South Africa is known today as the "rainbow nation"- a complete mix of cultures and their respective flavors. However, this melting pot of peoples has only come about in the past two decades. Layne Cockroft, a 23-year-old actuarial science major from East London, South Africa, cooks a dish called Bunny Chow that comes from his home country's recent history.
The presence of Europeans in South Africa dates back to the 1600s when the Dutch secured the Cape of Good Hope for trade purposes, according to the British Broadcasting Company's "Story of Africa" Web site. Britain appeared on the scene near the beginning of the 1800s. Both tried to control South Africa for its valuable natural resources and also as a gateway to trade in Asia.
The Dutch had already implemented practices demonstrating a belief in racial superiority by subjecting the native Africans to slavery by the time Great Britain arrived. This idea ran strong in the people and remained a serious issue until 1990.
The original Dutch people - referred to as Afrikaans - controlled the South African government and in 1948, created laws and regulations known as the Grand Apartheid, according to a Stanford University African History Web site. These included laws enforcing segregation, curfew and even dining laws applying to all non-whites.
"Back in the 1940s, non-whites weren't allowed to buy prepared food," Cockroft explained. "So Indians would put curry in a hollowed-out loaf of bread and put the top on so it wouldn't look like restaurant food."
This dish, known as Bunny Chow, is a traditional food from Durban, South Africa, said Casey Ames, a 20-year-old student at the LDS Business College and native of East London, South Africa. Cooks would serve this dish to non-whites in the backs of their restaurants. Although this dish reveals a bit of South Africa's dark past, it is still available.
"They have them at street vendors at the beach in Durban," Cockroft added. "And it's curry. There's tons of curry in South Africa."
Now, Ames said, there are all different types of food available: Dutch, British, Indian, Filipino and American.
"Just be glad we didn't make [the dish] Walkie-talkie," Cockroft said. "You know - you eat the part of the chicken that walks and the part that talks."
"Disclaimer: No bunnies were harmed in the making of this dish," Ames said.
Ingredients:
Bunny Chow
Ingredients
6 small potatoes, cubed
2 medium white onions, diced
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 pound of any type of meat, such as beef, chicken or pork, cubed
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons Indian curry powder
2 teaspoons ginger powder and/or fresh minced garlic
Salt to taste
Water
Vegetable oil
Instructions:
1. Dice onion. Add onion and enough oil to coat the onion into a medium pan. Add a dash of pepper. If you add garlic, add now. Cook until onions are slightly translucent at medium-high heat.
2. Chop tomato. Add to onion. Cook until the tomato and onion combine to make a pasty mixture, adding water if mixture starts to stick to the pan.
3. Add Indian curry powder, bay leaves, ginger powder and salt. Mix.
4. Add meat until cooked through (time differs depending on type of meat).
5. Add potatoes and between 1/2 - 1 cup of water until slightly soupy.
6. Cover, and simmer at medium heat until potatoes soften. Check and stir frequently.
7. Serve by cutting out the middle of a loaf of bread and spooning curry inside. Garnish with bananas, coconut, chutney and raisins for a traditional British flare.
Copyright Brigham Young University 13 Jun 2007
