Namibian cuisine is the cuisine of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It is influenced by two primary cultural strands: * Cookery practised by

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

of Namibia such as the Himba, Herero and San groups * Settler cookery introduced during the

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

period by people of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, Afrikaner and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

descent.

Indigenous cookery

'' In the precolonial period indigenous cuisine was characterised by the use of a very wide range of

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...

s, bulbs, leaves and other products gathered from wild plants and by the hunting of

wild game Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, th ...

. The domestication of cattle in the region about two thousand years ago by Khoisan groups enabled the use of

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

products and the availability of meat. * ''

Vetkoek Vetkoek (, ) is a traditional South African fried dough bread. The vetkoek forms a part of South African culture. It is similar to the Caribbean Johnny cake, the Dutch '' oliebol'', and the Mexican '' sopaipillas''. It is also known by the Xh ...

''—a traditional fried-dough bread * '' Oshikundu''—a drink made from fermented millet

Colonial cookery

was settled by German colonists during the nineteenth century, and German influence on white Namibian cookery remains very strong. One example of German settler cuisine is '' Wiener schnitzel''.

Brewing

Beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

was brewed by many indigenous tribes in the territory that is now Namibia. The recipes depended on locally available ingredients and were brewed to make for instance sugar beer and honey beer. The German brewing tradition continued in colonial

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

. After it quickly proved impractical and expensive to import it from Germany, breweries were established all over the colony. However, when after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

many Germans were deported and an economic depression set in, most breweries went out of business. German

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storag ...

beers including Tafel and

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

lagers are still brewed in the country for domestic consumption and export.

References

* Brown, J., 1954. ''The Thirsty Land'', Hodder & Stoughton,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. * Van Wyk, B. and Gericke, N., 2000. ''People's plants: A guide to useful plants of Southern Africa'', Briza,

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

.
Routledge Encyclopaedia of Africa - Farming
* Wylie, D., 2001. ''Starving on a Full Stomach: Hunger and the Triumph of Cultural Racism in Modern South Africa'', University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville, VA., United States of America.

External links

Food in Namibia
Southern African cuisine {{africa-cuisine-stub

Indigenous cookery

Colonial cookery

Brewing

See also

References

External links