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There’s something so delicious about speaking another language. (Especially if you do it deliciously.) Depending on the dialect, it might feel like hot potatoes on your tongue, make you purse your lips as if sucking a lemon, or sound something like gargling bubbly.
Maybe it’s because of the diminutives (ie, kie and tjie), or because I learned many of them as a child – in the vissies and then olifantjies class at Bambi Nursery School – but Afrikaans food words always inspire in me a childlike delight.
Consulting various members of the Eat Out team and the seminal recipe book bible, S.J.A de Villiers’s Kook en Geniet, we came up with a list of our favourites. Take a bite of the juiciest and crunchiest Afrikaans food words and phrases below.
Appelliefie
Gooseberry. Direct translation: apple’s little love.
Botterskorsie
Butternut squash. Read our battle between butternut and potato for the title of South Africa’s most-loved vegetable.
Gnocchi with Parma ham, butternut and pine nuts.
Frikkadelletjies
Little meatballs.
Fluweelpoeding
A baked pudding made with apricot jam and beaten egg whites to give a specific silky texture. Direct translation: velvet pudding.
Hoender
Chicken. When you say someone lives in a hoenderhemel (chicken heaven), you mean they’re out of touch with reality. Om die hoenders in te wees (to be the chicken-in) means to be very angry. ’n Gebraaide hoender vlieg niemand in die mond nie (a roasted chicken doesn’t just fly into your mouth) means you have to put in the work for good results.
The best roast chicken
Koeksister
Traditional dough braids that are deep fried and soaked in syrup. Try the classic recipe.
Knarskoekies
Oats-and-puffed-rice cookies. Direct translation: crunch cookies.
Klapperkoek
Coconut cake.
Klapperkoek. Photo by Jamieanne.
Koemkwatkonfyt
Kumquat jam.
Kolwyntjies
Cupcakes. If you had to break down the Afrikaans word, you’d come up with something like ‘dotty little wines’. Read our list of 30 cakes to make everything ok.
Melktert
A traditional South African recipe for a cinnamon-topped custard tart in a sweet pastry crust. Direct translation: milk tart.
Melktert. Photo by Alexandra E Rust.
Naartjie
A sweet and easy-to-peel citrus fruit indigenous to South Africa.
Ouma-onder-die-komberse
Cabbage-wrapped meatballs. Direct translation: granny under the blankets.
Padkos
Food that you eat while on a journey, usually homemade and containing boiled eggs for comedic effect. Direct translation: road food.
Pannekoek
Pancake. Try some of these insane ideas with pancakes.
Jackie Cameron’s crêpes filled with orange-infused chocolate mousse.
Pens-en-pootjie kerrie
A traditional tripe-and-trotter curry.
Peperwortel
Horseradish. Direct translation: pepper root.
Poeding
Pudding. Try this traditional malva pudding recipe. (You know you want to.)
Ouma Corrie’s malva pudding.
Poffertjies
Fritters or profiteroles. Direct translation: little puffs.
Potjie
Traditional stew slow-cooked in a cast-iron three-legged pot over the coals of a fire. Direct translation: little pot.
Potjies in the sand. Phot by WycliffeSA.
Pruimedante
Prunes.
Skrikkeljaarpoeding
A baked dessert made with milk and apricot jam. Direct translation: leap-year pudding.
Slaphakskeentjies
Pickled onions in a tangy vinegar-mustard sauce. Direct translation: small floppy heels. (Yes, those on your feet.)
Slaptjips
Potato fries. Direct translation: floppy chips.
Southappies
Savoury snacks. Direct translation: salty bites.
Soetkoek
Sweet cake. Om iets vir soetkoek op te eet (to eat something up like sweet cake) means you are gullible.
Spek
Bacon. ’n Spekskieter (bacon shooter) is someone who tells lies.
Spookasem
Candy floss. Direct translation: ghost’s breath.
Spookasem
Tameletjie
Sticky toffee. Figuratively, tameletjie also refers to a tricky situation.
Tjop en dop
Lamb chop and alcoholic drink. Used when inviting someone for a braai.
Toebroodjie
Sandwich. Direct translation: closed little bread.
Vetkoek
A traditional fried batter ball that can be rolled in cinnamon-sugar or filled with tangy mince. Direct translation: fat cake.
Warmbrak
Hot dog.
Wegkruipertjie
Rolls of puff pastry with dates and almonds inside. Direct translation: hide and seek.
Woefkardoes
Doggy bag. Direct translation: bark box.
Wors
Sausage.
Bangers and sweet potato mash.
Yskastert
Fridge tart.
Ystervarkie
Lamingtons (sponge cake dipped in chocolate sauce and rolled in coconut). Direct translation: little porcupine*.
Tell us about the Afrikaans food words you most like to put in your mouth in the comments section below.
*This article was amended on 20 August 2015 to correct the translation of ystervarkie to porcupine (not hedgehog).
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Wat van murgpampoentjiebroodjie? (zucchini bread)
Murgpampoentjiebroodjie – small marrow pumpkin bread
Sjokolade koek
Koekstruif – trifle
Koekstruif – sliced cake or swiss roll layered with canned fruit, jelly cut into squares, custard, nuts and sherry topped with whipped cream – direct translation cake omelette
Murgpampoentjiebroodjie – zucchini bread made with grated baby marrows, eggs, selfraising flour and grated cheese – direct translation small marrow pumpkin bread
Sounds so delicious. mmmmmm.
Lemoenpampoentjie (My “soutie” friend did not know this is what we call a gem squash) and also:
Shu-shu (also a type of watery squash)
Kalfsoogeier (egg broken into a saucer and then poured into very hot boiling water)
Bobotie (a Cape-Malaysian baked curried dish)
Framboos (raspberry)
Bladjang (chutney usually made with peaches and good deal of curry spice)
Patats (sweet potato)
Souskluitjies (Small, feather light cakes baked/boiled in a thick cinnamon-sugar syrup)
Skilpadjies (small cakes made with chopped sheep’s liver and wrapped in caul)
Allegaartjie (mixed grill consisting of steak, chops and wors)
and the list can go on forever because Afrikaans is such a lovely descriptive language.
Herderspastei(cottage pie)
Ystervarkie : little porcupine, not little hedgehog; hedgehog : krimpvarkie
Souskluitjies : cinnamon sauce dumplings
Poffertjies : fritters
Southappies : bite-size savouries
Hi Jan. You’re quite right! Ystervarkie is a porcupine, not a hedgehog. We’ve fixed that now. All the best. (PS – souskluitjies is a great word too!)
Tamboesies – small squares of puff pastry filled with bakers custard with a glazed caster sugar topping with a touch of lemon juice.
Ah, Charlene! Tamboesies is an excellent word. My mom used to buy them from an old-fashioned tuisnywerheid in Pretoria back in the day. (Presented on a polystyrene tray in a blown-up plastic bag, naturally.)
Beeshaas (steak) – direct translation: cow rabbit. Lol
POFADDERS (puff adders)
Sausage consisting of liver and little blocks of cut lard.
POFADDERS (puff adders)
Sausage (like Boerewors) but containing liver and little blocks of cut lard.
Koperpennieslaai (wortelskywe in ‘n soet-suursous)
Hertzog cookies – soet koekies
Lamstertjies! Mmmmm!! Uit die Karoo
Waterblommetjie-bredie
Skilpadjies…
Skilpadjies is a traditional South African food, also known by other names such as muise, vlermuise and pofadder. The dish is lamb’s liver wrapped in netvet, which is the fatty membrane that surrounds the kidneys.
Bredie – ( A meat and vegetable stew.) Made with any off-cut meat or meat of poor quality. In the Second World War meat was scarce and not always of the best quality. AND we were very poor. You fry onions and add the meat pieces. Cook with salt and pepper until the meat is VERY tender. Add a vegetable* of your choice and potatoes. Cook until soft and most of the water is cooked away. Serve with rice. Vegetables*: tomato, or carrot, or cabbage, or green beans.
Ek is n’ soutie en ek probeer elke dag om n’ newe (Afrikaans) word te leer.
Baai worde heir. My beste is Skilpaadjies en ek is n’ vegetarian.
Boerewors is plain maar lekker
Afrikaans kos is darem lekker!!!!!!!!
hello. daar is lekker kos hierso. dankie almal vir julle comments
Please help. I am teaching Afrikaans to grade fours and we are doing a food lesson. Their have to write and draw their favorite food and drink. Now I am stuck with some English words: ” Bagels, pahella, sticky rice,
Are you looking for the Afrikaans names for these dishes? According to our research, “bagel” works in Afrikaans too. “Paella” would work in most languages and as for “sticky rice”, since it’s a Thai dish, how about “Thaise rys” or even a littly punny “taai Thaise rys” 🙂