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How a new cuisine is born

The evolution of ‘Cape-Malay’ and ‘Viet-Cajun’ cuisines.

How is a new cuisine created? Ruth Alexander explores two unique cuisines in South Africa and the USA: ‘Cape-Malay’- a 300-year old tradition born out of colonialism and slavery that unites Indonesian and Dutch tastes; and ‘Viet-Cajun’ - a more recent phenomenon that has seen the Vietnamese diaspora experimenting with Cajun flavours in Texas. We explore how history’s darkest episodes can lead to some of the most captivating flavour combinations and ask why some people will cringe at the term ‘fusion food’.

(Picture: Pot lid being opened. Credit: Getty/BBC)

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Contributors:

Cass Abrahams: Chef and Author, Cape Town, South Africa
Mai Pham: Food writer, Houston, USA

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28 minutes

Last on

Sun 21 Nov 202108:32GMT
BBC World Service except Europe and the Middle East

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  • Thu 18 Nov 202104:32GMT
    BBC World Service except Australasia, East Asia & South Asia
  • Thu 18 Nov 202105:32GMT
    BBC World Service Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
  • Thu 18 Nov 202111:32GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Thu 18 Nov 202121:32GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Thu 18 Nov 202123:32GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
  • Sun 21 Nov 202108:32GMT
    BBC World Service except Europe and the Middle East

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