This has been an interesting month for trying new foods and snacks that you can’t get as easily in America! I’ve tried multiple different meats up to this point, as well as some cultural dishes!

The first image is a meal I had in Swellendam, South Africa and it consists of an ostrich stroganoff with rice and regionally grown seasoned vegetables. Surprisingly (but also not really), it tasted similar to chicken but with a beef-like consistency. It was definitely a great new experience for me. Ostriches are very common in certain regions of South Africa, so they’re incorporated in a lot of menus in different places we have traveled to and in different forms (e.g., ostrich burger, fried ostrich filets, etc.)

The second picture is of three different kinds of biltong, which is very similar to meat jerky in the US. The three different meats (in order from left to right) was Springbok, Kudu, and Beef. Springbok and Kudu are two different species of antelopes, and, between the two, the Kudu was my favorite. Biltong also typically pairs really well with the local wines depending on where you are! It’s a big part of the food culture here, as you’ll see places where you can buy biltong in almost any city.

The final picture is a South African dessert called ‘Malva Pudding’. It’s a bread pudding with apricot jam and a sponge-cake like texture, and it is usually covered in a cream or sweet custard of some kind. I’ve gotten this dessert so many times on this trip that I’ve lost count.