South Africa's Roving Bantu is cooking up a cultural revolution

Record ID: 1356994

  • Title: South Africa's Roving Bantu is cooking up a cultural revolution
  • Date: 19th September 2018
  • Summary: ***WARNING CONTAINS PROFANITY*** (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROVING BANTU KITCHEN OWNER, SIFISO NTULI, SAYING: "The way Sifiso looks at food rather is you know, it's making it funky - make it funky make it... let it have taste. It doesn't have to be... okay for example, my slogan here, I say, 'we make shit taste good' by that I mean, we don't just boil stuff!" VARIOUS OF NTULI EXPLAINING HOW HE PREPAPRES HIS 'FUNKIFIED TRIPE' TRIPE COOKING IN A POT (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROVING BANTU KITCHEN OWNER, SIFISO NTULI, SAYING: "So, you spend a good part of 4 to 5 hours doing tripe yeah? But guess what, prawns that take 5 minutes to cook they are much more expensive than tripe, do you see the politics there? So, it's... but because prawns are the acceptable. I remember the first time I ate prawns as a teenager - bottom feeders, I wanted to throw up! Today, when I'm around my friends, I chill, and I eat prawns like it's always been." VARIOUS OF NTULI DISHING UP FOOD DINING AREA / CUSTOMERS VARIOUS OF OLD NEWSPAPER HEADLINES ON WALL VARIOUS OF ANTIQUE PIECES USED AS DÉCOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANDREW, ROVING BANTU KITCHEN CUSTOMER, SAYING: "This is one of those spaces in Johannesburg where things are changing, things are happening and it's also that it's a black space and because most spaces that you go to are... you know, white and limited, conservative. They are doing conservative things, things that, the kind of culture that we want to get past. So, this is more interesting, there's a lot of dynamics running through here, a lot of interesting people."
  • Embargoed: 3rd October 2018 13:08
  • Keywords: culture roving bantu tripe food music soweto
  • Location: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
  • City: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA0038YALZDJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: At Johannesburg's Roving Bantu Kitchen, owner Sifiso Ntuli cooks up a mix of traditional food and cultural experience.
    Ntuli was born in Mpumalanga, South Africa, then grew up in Soweto but travelled the rest of Africa and the world as a political exile before returning to Johannesburg at the end of apartheid.
    The Roving Bantu Kitchen is a small, peculiar, community spot with live music that captures the soul of the city.
    Ntuli's specialties are inspired by a variety of pan-African dishes including, tripe, sheep's head and flat breads - but with a twist.
    "The way Sifiso looks at food rather is you know, it's making it funky - make it funky make it... let it have taste. It doesn't have to be... okay for example, my slogan here, I say, 'we make shit taste good' by that I mean, we don't just boil stuff!"
    Ntuli explains how food is used as a tool to socially classify and politically divide people.
    "So, you spend a good part of 4 to 5 hours doing tripe yeah? But guess what, prawns that take 5 minutes to cook they are much more expensive than tripe, do you see the politics there? So, it's... but because prawns are the acceptable. I remember the first time I ate prawns as a teenager - bottom feeders, I wanted to throw up! Today, when I'm around my friends, I chill and I eat prawns like it's always been."
    Ntuli says he wants to break barriers by making his kitchen, social space and conversations about history accessible and desirable to everyone.
    The restaurant's "red room" is covered with old political newspaper headlines, vintage ornaments and small tables pressed against each other.
    The room is often filled with people of all races and nationalities and Ntuli says his decor is designed to spark conversations between them.
    "We are trying to say, through food, through music, through everything, through art in general is, how do we begin to negotiate a new South African identity? And I think, I personally believe that the direction of food - food is a good place to start," he said.
    The Roving Bantu kitchen is located in Brixton, a former bastion of white oppression during apartheid that is transforming to bridge a historical divide between races, the rich and the poor.
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