Food

From Boerewors to Bunny Chow - South African cuisine is as unique and eclectic as its culture. Like the US, South Africa is a melting pot of people, languages, traditions and food. Malaysian, Dutch, and Indian influences can be seen in many of the traditional dishes of South Africa.

Here are a few of the dishes you'll find at the 2008 South African Food & Wine Festival:

Bobotie - pronounced “bo-bo-tee” The name comes from the Indonesian word Bobotok. Its a savory ground meat dish with a creamy bechamel topping.

Boerewors - pronounced “bor-eh-vors” A traditional South African sausage spiced with coriander. Boerewors is usually mild but can be spiced up with condiments and sauces such as chutney, peri peri sauce or train smash.  Boerewors is a must-have for any braai (barbeque.)

Biltong - pronounced “bill-tong” Dried meat flavored with coriander and other spices. Unlike American jerky, biltong is sliced across the grain and can also be found in uncut portions and sticks.

Potjiekos - pronounced poy-kee-kos. A potjie is a three legged cast iron pot used to cook stews over a fire or hot coals. Potjiekos is a stew made in a potjie. There are hundreds of secret family recipes for this dish - most of them containing meat such as ox tail or beef.

Prawns Peri Peri - A.K.A. Prawns Piri Piri, A.K.A Prawns Piri Piri, Prawns Mozambique, LM Prawns. This dish is popular in coastal regions of Africa and has become a mainstay at South African restaurants and back-yard braais. Large tiger or king prawns are marinated in Peri Peri chilis. garlic, lime juice and olive oil and grilled to perfection. The prawns are served in the traditional way, with shell, tail and head intact.

Slap Chips - These are large french fries - often served in paper bags or wrapped in paper. “Slap” is an Afrikaans word meaning soft - the state the french fry attains when you douse it with vinegar - thus rendering it a slap chip, not a french fry. They are yummy on there own or served on a roll, or, if for those who already have an appointment to clean out their arteries - take the roll, add the boerewors and throw some slap chips on top and see if you can open your mouth wide enough to fit it all in.

* A Note For Vegetarians * Each year we get numerous calls from vegie heads asking if there will be food for vegetarians. Here’s our answer: We can guarantee Grayhaven wine is vegetarian, so is the ice cream and the slap chips too. There may be more you can eat, it just depends on what kind of vegetarian you are. If you have severe allergies to meat proteins, please stick to the wine and the ice cream. The prawns, though they have their own separate territory, are cooked on the same grille as the other meats. The slap chips are deep-fiied in fresh oil that has never been used for cooking meat or fish. The yellow rice has been cooked with chicken stock. As for the South African sauces and condiments, most are vegetarian, some are vegan friendly - please ask your server. We’ll update this section once the menu is set - please check back if you’re curious. We’ll do our best to have nice things for vegetarians to eat.  A special note for Vegans: Grayhaven does not use Isinglass, gelatin, eggs, etc. for fining its wines. We do not know if the South African wines we will be serving are vegan-friendly. Our Lychee & Mango/PeriPeri gelato “ice creams” are made without dairy or eggs - the Amarula gelato has dairy - all three are made at the same factory with the same machines.