Eastern flavours in the heart of Cape Town

Brightly coloured houses, minarets, cobbled alleyways and steep roads – these are the characteristic features of Cape Town’s Bo- Kaap suburb on the eastern slope of Signal Hill. It started as the Malay Quarter when former slaves began to settle in this area “above town” after slavery was abolished in the Cape Colony in 1834.

Despite their very different origins all slaves were summarily referred to as Malays. Today, some 170 000 inhabitants of Cape Town belong to this population group whose ancestors were exiled from Indonesia, Malaya, India, Ceylon, Madagascar and parts of east Africa. Anyone who opposed the mighty Dutch East India Company was sold into slavery, regardless of social standing. Among the slaves were noblemen like SheikhYusuf of Makassar, who established Islam at the Cape in the late 1600s. He is buried in one of the more than two dozen kramats found in greater Cape Town. Four of these holy shrines are on Signal Hill.

Cape Town’s Muslim community is the largest in the country. A community which adds eastern customs and cultural traditions to this little melting pot of nations at the tip of Africa. The Cape Malay cuisine is uniquely South African.

Before we indulge in delectable Malay dishes, fragrant with the wealth of eastern spices but comparatively mild, we make our way up Longmarket Street. The longest and steepest road on the flank of Signal Hill ends just below the Lion Battery which houses the famous Noon Gun. The bang of the old muzzleloader from 1794 booms over the city centre every weekday, including Saturdays, at 12:00 sharp. Marine chronometers and watches used to be set to “gun time” in the 19th century. These days the canon is fired electronically from the Astronomical Observatory, and its accuracy is guaranteed by an atomic clock. Nevertheless, the firing still is accompanied by a brief ceremony with bucket list potential. First-time visitors will be surprised to find more canons at the Lion Battery. Four 12 pounder guns are used on state occasions and to salute visiting naval vessels.

Peaceful silence reigns at the tip of Signal Hill. Guinea fowls are foraging, the relentless big-city traffic is barely audible from far below. The glorious views of Table Bay and the rugged mountain ranges to the east are priceless. As we watch a massive container ship being towed out into the bay by tugboats my guest from Europe sighs, “I could sit here all afternoon”. A splendid place to do just that is right behind us where the old Noon Gun Tea Room used to be. It was demolished less than four years ago, its place taken by The Dorp. The vast second-floor terrace must be the highest vantage point in the whole Bo-Kaap. Otherwise the inviting front reveals very little of the sprawling hotel complex inspired by colonial opulence.

Time for lunch at the Bo-Kaap Kombuis. The chunky steel and glass building with stunning views of Table Mountain certainly stands out from its surroundings. Nothing colourful and picturesque here… but the authentic Cape Malay cuisine is served with the kindest attentiveness andsmiles as dazzling as the view. Choosing from the mouth-watering menu is made easier by sample platters. For starters: samoosas, spring rolls, daltjies and patata waras. What? Spring rolls are known well enough, but are samoosas, those perfectly folded, deep-fried puff pastry triangles with meat or vegetable fillings also a household name? Daltjies are delicious green chilli bites and patata waras turn out to be little potato balls spiced with differing ingredients. Next, the agony of choosing between bobotie, bredi, butter chicken, lamb sosaties, denning vleis or a platter of vegetable curries with rice, crisp rotis and sambals. In the Malay cuisine the latter are delightful sweetish salads of finely chopped tomatoes and onions, not the palate-numbing chilli sauces dished up in Durban. For dessert we choose another sample platter: malva pudding, koeksister and artepil poring… Go and try for yourself, and don’t forget a falooda! This refreshing iced drink, a milkshake of sorts, has its origin in Persia. The most important ingredient is rose water, mixed with tapioca pearls, psyllium and basil seeds, milk or ice cream and perhaps pieces of jelly, some glass noodles and fruit.

The history of the Malay Quarter is told at the Bo-Kaap Museum, which is a national monument along with all the other pre-1840 buildings. Join a guided walk and experience a fascinating different world.

Christina Rockstroh