws from that of places like Indonesia, India, and Madagascar from
where Europeans brought workers to South Africa. This meal felt familiar and special to me
because of the parallel history of colonization in South Africa and Guyana, the
South American country half of my family is from, leading to similar cuisines. In
addition to the cooking lesson, we learned the health benefits of different
spices, and how to win over a husband.
Even though our hosts were fasting in observance of Ramadan, as many of
the Cape Malay population practice Islam, they still cooked for us and assisted
us in the preparation of our meal which I greatly appreciated.
We revisited Khayelitsha
where we had the opportunity to eat in a home turned restaurant called 4Roomed,
run by a warm, bubbly South African MasterChef finalist, Abigail Mbalo. Abigail gives traditional township food a
gourmet spin. For example, she turned the pap we ate our first night in
Khayelitsha into butternut pap. Although
this may not have been Abigail’s house, it was meant to feel like a typical
four roomed township home, and the dining set-up in the backyard around a large rectangular table was meant to encourage interaction between guests, as if it were a dinner party hosted in someone's house.
Our final dinner
together, energetic and quirky Jade de Waal, also of MasterChef South Africa,
crafted an experience for us in her parent’s home. As a group, we sat around the living room
snacking and drinking. Then we split off into smaller groups and received
intimidating recipes, which we motivated each other through and
all managed to complete in the most tasty and impressive of ways! We cooked the
entire meal and ate together in the shared space of her kitchen which also
became a dancefloor, a bar, a speaking platform, and a dining room in the
process. It was such an awesome ending to a trip to make a meal and enjoy it
together in this space of family and closeness, especially with this wonderful
group I’ve spent a month learning and growing with.
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