Random Treats: CT in South Africa

As TT mentioned, I was recently in South Africa. My friend DY and I were fortunate enough to follow MVB home for the holidays. In my third and final post, I share with you some of the best goodies I enjoyed in between my extravagant meals.

We started our journey in Capetown. MVB and her family were attending a wedding when we arrived, so we went straight to the apartment where we were greeted by a bowl full of South African snacks! MVB knows me well!!

Included in this bowl was a very special treat, South African Biltong and Droe wors… oh my goodness this stuff was like CRACK! So good and so addicting. MVB described it to us before going over as “South African meat jerky, but so much better.” I had never had any kind of meat jerky before, and never had any interest in it either, but this stuff was SO good! I preferred the Biltong, which was more like slices of dried meat, to the Droe wors, which was more meat-stick life. However, I was happily gobbling down lots of both over the next two weeks.

I later purchased some of my own

I was a little over-zealous in the Biltong-specialty store, buying many different kinds including: Kudu, Ostrich, BBQ Beef, Chili Beef and Plain; I also had a sample of the original (Woolworth’s brand) Biltong and Droe wors included in our welcome package. Unfortunately, I realized that I shouldn’t go shopping on my own because I bought more of the dry kind than the moist kind, which I had previously eaten. I enjoyed my sampling of the various kinds, but I would stick to the moist kind in the future.

TT says: I got to enjoy this after CT got back. It was fun to taste all the different flavors, but after a while they just tasted the same to me. Maybe it was all the South African wine we were drinking too?

On our first full day in Capetown, we headed to the southern tip of South Africa. On our way we stopped to see the African Penguins:

How cute?! I had no idea they just chill on the beach.

After our fun with the penguins, we stopped for a quick bite to eat and a nice cool drink. The food was only ok, but MVB convinced me to end my meal with a typical South Africa beer-cider, Savannah Light, and what a great ending! It wasn’t very sweet or cidery as many of the hard ciders you get in America. It still had a beer flavor, but lighter and only slightly sweet. I also liked that it was served with a lemon, similarly to a Corona.

Throughout the trip we had many snack-food stops, during the long tours through Robben Island and our 8-hour drive to Kruger Park. One of our staple snacks were Nik Naks – or South African Cheetos, except more fake-cheesy that Cheetos. I thought they tasted even better than Cheetos, but DY thought differently (even though she ate plenty of them too!)

After that long 8-hour drive, we were rewarded with lots of beautiful animals, a beautiful safari bungalow, and lots and lots of food! Apparently there is nothing to do on safaris except look for animals and eat. Our days went something like this, “light” breakfast, game drive (with snack break), full breakfast, nap, lunch, nap, tea/snack, game drive (with snack break), dinner. Sleep and repeat. How awesome does that sound?! So with all that food, here’s just a glimpse of what I ate:

Afternoon game drive snack, with dried fruit (mango), Sriracha crispy peas, biltong and yes…Booze!! (The morning games drive had rusks (English biscuits) with coffee, tea and more booze to lace your coffee or tea.)

Lunch plates

I can’t remember exactly what we ate each day, but imagine eating this much food 4-5 times a day!! It was crazy! Included in our various meals were ostrich, kudu, lamb and impala meats…. All flavorful and delicious meats. We also got lots of very fresh fruit and vegetables and fresh baked bread with every meal! It was amazing!

The ostrich is a very healthy meat, as it was less fat that buffalo or turkey! Cooked properly, it retained its juiciness and is really flavorful. On one of our game drives, they even set up a grill station and made ostrich skewers!

Overall, you can see I ate very well over this trip. It was an experience not to be forgotten. Should you ever make it out to South Africa, be sure to try all the local cuisines. They may sounds strange and little too exotic, but it’s all really flavorful and amazing. Also, if anyone knows of any good South African restaurants around New York City, please do share!!