Being the agricultural heartland of the region, the produce is always fresh and country cuisine restaurants serve up the best straight from the farms. The cuisine is often partial to avocado, litchi, nuts, mango, melons, pepperdew, papaya as well as some sugary sweet fruit preserves.

After a day of shopping and adventure, experience Mpumalanga at its best by dining out along the Panorama Route.This Panorama Restaurant Guide will give you more information regarding Panorama Route restaurants. Alternatively our South Africa Restaurant Guide will give you all the information you need regarding cuisine in South Africa.

Food and Cuisine along the Panorama Route

One ingredient that stands out in this region is the peri peri. Made from chilli, lemon and garlic this spicy paste is used to liven up recipes of chicken, prawns, nuts and even French fries! Initially dreamed up in the province of Zambezia, these peri peri-based recipes are available at most Portuguese style restaurants as well as the Mozambican restaurants in the Onderberg and Lowveld. Here, the seafood is at its best and the catch of the day comes pungently flavoured with the red hot peri peri.

Peri Peri

Peri peri also makes an appearance at the street side cafes in the Lowveld where fries are spiced up with a healthy dollop of the relish and come to the table with a side of freshly baked buns. A good chilled beer on the side is just the thing to cool off with after the spicy meal.

Nuts

Much of South Africa's pecan and macadamia nut production happens in Mpumalanga. The orchards where these nuts are grown have become tourist sights in their own right and are a great place to pick up nut butters, roasted nuts, pestos, oils, nougats, pates or some plain nuts to add in your cooking.

Mpumalanga's has some very nut influenced cuisine and the macadamia is especially popular. You'll find it turning up in everything from salads and satays to ice-creams, pancakes, tarts and even with your chicken or game course. 

Street Side stalls

Street side stalls in the Lowveld are a good place to grab a bag of roasted or spiced nuts at great prices. Do taste a few before you pick up a bag, though - it helps to know if the nuts are stale or rancid.

South African Food

One of Mpumalanga's best kept culinary secrets is the ‘historical eating' offered in speciality restaurants that serve up pre-colonial era food. A window to the country's past, this cuisine includes food rich in maize meal, chillies and tomatoes.

Traditionally, South African food uses millet porridge and sorghum as the staple. On the side there are morogo (greens), peanut pastes and satays, peanut cakes, bean pastes, bean porridge, roast beef and game. Some specialities like the sautéed mopani worms and fried grasshoppers are better avoided by the faint of heart. Do try the African answer to pesto - the gushe. It is said to be an aphrodisiac and is exported widely to east Africa.

Festive Meals

Festive meals hosted by village leaders or chiefs are lively affairs, with dancers, music and singing. African beer, unqombothi, made from sorghum, accompanies the meal. Teetotallers can have the non-alcoholic version called mahewu. Feasts usually begin with savoury nibbles like imbasha (spiced, roasted maize kernels) and end with fresh fruit and peanut brittle.

Barbeque (Braai)

If you like a good barbeque(braai), then Mpumalanga cuisine will have you hooked for life. Most game lodges offer a variety of different meats served up around fires. Fish, wild meat, beef, lamb, pork and chicken are grilled to perfection and served with shaba (tomato relish), pap (maize meal porridge) and freshly grilled vegetables. If you're so inclined you can try eating zebra, ostrich, kudu, crocodile, wild boar or even giraffe meat.

Potjiekos

If barbeques don't do it for you then pot food or potjiekos is another great way to sample the local game. These meat and vegetable stews are cooked the old-fashioned way in cast iron pots over a slow fire. These stews are accompanied by jacket sweet potatoes, maize bread, corn-on-the-cob, and yams. The meal is usually topped off with a cup of strong freshly brewed African coffee.