Last week, a colleague managed to persuade me not to bring lunch from home. We would go for a ‘grease up’ he said. Greasy food to me is fried chicken (I sometimes pour lemon juice over it to minimize the grease effect) and I assumed it was trip to the local KFC.
Grease hour came, and we grabbed our wallets and took a walk across the street, and walk in the opposite direction from the KFC outlet. Sunnyside has new fried chicken outlets popping up each day, so I assumed we were trying out a new one. Walk down Esselen Street, well drive down Esslen and you will see what I mean. Chicken outlets are to this street what casinos are to Las Vegas.
How wrong I was. We walked into a corner café, and it brought back so many memories of corner cafes. The smell of hot oil. The old guy behind the counter with the off white vest, and a pen tucked behind his ear. The queue of regulars coming in to get their fix of fried food and a free peak at the newspapers. The hustler outside trying to sell you something. What I like about corner cafes is that their food is made to order, size wise. I wanted a couple of slices of bread, a small russian and chips and a can of Coke Light. After looking at me funny, the old guy yelled;”One Chinese and chips, three slice and a coke light.” My colleague wanted the humongous russian. His order was yelled out too;”One Nigerian and chips, quarter loaf and Stoney”. Don’t ask me how the russians get these interesting names.
I was very wary of some word or phrase other than my order being said. this is usually the code when they are serving a non regular and the kitchen stuff should use the previous day’s chips. Be careful of phrases like ‘lalile’, ‘sheshile’ and ‘the usual’. What is usual about my order should be your question. That being said, I still love corner cafes and its sad to see them disappearing and making way for pricier franchise joints. They are and will remain a part of this country’s food history and together with roadhouses and street vendors should be protected and supported. The health fanatics should give us the freedom to choose if we want to indulge in some greasy food, once in a while or now and not force us to eat this and that wrap washed down with this and that smoothie.
Everyone who grew up in Mthatha will remember a place called Jimmy’s Fruiters. Although not in a corner, it had all the hallmarks of a corner café. I remember trips walking back from the municipal pool, past Jimmy’s and you buy the usual stuff: Erica butter (what happened to that?), freshly baked bread, Mello Yello and some fried chips. Oh, and some polony. The place rocks up to this day, with long queues just before lunch for their chicken gizzards.
Almost every town or suburb has its own fast food landmark. There is generally an inverse relationship between the affluency of the area and the number of fast food joints. The richer the area, the less likely you are to see a fast food joint. They get replaced by spas. Try picture a roadhouse in Sandhurst.
I hope our kids will also get the chance to enjoy the Nigerians and Chinese. And like us, go and sell empty cooldrink bottles and use the money to play Pacman.
Grease hour came, and we grabbed our wallets and took a walk across the street, and walk in the opposite direction from the KFC outlet. Sunnyside has new fried chicken outlets popping up each day, so I assumed we were trying out a new one. Walk down Esselen Street, well drive down Esslen and you will see what I mean. Chicken outlets are to this street what casinos are to Las Vegas.
How wrong I was. We walked into a corner café, and it brought back so many memories of corner cafes. The smell of hot oil. The old guy behind the counter with the off white vest, and a pen tucked behind his ear. The queue of regulars coming in to get their fix of fried food and a free peak at the newspapers. The hustler outside trying to sell you something. What I like about corner cafes is that their food is made to order, size wise. I wanted a couple of slices of bread, a small russian and chips and a can of Coke Light. After looking at me funny, the old guy yelled;”One Chinese and chips, three slice and a coke light.” My colleague wanted the humongous russian. His order was yelled out too;”One Nigerian and chips, quarter loaf and Stoney”. Don’t ask me how the russians get these interesting names.
I was very wary of some word or phrase other than my order being said. this is usually the code when they are serving a non regular and the kitchen stuff should use the previous day’s chips. Be careful of phrases like ‘lalile’, ‘sheshile’ and ‘the usual’. What is usual about my order should be your question. That being said, I still love corner cafes and its sad to see them disappearing and making way for pricier franchise joints. They are and will remain a part of this country’s food history and together with roadhouses and street vendors should be protected and supported. The health fanatics should give us the freedom to choose if we want to indulge in some greasy food, once in a while or now and not force us to eat this and that wrap washed down with this and that smoothie.
Everyone who grew up in Mthatha will remember a place called Jimmy’s Fruiters. Although not in a corner, it had all the hallmarks of a corner café. I remember trips walking back from the municipal pool, past Jimmy’s and you buy the usual stuff: Erica butter (what happened to that?), freshly baked bread, Mello Yello and some fried chips. Oh, and some polony. The place rocks up to this day, with long queues just before lunch for their chicken gizzards.
Almost every town or suburb has its own fast food landmark. There is generally an inverse relationship between the affluency of the area and the number of fast food joints. The richer the area, the less likely you are to see a fast food joint. They get replaced by spas. Try picture a roadhouse in Sandhurst.
I hope our kids will also get the chance to enjoy the Nigerians and Chinese. And like us, go and sell empty cooldrink bottles and use the money to play Pacman.
