The Cape Cuisine Route is a culinary journey through Langa and the Bo-Kaap designed to give guests a chance to explore the Mother City through the rich and distinct flavours of her people. With a great diversity of people from around the country and the continent, one can only imagine the wide influence this has had on the type of food Cape Town has to offer. Visitors can expect a mouthwatering experience offering a taste of traditional isiXhosa and Cape Malay dishes. And if this isn’t music enough the sweet sounds of Fezekile Ntemi’s trumpet should satisfy those with an appetite for South African jazz.

It’s at the home of this local legend in Langa that we get things started. Mr. Ntempi, affectionately known in jazz circles, as “Blacky” is a self-taught trumpeter. Over the past 33 years he has mastered the trumpet and worked with notable institutions like Barnyard productions in Pretoria. This self-taught virtuoso wrote his first song in 2008 to bring attention to the scourge of Xenophobia aptly naming the resultant record “Thandanani” (isiXhosa for love one another) in order to spread the message of cultural tolerance.

The spotlight belongs to Shirla Ntempi as much as it does to Blacky. She has prepared a traditional lunch for us consisting all her greatest hits. She starts things off with chicken livers and steamed bread called Dodorhoyi. The main course is a Xhosa favourite: Umngqusho (a mix of samp and beans) with umleqwa (a popular chicken dish), umaqa (a spinach and cabbage recipe) and some sweet pumpkin. As we sample the flavours, Mrs. Ntemi relays the stories behind several of the dishes with show stopping flare.

Soon it’s time to take our leave and bid Langa farewell. We head back towards the city bowl to the Bo-Kaap area. The Bo-Kaap, situated at the foot of Signal Hill, is a suburb bursting with history. At one of the colourful houses we arrive at Gamidah’s home. Her spicy recipes are a sharp contrast to the Xhosa cuisine from earlier in the day. She doesn’t cook with any oil preferring to prepare all her dishes with water or the natural fat from the food. For starters she prepares chili bites and samosas with mince filling. After the fiery introduction to her cooking, Gamidah serves up Bobotie rice with mince (a traditional Afrikaans and Cape Malay dish), ground beans mixed with egg, bread and milk. And finally Koeksisters, South African sweet treats are the final note to a memorable tour through these historic and savory communities.