Rachael co-owns and operates Cardboard Box Travel Shop, a local travel operator in Namibia.

I am married to a typical Namibian male. His idea of a decent meal includes a large hunk of steak with not a single green substance in sight! Fifteen years ago, when I first arrived in Namibia, I did not really understand the importance meat has in the lives of most Namibians (although it is probably worth mentioning that I was a vegetarian); however, it soon became apparent that Namibia, at least in those days, was not familiar with the term ‘vegetarian’.

One of my first outings to a restaurant was an indication of things to come. Having ordered some kind of vegetarian salad, I discovered it had bits of bacon in it. When I queried this, the waitress and chef seemed confused. In their minds, bacon, particularly small bits of it, did not constitute meat, and the chef had only added them to make the salad edible. In the same vein, a local Baster guide that we often use for camping safaris found it very hard to grasp the idea that vegetarians didn’t eat chicken (or pork, or possibly even fish). To most Namibians, meat just means red meat. Yet it goes even beyond this. On another social occasion, we were out with a Namibian friend who politely, but disdainfully, asked the waitress to please remove the “rabbit food” that had been presented as a side dish with her steak.

To Be or Not to Be a Vegetarian

For the next year and a half I battled to remain vegetarian. Apparently it was the best time of my husband’s life as it meant that when we went out he could order two meat dishes and I just scraped off the (soggy, overcooked) vegetables. A win-win situation from his point of view! However, during this period I started to reassess my stance on meat.

For a start, Namibia is a desert country and has very limited water resources. Growing most vegetables is not commercially viable and so the ones sold here are transported a great distance from South Africa. On the other hand, game such as springbok, kudu and gemsbok have adapted to this harsh terrain and live in perfect harmony with the land. On the whole they live happy lives, roaming freely in the veldt, until a possibly early demise at the hands of a local farmer. I therefore concluded that game meat is probably the most environmentally friendly food available in Namibia and although it might be hard for some people to eat the ‘cute’ animals they’ve just seen on a game drive, they really are extremely tasty!

As you might have guessed, my resolve as a vegetarian crumbled and I am now unable to go on a long journey without biltong. I also like my steaks to be rare!

The Braai

No commentary on the importance of meat in Namibia can go without mentioning the time-honoured tradition of the braai. If you’re not familiar with the term, it translates roughly as ‘barbeque’ and yet, in English, it seems to diminish the true essence of this most favourite of southern African social rituals.

The weekend is not complete without a braai, which generally follows certain unwritten customs. For a start, the men cook the meat while the women prepare other unimportant items, such as the salad or vegetables. The former takes part around the outside fire with discussion centred around rugby or some other sport; the latter is based in the kitchen. There is a head braaier, who is in charge of making the fire and cooking the meat. The other men are there in a purely supporting role as fireside companions making sure the head chef is supplied with ample lubrication and entertaining conversation. The basic rule is ‘don’t mess with another man’s fire’.

Having said this, Namibia has progressed a lot from when I first arrived. Nowadays vegetarians are much more widely understood and much better catered for. In fact it has been ages since I have heard of a chef trying to sneak bits of meat into a salad or veggie dish to improve it! But most Namibians still do not really know why vegetarians exist. If invited to a braai or social gathering, they’ll have to understand that steak and boerewors are the main attraction, not the potato salad or mealies.

In fact, when Archbishop Desmond Tutu was once asked what vegetarians were supposed to do on National Braai Day (24 September in South Arica), he replied “They can stand and watch”.

A Namibian Foodie Lexicon

• Biltong – Air-cured meat similar to jerky
• Boerewors – Long meaty sausages
• Droëwors – Air-cured sausage
• Mealies – Corn on the cob. Great on a braai. (See, we do have vegetables!)
• Pap/ Mahango – Cornmeal or millet porridge, often served with potjiekos or a dish with a gravy
• Potjie – A three-legged black pot that looks like a witch’s cauldron
• Potjiekos – A dish cooked in a potjie, generally for a long time over coals
• Sosatie – Meat on a stick / shish kebab

Tags:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 12:02 am and is filed under the following categories: