This Mpumalanga Restaurants Guide provides a breakdown of what type of cuisine could be expected, and lists restaurants in the area. For more information South African food in general, please consult our South Africa Restaurants Guide. Be sure to also check out the many souvenir shops and markets listed on our Mpumalanga Shopping Guide.

Food & Cuisine in Mpumalanga Highlands

The topography of Mpumalanga, with its stretches of natural beauty and being located next to Mozambique, has helped shape this distinctive culinary heritage.

A large agricultural sector enables lodges and Mpumalanga restaurants to serve fresh fruits and vegetables distinctive of this region - mainly mango, litchi, melons, papaya, pepperdew, nuts, avocado and fruit preserves.

Peri Peri

Peri Peri is a unique feature present in most of the dishes served here; it is used to marinade prawns, chicken, nuts, French fries and many other ingredients. Made from lemon, garlic and chilli, it is a multipurpose spicy savour, and is taken from the original inventors, the neighbouring Mozambicans.

Try the peri peri dishes at the several Mozambican or Portuguese restaurants in the lowveld and onderberg regions of the province. Since these places are close to the coast try some fresh prawns and line fish, which are caught afresh everyday.

Locally grown peri peri is also available and sold under peculiar names like Dragon's Breath and Mpumalanga Fire; they are a part of the cottage industries and are bottled in small factories. The colourful bottles are good souvenirs and you can purchase them at any shop.

Traditional Food

Eating out in Mpumalanga can an adventurous activity as travellers partake of the traditional dishes of Africa. These dishes are excellent culinary adventures and give you a peek into South Africa's past. They existed before the white colonists arrived here but are now slightly modified and usually made with maize meal, chillies and tomatoes.

The original staple food of this region is based on millet porridge and sorghum with morogo, green side dishes resembling spinach, groundnuts, akin to peanuts, satay, bean pastes, porridge and cakes. Served with these is a whole assortment of meats, from roasted beef to wild meat. You can try fried grasshoppers, sautéed mopani worms and gushe, an exclusive African pesto supposedly an aphrodisiac. Canned gushe is exported to east Africa.

Local chiefs or village leaders preside over the meals, which are served by bare-breasted maidens and accompanied by a lot of singing and dancing. Unqombothi, the traditional African beer fermented from sorghum, is served along with the meals.

Fruit

The subtropical climate in the lowveld makes it possible for this region to grow a lot of exotic fruits, like juicy mangoes, melons, papayas, litchis, bananas, creamy avocadoes and sweet and spicy pepperdews. Mpumalanga also has the biggest citrus industry in South Africa. This makes it possible to produce superb quality marmalades, sweets, preserves and fruit juices. Citrus is even used to make distinct kinds of instant teas and tonics in some of the local ‘orchard factories'.

Game

Being the safari heartland this region offers travellers a wide array of barbecue style cooking along with a choice of venue. Game lodges and tour operators arrange bush dinners around fires serving braai - which means barbecued - beef, lamb, chicken, pork, wild meat and freshwater fish with a lot of barbecued vegetables, shaba or spicy tomato relish, and the staple meal pap or maize meal porridge.

The meat choices are a mind boggling array, ranging from exotic crocodiles, wild boar, giraffe, zebra and kudu to the cholesterol and fat-free ostrich.

The food and cuisine in Mpumalanga and eating in the wild is one interesting activity you can indulge in here. A barbecue in the bush, under the stars and with the sound of wild animals all around is an experience worth trying.

Fish

The foggy escarpment of Mpumalanga is responsible for 60% of southern Africa's freshwater trout and is known as the Trout Triangle. This region also exports fertilized eggs to fill up the European rivers.

The availability of so much trout has resulted in a flourishing industry that produces Scandinavian-style pickled trout, trout pies, trout and nut pates, pepper trout, wood-smoked fillets, trout sushi, trout roulade, marinated fillets and roll mops.

International Cuisine

Due to the changing nature of Mpumalanga's society, restaurants serving all kinds of cuisine are found here. There is something for the staunch vegetarian, the hard-core non-vegetarian and for all those who want to try something new and exotic.

The country-style restaurants, special forest lodges, orchard cafes, isolated cafes in small villages and the urbane eateries in the city are the best places to eat at. They all make use of the natural produce of the region and the outstanding red meat to create some original but simple dishes garnished with fresh herbs.

To try Italian, Chinese, Greek and other varieties of cuisine head to the bigger towns; the many smaller takeaways there also serve pizzas and hamburgers with a new twist.

Wine

The Mpumalanga region is the only place in Africa where you can find citrus and ginger wines. Rottcher Winery here produces tart wine that serves as a superb aperitif and sweet liqueurs, excellent sundowners, which can be sprinkled over ice cream or sponge cakes.