Cape Malay cuisine, a treasure trove of rich spices and intense flavors, is a culinary tradition that has its roots in Malaysia, Java, and Bengal. In the late 1600s, the Dutch East India Company brought people from these regions to the Cape of Good Hope as slaves. These individuals introduced an array of spices, including hot peppers, chilies, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and all-spice, which were unfamiliar to the newly settled South Africa.
What strikes me about Cape Malay cooking is how the spice work is never too heavy. I’ve spent a lot of time up in Bo-Kaap over the years, and the thing that unlocks so much of it is the base: a proper Cape Malay masala paste. You want to toast your whole spices first, about a tablespoon each of coriander and cumin seeds, half a tablespoon of cardamom pods, a stick of cinnamon, and maybe six cloves. Toast them dry until fragrant, grind them, then fry in a little oil with grated ginger and garlic before the onions go in. That’s the foundation for a denningvleis, a bredie, even a good fish curry. I learned this watching my neighbour’s auntie Nafiesa make it in her kitchen in Walmer Estate, and she’d say the oil has to turn deep and golden before anything else goes in. Once you understand that step, the rest starts making sense.
The point about toasting whole spices first is something my mom always insisted on too, even with her Zulu cooking, and it’s the step most people skip when they’re learning. There’s a particular warmth you get from freshly toasted coriander that just doesn’t come out of a pre-ground jar, and once you know the difference it’s hard to go back.
What I find beautiful about Cape Malay food is that you can taste the history in it, all those forced migrations becoming something so distinctly South African. Whenever I visit Cape Town for work I try to eat in Bo-Kaap, and that layering of sweet and savoury in a bredie or bobotie always catches me off guard in the best way.
Does anyone have good recommendations for where to learn more about the atchar and preserving traditions? That side of it fascinates me but feels harder to find written down properly.