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Americanization of South African food industry
— A Thread
— A Thread
So I decided to write a small nyana thread on the growth in American cuisine in South Africa. I’ve seen the rise in this cuisine not only in fast food restaurants but in slow food restaurants now.
Let me first start by defining what american cuisine is. American cuisine in a nutshell is actually more based of food preparation skills more than an actual distinctive dish. It’s also a culmination of other cuisines in the America’s, particularly Latino cuisines
So when I speak about food preparation I’m mostly talking about deep frying and smoking of food. I have seen a growth in seeing so many deep fried items on menus. As well as this obsession, like in the US, of making oversized portions
A few restaurants have challenges on finishing oversized pizzas. Americans also have this obsession with cheese and I see it growing here too. Everything must be super cheesy and melt.
I’ve seen. Chilli cheese bombs, jalapeño and cheesy poppers, cheesy fries, cheesy curly fries, Mac n cheese, cheddar melts, cheesy bomb, philly cheese steak rolls. THE WORKS
I’ve even seen this infiltrate food content creation where if it’s cheesy and melting you get more engagements. Burgers, fries, oversized desserts, fried chicken... when people want to boost engagement on the platforms they throw in an Americanized meal and BOMB. It works
Another thing is putting diary in EVERYTHING. All pastas I see are creamy based. The growing need to have everything STUFFED. (Stuffed salmon is my pet peeve) 
So the reason why I’m highlighting this is that I feel like we are slowly losing our identity when it comes to commercialized food. I loved the kota culture that grew but then it just Americanized and you started seeing Kotas that are 2m high with cheese sauce.
I really am passionate about us developing our cuisine and local brands. I really hope to see More restaurants that celebrate our cuisine and work on it. I also feel that consumers also need to think about how they consume and start supporting more local restaurants and cuisines
I know I’m also at fault and easily fall into the trap of going to ____ mamas and buying Mac n cheese with deep fried chicken because it’s nice and moreover. consistent.
This thread is mostly going to:
food content creators
Menu developers
Franchisers
And anyone that wants to open a food business.
I feel that we truly can develop our identity within the food industry. We are so rich in culture.
food content creators
Menu developers
Franchisers
And anyone that wants to open a food business.
I feel that we truly can develop our identity within the food industry. We are so rich in culture.
