African horned melon (Bush cucumber)

This spiny, oblong fruit has soft orange skin when ripe, and green, jelly-like pulp inside. Its flavour blends hints of cucumber, banana, and lime, with a mildly sweet and slightly sour taste. 

African wormwood

Strong and earthy, this herb is great for flavouring cocktails, herbal teas, and even medicinal drinks. 

Amadumbe

Also known as taro root, yams, or madumbis, this versatile starchy root veggie has brown skin and creamy white or pink flesh. Portuguese traders brought it to the continent, and the tuber has been a staple of African cuisine ever since. You can roast, mash, stew it, or even enjoy its spinach-like leaves. 

Amaranth (Thepe)

The young leaves and tips are cooked like spinach and often served as a side dish with maize porridge or added to stews. They are mild and earthy in flavour. 

Amatungulu (Natal plum)

Also called num num or Natal plum, this spiky, glossy-leaved shrub (Carissa macrocarpa) is native to KwaZulu-Natal’s coastal regions and produces small, sweet red berries. These fragrant berries are used in jams, jellies, and desserts. 

Baobab

The “upside-down tree” with tangy, powdery fruit thickens soups or makes refreshing drinks. 

Bambara nuts

These hardy, drought-resistant legumes with a nutty-sweet flavour are used in porridge, flour, and versatile recipes. 

Blackjack

A traditional leafy green (Bidens pilosa), used in cooking or tea, is also valued for its medicinal properties and rich nutritional benefits. 

Dithlodi

Also known as mung beans, dithlodi are protein-rich legumes popular in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. They can be eaten fresh, dried, sprouted, or ground into flour, and are used in everything from curries and soups to salads and stir-fries. They adapt easily across cuisines and are mild in flavour, but excellent at absorbing spices.

Dune spinach

Also called duinespinasie or imifino, dune spinach (Tetragonia decumbens) is a native, low-growing perennial found along South Africa’s winter-rainfall coastline. Traditionally foraged by indigenous groups like the San, it has glossy, slightly succulent leaves, rough-textured stems, fragrant yellow flowers, and distinctive four-winged seeds. Once a staple of nomadic diets, introduced crops have mostly replaced its use.

Flat white boer pampoen

A sweet, orange-fleshed heritage pumpkin, perfect for slow cooking, mashing, or stews.

Fynbos

A unique biome in the Western Cape, it is home to diverse edible and aromatic plants, such as rooibos and buchu. 

Ihlaba

A wild dandelion leaf with pointy ridges, ihlaba is enjoyed as a type of morogo.

Kalahari truffle

Also called kuutse, mahupu, or n’xaba by the Khoi and San, these desert truffles appear in the Kalahari after good rains between January and April, with harvesting from April to June. Traditionally found by spotting soil cracks or watching animals like hyenas and desert foxes, they are milder in flavour than European truffles and have a crumbly, cheese-like texture.

Kei apple

A tart, golden-yellow indigenous fruit often made into jams, chutneys, and syrups. 

Marula

The sacred tree’s tangy, vitamin C-rich fruit is used in alcoholic beverages and jams, and prized for its kernel oil.

Mobola plum

An evergreen fruit tree (Parinari curatellifolia) native to South Africa, it produces sweet, yellow fruits enjoyed raw or cooked, durable wood, and edible, oil-rich seeds. 

Monkey orange

Monkey orange is a common name for the fruit of several Strychnos tree species found across Africa, from South Africa to Western Tigray in Ethiopia. Known by various names like klapper, morapa, umKwakwa,  nsala, muramba, and umhlali, the fruit’s sweet and tangy pulp is enjoyed fresh, while its hard seeds are inedible. 

Msobo

African nightshade (Solanum retroflexum) is known for its small purple-black berries, which are used to make a traditional, vibrant purple jam called Msobo jam, or nastergal konfyt in Afrikaans.

Spekboom

A carbon champion succulent (Portulacaria afra), also known as Elephant Bush, has vitamin C-rich leaves that offer a lemony-sour flavour perfect for salads or sauces. Spekboom is also known by its traditional Xhosa names like iGqwanitsha and Zulu names like iNtelezi.

Spider plant

Known for their slight bitterness, the leaves are boiled or mixed with greens like amaranth or blackjack, and sometimes marinated with sour milk for a unique and tangy condiment. 

Sorghum

A nutty, earthy grain used for porridges, baking, and beer, like traditional umqombothi. 

Susu

A pear-shaped member of the gourd family that’s incredibly versatile and enjoyed raw in salads or cooked in stir-fries and curries.

Suurvye (sour figs)

These trailing succulents (Carpobrotus) are part of the vygie family (Aizoaceae) and are prized for their ornamental leaves and edible fruits, traditionally used to make jam. 

Tassel berry

These small, mulberry-like fruits are slightly acidic and sweet.

Turksvye

Known as the prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica), this succulent fruit, indigenous to Mexico, was introduced to South Africa in the 17th century and widely cultivated by frontier farmers in the Eastern Cape. Its Afrikaans name, turksvy (Turkish fig), was later adapted into Xhosa as itolofiya.

Ukhova

Also called banana ka Shaka, this heritage banana variety is tied to Zulu King Shaka and valued for its firm, fragrant, and mildly sweet flavour.

Waterblommetjies

An edible aquatic plant (Aponogeton distachyos) harvested in winter and spring for its delicate, earthy-tasting flowers, which are traditionally used in waterblommetjiebredie. 

Wild fig (Wildevye)

Indigenous fig varieties that are used fresh or dried. 

Wild garlic

A versatile plant with leaves cooked like spinach and garlic bulbs that replace regular garlic and work wonders in stews or roasts. They also keep pests at bay. 

Wild sorrel

Its lemony tang makes it perfect for fresh salads, but don’t go overboard, as too much can be harmful.

Chelsea bun

A nostalgic South African bakery staple, this soft, bread-like roll is swirled with cinnamon and sultanas and topped with a thick icing glaze. It’s less gooey than a cinnamon bun but just as satisfying. It was a classic at school tuckshops.

Dikuku

This is an umbrella term for a fluffier, sweet scone that shows up in the most meaningful moments, from comforting the bereaved to welcoming guests with a bubbly glass of gemmer.

Hertzoggie

A dainty tartlet with buttery pastry, an apricot jam centre, and a golden coconut meringue topping. Named after former Prime Minister JBM Hertzog, it remains a tea-time favourite with political bite.

Koe’sister (or koesiester)

A Cape Malay treat – spiced, deep-fried dough balls dipped in fragrant syrup and rolled in desiccated coconut. Soft, warmly spiced, and syrupy, they’re traditionally eaten fresh on a Sunday morning.

Koeksister

The cousin of the koe’sister is a plaited strip of dough, deep-fried until crisp and then soaked in sticky syrup. It is crunchy outside, syrupy inside, and guaranteed to glue your fingers together.

Malva pudding

A sweet, sticky baked dessert with apricot jam, eggs, and milk, yielding a spongy, comforting texture. Some say its roots are Dutch; others credit its 1970s revival at Boschendal wine estate. Either way, it’s South Africa’s ultimate Sunday pudding.

Peppermint Crisp tart

A rich, retro, creamy fridge tart staple made with layers of biscuits, Caramel Treat, whipped cream, and shards of Peppermint Crisp chocolate.

Sultana

A golden, seedless raisin made from Thompson seedless grapes. Sultanas are sweeter and plumper than regular raisins. They bring a honeyed note to buns, biscuits, and puddings.

Tameletjie

This brittle toffee treat is made by boiling sugar and water until caramelised, then cooling and cracking into shards. Nuts like almonds or pine nuts are sometimes added for extra crunch.

Melktert

A national treasure: shortcrust pastry filled with a light, creamy milk custard, dusted generously with cinnamon. Served at everything from church bazaars to weddings.

Melkkos

Literally “milk food”, this homely dish is made by simmering milk with flour and butter until thickened. Pasta-like strips (snysels) are sometimes added. Served hot with cinnamon sugar, it’s a simple, nostalgic comfort.

Mosbolletjies

Sweet bread buns made with fermenting grape must from winemaking, flavoured with aniseed.

Pampoenkoekies

Depending on how they are made, these versatile pumpkin fritters can grace a breakfast spread, be served as a side, double as a snack treat, or be enjoyed as a dessert.

Rusks

Our beloved dunker of choice, these twice-baked historic tea-time treats are baked until hard and dry, traditionally dunked in coffee or tea to soften before eating.

Amasi (Magege)

A traditional fermented milk of the Nguni people, usually made from Nguni cattle milk left to culture naturally in a calabash or covered container. Magege (Tsonga) is creamy and tangy, often enjoyed with pap or on its own. Once primarily a way to preserve milk, it remains a beloved staple of local cuisine.

Dom Pedro

An indulgent adult milkshake made with ice cream, cream, and a splash of whisky or cream liqueur such as Amarula. It is served in a wine glass with a straw and topped with shaved chocolate.

Honeybush tea

An indigenous herbal tea with a naturally sweet taste. Grows in the Eastern and Western Cape mountain regions. 

Klippies and Coke

A braai drink and a cultural staple cocktail of long pours of Klipdrift brandy with Coca-Cola.

Mageu

A fermented maize drink that’s enjoyed as a breakfast beverage. 

Mampoer

A potent South African spirit distilled from fermented fruit.

Mos

A traditional South African grape juice - sweet and partially fermented - used in making mosbolletjies (sweet bread) and moskonfyt (grape syrup or jam), or enjoyed fresh for its natural sweetness.

Papsak

A foil-lined plastic bag of wine in a box, the name derives from the Afrikaans word meaning “soft bag”, and is culturally associated with affordable, informal drinking occasions across our social fabric.

Rooibos

A caffeine-free herbal tea made from the Aspalathus linearis plant native to South Africa’s fynbos biome, and cherished for generations for its rich, sweet, nutty flavour. 

Siyavanna/Savivi

Siyavanna is Savanna Dry's nickname. In South Africa, it means “we get each other” or “we see you”. This term reflects the brand’s connection with local culture and represents the popular cider, our beloved drink of choice after Black Label.

Umqombothi

This traditional beer, brewed from maize meal, crushed corn malt, crushed sorghum malt, water and yeast, is served at ceremonies and social gatherings as a symbol of hospitality and ancestral respect. It has a characteristic thick, gritty texture and mildly sour flavour.

Vukanyi

A fermented marula fruit beer.

Zamalek

Slang for Carling Black Label beer, particularly the 750ml quart bottle.