There’s a reason for my long silence. I had a quick, and very unexpected visit to South Africa. Everyone wants to know, – where did you go, what did you do there, fact is I only zipped in and out of Jo’burg on a very tight schedule, saw no lions and did all my shopping in the duty-free. But yes, I ate!

Click through to educate yourself

For someone who isn’t usually big on breakfast, you should have seen me start the day. The usual breakfast spread visible at most big hotels, and then some more… Eggs, exotic omelets, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, fried eggs, sunny side up or down. Fresh juices, – from orange and litchis to grapefruit and pineapple. Sausages, salami, ham, hash browns, oats, tomatoes, olives, capers, cheeses. Cereals, yoghurt and any fruit you can think of. Breads, croissants, pies and cakes. Fish, – herring, salmon, and others that I don’t even know the names of. Topped of with tea or coffee.

Seven days wasn’t enough to try it all. And then I discovered a waffle maker! And that was it for me! Plain waffles, sweet waffles, banana waffles, topped with strawberries and maple syrup. Yum. And all this before our 8.30 am pick-up for someone who always says ‘I don’t feel like eating that early’.

The other meals were slightly smaller. Lunch was bagel sandwiches, cheese and olives, or cheese and ham. And strangely enough, slices of fried egg-plant! Lots of salads. And the biscuits, some of the nicest I’ve ever had, and cheese.

Dinner got a little more elaborate. South Africa is big on meat. I had a variety of juices steaks, even though I’m not usually much of a meat eater. They came in great chunks, with potatoes, yam or spinach or pumpkin, the latter three seemed to be their favourite veggies, they turned up with absolutely everything.
On days when I remembered I was being a pig, I ordered in a light salad. There was nothing light about the portion sizes, but at least they made me feel less guilty. Had a variety of interesting salads there, but the Chicken Lettuce Salad and an interesting Mediterranean Salad I had stand out in my mind.

All in all, a great trip. Hopefully I’ll get to go back sometime and see more than Jo’burg and eat more than hotel food. (though you didn’t hear me complaining did you?) It was good to come back to spicy food in India, I admit, food there was kind of bland by my taste-buds, but then there was always their famous peri-peri sauce.

south africa food

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