South Africa is a melting pot of different cultures and heritages – each of which richly shape the way we live and the way we travel. To celebrate our diversity, we dug deep into our childhood banks and extracted memories and recipes that best describes who we are and why we travel. These are our stories…
Welcome Lishivha, Getaway Content Producer
This time of the year brings such fond memories because my mother used to organise a taxi, she always opted for the Toyota Siyaya which was popular back in the day. She would make it a family mission together with one other family from our surrounding neighbours. She always made sure to hire out the newest Siyaya on the block, with the coolest sound system, so we could blast our music on our way to Warmbaths in Bela-Bela or Fountains Valley Resort just outside Pretoria’s CBD.
At the resort, all the kids would dive out into the pools as adults kicked their feet up, lounging on the grass, nibbling and sipping on this and that as we ran between the pools and snacks. Growing up in Soshanguve, I didn’t meet a lot of people outside the township, as a result of the Group Areas Act which separated black people from urban areas.
However, having travelled and met people from different walks of life in my adult life has taught me that regardless of social constructions, stereotypes and cultural differences, we are more alike than we are different. This lesson was entrenched while on assignment in the Northern Cape for Getaway. I met a Khomani San lady called Aunty Koera who made roosterkoek and lamb stew on an open fire under the stars in the wide Kalahari sky. Her passion and generosity to share Nama cuisine and my heartfelt encounter with her transcended cultural differences. Talking to her, I learnt a lot about the Khomani San heritage, which has been important to my understanding of South African Heritage. Theirs was the first successful case of an aboriginal land claim in South Africa post-apartheid settled out of court.
Also read: Khomani San Landscape spotlights South African Heritage
8 unique experiences you can only have in the Northern Cape
Family recipe to share
My family never went anywhere without Chakalaka. I was always delighted at how different it was almost every time it was made. It’s one of those dishes that depends on the cook of the day. Some like it spicier, others prefer it hot with lots of chilli (which can be adventurous), while some like it plain. I like it mild with enough chilli to tantalise my tongue without any tears involved and a bit crunchy for some interesting texture – so it doesn’t feel like I am eating mushy carrots and beans.
Ingredients:
5 Carrots
1 finely chopped onion
1 can of baked beans
2 Bell peppers (1 green and 1 red)
2-3 tablespoons of curry powder
2 tablespoons of oil
2 cloves garlic (optional)
2 Chilli (optional)
Method
Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry onions and the garlic until soft. Add the curry powder and stir for a bit before adding one chopped green pepper and chilli if you want it hot. After cooking the new mixture with the green pepper for a bit, add the grated carrots and fry them, making sure everything is mixed well with the spices. Then leave to cook for about 7 minutes. Remove your pan from the stove and add the baked beans then mix. Add the finely chopped red bell pepper and an onion to give it a bit of a crunch.
Nidha Narrandes, Getaway Digital Content Strategist
I am fascinated by the culture of travel, and how completely far-removed my concept of it was growing up in Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal. Travel meant hitching a lift with one family member, to visit another, in a town or city no more than two hours away. The excitement of cementing plans, and then anxiously awaiting the day, was palpable.
When I was 14, my uncles family invited me to tag along to the megacity of Johannesburg to visit relatives. My expectation of Jozi far exceeded reality, and I couldn’t wait to travel to another province. Two provinces at 14 was a big deal.
Padkos in an Indian family home was probably a bigger deal than province-hopping. We don’t take this lightly, or without chili – and we never trust food outlets along the route. If we’re leaving at 6am, you can bet your last Randela the family would be up at 3am preparing tinned fish sandwiches for breakfast snacks, and a fresh pot of breyani for lunch.
With all the stops along the way, a 5-hour journey would turn into an 8-hour trip – but we were well-fed so no one complained.
Jozi was a childhood highlight. A visit to the Musical Fountains in Wemmer Pan and the Rand Easter Show filled my mind with endless possibilities of unchartered territory and coaxed me into reading about travel in South Africa. I came back with far more than just one more visited province, I added on the burning desire to explore SA and the rest of the world. Financially, I could only afford to start travelling internationally in my 30’s, but that never stopped me from crossing all the provinces I could in one road trip and exploring as many pockets of this country as I could. International destinations are beautiful, but exploring South Africa is pure magic.
A cultural experience from my heritage I would encourage all young travellers to explore is the 1860 Heritage Museum in Durban. It offers an in depth look into the lives of the indentured labourers brought to South Africa by the British and valuable insight into their plight and hardship.
From history we must grow, so we are educated on the past, to be able to tackle the future.
Family recipe to share
My grandmother would make steamed mielie bread for our road trips, it became synonymous with travel. Each child was handed a little food pack to keep them going until the tinned fish sandwiches made their appearance.
Steamed mielie bread
Ingredients
6 mielies grated
100g melted butter
1/2 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
Pinch of salt
Method
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Wash and wipe dry mielie leaves. Fill each leaf with a little three tablespoons of the mixture, then fold over another leaf and seal. Place filled leaves in a steamer or colander over boiling water, and cover to steam cook for 25 minutes. Make sure they are sitting above the water and not inside. Remove from leaves when cooked and dollop a thick layer of butter over, enjoy!
Elise Kirsten, Getaway Online Manager
I was very fortunate to have travelled regularly with my family as a child. June holidays helped fill Sol Kerner’s coffers, as we visited an array of Sun destinations, including Sun City, Wild Coast Sun and the old Thab Nchu Sun ( now Naledi Sun). There were train trips and cross country drives through Beaufort West, Bloemfontein and Klerksdorp, trips to the Cango Caves outside Oudtshoorn, funicular rides at the Pretoria Zoo, as well as weekend getaways to Hermanus, Kleinbaai, the Cederberg, Dwarskersbos, Eland’s Bay and many more.
Highlights included my first trip on an airplane (other than as a baby) to Durban when I was 8, where I also enjoyed a ride on a rickshaw and a visit to the spice market, where I saw ladies in colourful saris with red dots on their foreheads to indicate that they were married – I was fascinated. When I was 16 we spent three weeks in the Greece and Cyprus. It was a wonderful time of swimming in the crystal waters around Ayia Napa, Mykonos and Skiathos, exploring ancient sites in Athens and acquiring new tastes for foods like taramasalata and dolmades.
I remember travelling to the Wild Coast and stopping in Mthatha (Umtata then) at the Wimpy for breakfast when I was 10 and noticing how strange it was that we were the only white people in town. It was 1987 in the thick of the Apartheid years and growing up in the suburbs of Durbanville this was an unusual but important step in broadening my cultural horizons. My parents also hosted friends of all cultures in our home, so it wasn’t only travel that broke down barriers which the government of the day wished to impose. That seems like a million years ago.
Family recipe to share:
Padkos was never too exciting when I was a kid. As much as they repulse me today, the Wimpy or Golden Egg stops for breakfast had a greater lure as a child. If I recall, padkos consisted of boiled egg sandwiches (or frikadels on a roll), apples and bananas and chocolate coated digestive biscuits. Perhaps some plain salted Simba chips and coke or fanta too.
Picture: Pixabay
