Venue
- Place: Silverani's - Musgrave Centre Food Court
- Date: Friday 12 December 2014
- Time: 12h30 - 14h00
Please post your "Will Attend" log ASAP so that the correct number of tables can be booked.
All costs for attendee's account.
The (alternative) History of Bunny Chow
Ok so for dinner tonight we partook of the Great South African fast food "Bunny Chow"; and while I was making my way through a nice, hot, juicy bunny I was thinking "Wouldn't it be nice to post an article about where the Bunny Chow came from?"
You see, I remember reading an article about the history of the dish and recall how very interesting I found it. So I went scouring the internet for some articles that could refresh my memory for some "facts" and here is my contribution.
For starters (scuse the pun) "Bunny chow" is a slang term for a South African fast food consisting of a hollowed out loaf of bread filled with beef, lamb, mutton, chicken, vegetable or bean curry.
The origins are not clear and there are many variations on the history so I'll just share all of them with you.
One version claims that it was created in the 1940s at a restaurant/cafe called Kapitan's on the corner of Victoria and Albert streets in Durban. The manager, known as Bhanya opened a serving hatch to sell takeaways. His speciality was roti and beans, but the beans tended to fall out of the rotis and they were generally difficult to eat without it all falling into a customer's lap, so he decided to pack a hollowed out loaf of bread with the curried beans instead. These were known (apparently) as Bhanya's Chows and later became known as "Bunny Chow"
Then there is the Golf caddy story; some sources say that Indian Golf caddies at the Royal Durban golf Course who couldn't get to Grey street for a quick curry lunch, organised for their friends to buy the curry for them in the city and since there were no "tupperware" containers, or disposable plastics to bring it back to the golf course, the curries were brought back in hollowed out loaves instead.
Today Bunny chows are very popular amongst Indians, as well as visitors to our beautiful province wanting to sample the culinary delights both fast and not so fast. Some Bunny's are served plain, while others are titivated with grated carrot, chilli and onion (like aunty makes it at the Oribi Spice Deli in Port Shepstone!!!)
Bunny chows come in quarter, half and full loaves. When you order your bunny chow, the accepted way to place your order is to ask for the size and flavour; for example if you want a half loaf with chicken curry, you ask for "a half chicken". Easy peasy!
Bunny chows are strictly a messy fingers affair; locals find the use of utensils quite amusing. I'd advise not using a knife and fork with these suckers - it ruins the taste completely!
A little side note: the bit that is hollowed out of the bread and put on the top is called the "virgin" and its said to be a great offense to "steal another man's virgin" - well that says it all doesn't it?
(source: http://www.southcoastlive.co.za/node/8)