Where It All Began

Farmstalls – a South African obsession

 

South Africans have an obsession with ‘padkos’, which literally translated from the Afrikaans means ‘roadfood’, but that doesn’t sound too appetising!  A better translation is ‘snacks to eat whilst on the way to somewhere.’  Padkos is fundamental to life itself. It is not possible to get in a car and go somewhere with a South African without food in the car.  You simply have to stop for food.

Before the advent of petrol stations that sold food, the only places to buy food, particularly in the agricultural areas, was a farm stall: these used to simply be a hut where farm workers would sell on over supply or produce from their own plots or the odd enterprising farmer’s wife might sell some home-made jam.

These days farmstalls are a massive industry all on their own, some having grown into fine dining establishments replete with boutique hotel rooms and wedding venues attached.  Some remain delightfully tiny, selling literally only one product, e.g. pineapples.  But the one thing that unites them is a fetish for exceptionally fresh, exceptionally simple and delish fast food.

More in our next post on where you can find these amazing places!