Is bobotie really the most popular SA food worldwide?
When research from travel company Trafalgar revealed that bobotie, boerie and malva pudding are the three most popular SA foods worldwide, I was a bit sceptical. Dont get me wrong, its not because these foods arent right up there  the stats prove they are. Trafalgar analysed over 50,000 Google keywords related to food and travel and named those foods with the highest search volumes in 2020 as being the most popular. However, I cant help but feel the results are somewhat skewed by the fact that SAs turbulent past means other worthy contenders  umngqusho (samp and beans), chakalaka, idombolo (steamed bread) and bunny chow to name a few  simply havent had the same amount of international exposure. Take bobotie, the dish that took the top spot in the popularity stakes, for instance. According to the late SA food writer Sannie Smit, the recipe for this Cape Malay creation of curried mince with an egg custard topping first appeared in a Dutch cookbook in 1609. It is to SA what moussaka is to Greece and lasagne to Italy, Smit wrote in the 1986 book, The South African Encyclopedia of Food and Cookery.