Cooking like a local in South Africa

Pricilla hi

Everything is available in SA from spices to lentils noodle meat fish chicken vegetables. Etc etc we and abandance of everything.   Depnds what food you eat? Curries - main ingredients are ginger garlic chillies all kinds masalas are availavle from Indian Arabic Chinese Somalian super markets. Also staks of cooking schools and neighboursto help u. Websites cook books etc. I could also teach u.   Home cookedfood is best bcz u know what goes in. Let me know if u have questions
Soraya

Where we live typical food is pretty plain and simple.  Many different types of corn dishes along with meats of various kinds (traditional and exotic) cooked over hot coals, what they call a "Braai" (not to be confused with BBQ, but the results are basically the same).  They even have a National Holiday just for Braaiing.

My wife is of Indian decent (from SA, Durban) and I am of Italian (from the USA). She has been cooking Indian food since she was 8 years old.  I lived in Europe and SE Asia for a time, where I also attended cooking schools to learn French & Thai cooking. We therefore find typical SA fare in our area, a bit like Midwest farm food, in the States.  Nothing fancy.

But our only complaint is that where we live is not that diverse, so finding ingredients for our dishes can be difficult.  We usually order shipments of spices etc. from Durban or Johannesburg. 

Now for seafood nothing can compare to where we live (Mossel Bay Area - along the Indian Ocean).

As for cooking schools. I know of none, but there are SA Cooking shows on TV as there are in the States and one can learn by watching.

South Africa is "THE RAINBOW NATION". When Overseas visitors ask that question for typical South African food...I reply: " do you mean the Zulu, the Xosa, the Blacks..., The Indian or the Whities with all kind of European roots, or the people from Far East? Which ONE of the many?

It depends were you live, I agree with PJPSR. Luckily I live in Durban with the biggest population of Indians - everything is available.

AS simple as it is: if one cannot cook, you simple miss a lot in life. It is in fact an advantage to be able to cook and continue to learn from new cultures. Every (home)cook will  be happy to teach you.

Visit NYC for maximum diversity.   You can eat your way thru all cultures imaginable. Just stroll south from Central Park to the Battery. 

Hey Priscilla, have you found some places which sell some mauritian spices and food?