Franschoek, a small town in South Africa from where I am writing this, attracts a large number of tourists who visit only to eat at its numerous restaurants and taste the wonderful wine made at its vineyards. It was established in the late 17th century by French Huguenots who were driven from their country due to their Calvinist beliefs. Although never very numerous, they have influenced South Africa in many ways, most notably the country’s cuisine and its appreciation of fine wine.

Currently, the South African rand is at record lows against the dollar, so we are paying around a third for food and drink as we would have to in the UK. Even the top end restaurants seem amazingly cheap compared to London. But this has also made tables at top establishments hard to get as foreigners book months in advance.

At the other end of the foodie spectrum are ethnic dishes cooked by the country’s other ethnic groups. The Cape Malays are descended from people sent by Dutch colonialists to work in their African colony centuries ago, and can trace their origins here to the 17th century. One mosque I saw in a vineyard near Cape Town was built in 1685. A dish attributed to this group is the Bunny Chow. When I first heard the name, I was naturally intrigued and asked friends we were staying with to let me try some.

The diverse ethnic culture provides a variety of flavours for the curry lover

I discovered that it was a loaf of bread halved around its waist, with the soft dough removed. The space is then filled with a meat curry: viola! you have Bunny Chow. This is then cut into portions and served so everybody gets some bread crust soaked with salan. It can be filled with any curry, actually, but the gravy should not be too thin. A bun can be similarly prepared and eaten on the go.

Game is another speciality here. Springbok, a kind of deer, appears on many menus, and is normally served as a small steak. The meat is lean but juicy, and has a distinct flavour. In fact, the quality of South African meat is generally very high. Ostrich is popular, but oddly, I have not had outstanding fish despite the long coastline. But that might be because I have mostly been ordering meat as I have been eating lots of fish in Sri Lanka.

As we have moved around the country, we spent a few days with friends in Plettenburg Bay, around 450km from Cape Town. I offered to cook our gracious hosts a curry, and they eagerly opened their kitchen to me. Actually, our hostess had an impressive collection of desi spices, so I did not need to go out shopping for them. She also produced two kilos of lamb meat, so I whipped up a straightforward gosht-ka-salan, but as there were kids staying there, I kept the red chillies to a minimum. Again, the quality of the meat was excellent, and the result was much appreciated. The hostess had watched me preparing the base, and was struck by the time I took to soften the onions. This, of course, is the key to a good salan, no matter what the ingredients. I was surprised to see a bowl of sliced bananas served with the curry: it appears that South Africans use the fruit to cool down curries.

For one meal, our host in Johan­nesburg took us to a black township on the outskirts of the city. The restaurant was very popular, and served several dishes in buffet style. I’m sad to report that despite the large number of people there, the quality of the food was very basic. But I have had more than enough excellent meals here to make up.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 10th, 2016