Chakalaka and pap
Photo: Lucinda jolly · CC BY-SA 4.0

A spiced tomato, carrot and bean relish spooned beside stiff maize porridge, and the standard pair of sides at any Cape Flats braai. Good cold the next day, which is half the point.

Chakalaka is said to have started in the townships and gold mines around Johannesburg, where Mozambican mineworkers cooked tinned tomato and beans with chilli into a Portuguese-style relish to eat with pap. It travelled with labour migration and is now standard across South Africa, including at Cape Town's shisanyama counters, where a tub of it comes with every kilogram of grilled meat. Pap is the constant beneath it: maize meal rained into salted boiling water and steamed stiff enough to hold a shape, eaten with the hand or pushed onto a fork.

1 editor pick for Chakalaka and pap in Cape Town, ranked by editorial score. All Cape Town signature dishes · Chakalaka and pap across every city.

Rands ★ 3.9

$$South AfricanKhayelitsha

Rands is a Khayelitsha shisa nyama and lifestyle venue outside central Cape Town, known for braaied meat, cheap drinks and weekend afrobeat sets.

OrderThe ribs, which co-owner Mfundo Mbeki tells first-timers to try, with creamy spinach and Buffalo wings.

TipThe first Sunday of the month draws the biggest crowd; arrive early afternoon to get a table before the dancing starts.

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