EAST COAST FLAVOUR

AFRICA OFFERS A RANGE OF FLAVOURS – FIERY SPICES, EARTHY TONES USING GROUND NUTS AND VEGETABLES, DIFFERENT BREADS, OILS AND SEASONING. CAPTURING THAT ON A MENU IS A CHALLENGE, BUT ONE WHICH MOYO SUCCEEDS IN.

DELECTABLY diverse MOYO USHAKA

If there are any complaints international tourists have after visiting South Africa, it’s that they found it somewhat difficult to get a singular sense of what the country’s cultural food identity is. When you visit Britain you know that it’s sausage and mash or fish and chips – although in the past few decades that’s changed to curry... In America it’s a burger or BBQ while Italy offers up pasta and pizza and so much more, Spain is about paella, tapas and churros while Argentina is known for its love of red meat.

It would be all too easy to say that South Africa is about braai or shisa nyama – but that would be wrong because our food history is so rich and diverse. What about the Malay influence which adds bobotie and koeksisters to the national menu – or the influence of the Indian community on the country’s East Coast, so rich with fiery spices and flavour?

Some years ago, South African tourism ran a campaign about this being a world in one country. Travel and tourism is a growth area in the local economy – with one in every 22 jobs being in the hospitality and tourism sector. It brings in around R130 billion every year – and is expected to exceed R200 billion in just one decade.

If anyone wanted to taste what Africa – north and south – is about,

ABOVE LEFT: The sun might not set into the sea as it does on the West Coast but the Moyo bar is a great place for sundowners and light meals... but it’s currently closed due to work on the pier support struts. BELOW LEFT: There’s something about thatched buildings... they seem to exude a warm welcome – and Moyo uShaka certainly does. ABOVE: With a signature flower motif adoring her cheek, a waitress tempts with some of the tasty fare in store.

any Moyo restaurant would put it on a plate. It started out as a 120-seater restaurant in Norwood, Johannesburg, paying tribute to all things African – music, food and art. And Moyo, by the way, is the Swahili word for heart. There are currently five in the chain – Kirstenbosch and Blouberg in Cape Town, Zoo Lake and Melrose Arch in Johannesburg and uShaka in Durban – and this review is based on the latter restaurant, located on the beautiful southern end of surf city’s pedestrian promenade, adjacent to the harbour mouth.

Two of the best features of a visit to any Moyo are the ceremonial handwashing and the face painting. The latter is fun and men either get simple dots or, in the case in KwaZulu-Natal, something suitably masculaine like a shield while women generally boast a flower or some similar motif. The handwashing with rose-scented

warm water not only ensures good hygiene for all but is a tribute to an old African tradition.

Restaurants customarily serve bread or rolls to nibble on while the kitchen sets about working their magic in preparing whatever diners have ordered. At Moyo this takes the form of two different flatbreads which are served with a chickpea dip seasoned with fiery harissa, the hot chilli so beloved North African countries. It’s not often that diners sit in a restaurant and pay much attention to the background music – but in Moyo you do because it’s not just a soundtrack. The music ranges from maskanda to Afro funk, jazz, and the influences of Salif Keita, Hugh Masekela, Jimmy Dludlu and the Soweto String Quartet can be discerned. It’s really cool to listen to – and the decor at the uShaka branch also has your eyes wandering the airy, three-level space under its soaring beams and traditional thatch roof.

For casual daytime dining, the menu caters for burgers or deluxe African sandwiches where choices include it being served on either a cumin-flavoured wrap, pumpkin bread or homemade seeded bread. In the case of the burgers, the specially baked pumpkin rolls are used to wrap around an inkukhu It’s not often that diners sit in a restaurant and pay much attention to the background music – but in Moyo you do because it’s not just a soundtrack.

ABOVE: The multilayered restaurant maximises the view of Durban’s buzzing beachfront with wraparound windows. LEFT: Crispy papadum and fragrant rice are the ideal vehicles for mopping up the richly flavoured chicken and prawn curry sauce. FAR LEFT: Feel the need for something sweet? The chocolate brownie is a handsdown winner, studded with nibs of chocolate and served with ice-cream.

(chicken) breast or beef patty – normal or dukkah spiced.

Reading the options available as starters soon makes it clear that this restaurant celebrates Africa, north to south with a sweet red-pepper soup, mussels in curried coconut broth, peri-peri chicken livers bunny chow, calamari dovi, Moyo samoosas served with homemade chutney or Springbok carpaccio.

The peri-peri chicken livers were visually arresting, served as three mini bunny chows. Each was topped with one or two livers enrobed with a generous portion of brightly-hued peri-peri sauce. The livers were done to perfection, distinctly creamy but with a lovely caramelised char note that added a depth of flavour that balanced the notable heat delivered in spades by the sauce. It was one of those tangy yet hot sauces that clears the nasal passages, raises a light sheen of sweat on the brow – but which is so yummy that you can’t help but go back for more!

The unusual addition of molasses, mint and harissa added a mouth-wateringly fiery sweetness to the calamari – which took the form of caramelised baby calamari tubes. Tender, succulent and eminently moreish.

Main courses are geared for bigger appetites with prawn and chicken curry, Senegalese line fish, Nyama na kumba (a 200g sirloin on a skewer with 2 prawns), Maputo peri-peri chicken, Moroccan slowbraised lamb shank, Mozambican peri-peri prawns and a Moroccan inspired vegetarian stew packed with zucchini, peppers, mushrooms and topped with almonds.

But that’s not all – there are tagines and potjies with an oxtail braised in red wine and packed with butterbeans highly recommended, as is the Durban lamb curry potjie. It comes on the bone, beautifully seasoned and redolent with a range of spices which force you to abandon the cutlery and use your hands to enjoy every last tasty morsel! Served with pap, rice, dombolo or samp as the carbohydrate accompaniment.

The final chapter of the menu belongs to desserts and although restricted to just five items, there is plenty of variety nonetheless: rooibos crème brulee with a chilli spiked pineapple salsa accompanying it, peppermint crisp cheesecake, Amarula icecream, ABOVE: What would a Durban restaurant be without a samoosa – but be warned, the accompanying chutney is suitably spicy!

decadent chocolate brownie and ice-cream and ultra traditional malva pudding which is flambéed with brandy and served with both custard and ice-cream and a sprinkling of pistachio nuts!

The drinks menu is almost as varied as the food menu! Cocktails aplenty – and what’s not to like about the African Sunset with its spice rum, peach schnapps, fresh strawberries, berry puree, lime and crushed ice with orange juice? There are classic daiquiri, mojito and coladas as well.

Wine is something South Africans are proud of and the list reflects a range of producers, styles, areas and price points – white, pink, red and bubbly. Naturally, there is also a full range of spirits, beers, cordials and mixers too.

It’s obvious that there’s no one single thing that defines African cuisine or even South African food – but it’s a bountiful celebration of diversity and a feast of flavours.