Like any Southern African Safari destination, to truly experience Namibia, you should go beyond the brilliant desert sunsets, fascinating animals and friendly people. Include your taste buds in this sensory overload by sampling some of the unique cuisine available here too. While many dishes on offer are of European origin with a Namibian twist, some are unique to Namibia.
Namibian oysters and crayfish are among the finest in the world, and you will find the best versions of them in Luderitz, while tasty Kabeljou (silver cob) is up for grabs all along the coastline.
Eisbein, which is deep-fried pork knuckle, served with potatoes, red cabbage, sauerkraut and mustard, is a distinctly German dish, although the Namibians lay claim to having perfected the ‘crisp’, and one bite of this delicious, fatty and flavourful meal will leave you powerless to argue.
Sticking with the German influence, you can also partake of a smoked Landjäger sausage, crisp Brötchen with various fillings, and sweet confectionary such as schwarzwälder, kirschtorte and apfelstrudel to end off a superb meal.
Similarly, a South African inclination is often encountered in Namibia’s cuisine with dried meat called biltong (similar to jerky) and coriander-rich dried sausage called droëwors found wherever you go.
To get a true taste of Namibia you have to go right back to its roots, perhaps on a tour of a local village or at a speciality restaurant.
In Katatura you can sample ‘kapana’, beef cooked over an open flame, from roadside stalls. Namibian cattle lead a pure and unspoilt life grazing solely on natural savannah grass, producing meat that is gloriously free from hormones and antibiotics and abundant in rich flavours. Game is also a popular choice and is served grilled, stewed, skewered and roasted.
Marathon chicken is a tender, tasty delight, slow cooked in onion, peppers and tomato with marula oil and best enjoyed with pap, a thick cornmeal or millet porridge, for lapping up the sauces. The famous mopani worms are not commonly eaten in Namibia but are quite tasty.
Unique Namibian vegetables take the form of omajowa which is a giant mushroom found all over the country, wild spinach (omboga), green asparagus and Kalahari truffles.
No meal is complete without a glass of local beer, expertly brewed in Namibia, and you can finish off with a shot of Kuemmerling, a German after-dinner liqueur, which is best drunk with a bottle cap balanced on your nose – or so they say!
