Dan's Culinary Top Ten

After a weekend of fine (and not so fine- Butcher Shop, I'm looking at you) dining, I present my second favorite topic: food (a close second to booze).

1) Steak: Cut to order (usually 200-600 grams), cheap and of a ridiculously high quality, South Africans know what to do with a hunk of beef. Our personal fave steakhouses are The Grillhouse, The Local Grill and Turn ‘N Tender, roughly in that order. All sell the same meat they serve in the restaurant to take home.

2) Creamed Spinach & Roasted Butternut Squash: If a baked potato is the typical US accompaniment to steak, this would be the RSA version. I think this one is coming home with me (The concept, not the food. Customs might freak if there was creamed spinach in my bag).

3) Pizza: Pie toppings in foreign countries have become a bit of an obsession for moi. My current favorite is the calamari, bacon and avocado from Espresso. The Portoghese from Cornuti’s is also nice (chorizo, sundried tomato, olives). Other odd toppings include shaved biltong (jerky), brie with cranberry, and pickled ginger with wasabi, though Marnie will inevitably order the Margherita.

4) Boerewors: Surrounding the grill at a recent cookout, an onlooker accused, “You Americans would probably smear ketchup all over that, wouldn’t you?” Well, maybe, but there’s no need for condiments with these delicious spicy sausages, a South African staple.

5) Game: No, you can’t buy a side of zebra in the grocery store, but almost all restaurants have some type of wild carpaccio (springbok, warthog or ostrich). Also delicious are potjies, essentially a wild game pot roast, served in a small castiron vessel.

6) Biltong: Does kudu (see below) jerky really taste that much different than beef? Not really, but it’s still kinda cool.

7) Peri Sauce: Portuguese hot sauce, ranging from mild and fruity to scorch your nose hairs hot. Great on any grilled meat, particularly chicken.

8) Cranks: A Jozi institution, the best place for Southeast Asian fare, with the finest spring rolls Marnie and I have ever tasted. As a bonus, Ken and Barbie dolls hang from the ceiling in, um, compromising positions.

9) Crispy Beef: Though our ubiquitous General Tso’s chicken is disappointingly missing from Chinese take-aways, the crispy beef has filled in admirably, having a similar spicy-sweet sauce.

10) Bar One Sauce: A Three Musketeers type candy bar melted down and poured over vanilla ice cream. Great at filling whatever little stomach space is left over after dinner.