Now I’ve had my first Durban bunny chow, I know I’m back home. Don’t be alarmed, any bunny-huggers out there – this is not about eating rabbit, though I confess I have nothing against that either.
There’s nothing that says “Durban” more conclusively than a bunny chow, also known simply as a bunny. Indeed, Rocky Bunny café (27 Lighthouse Mall), just up the road from us in Umhlanga Rocks, would have us believe that the bunny is becoming South Africa’s most popular meal. (Must be true – it’s printed on their quarter-bunny take-away box.)
Wait a minute… takeaway box?! The traditional wrapping for a bunny is newspaper!
And the traditional accompaniment is any sweet and fizzy drink, like Coke, Fanta, or something from the Sparletta range. Tongue-staining-red Sparberry, the appallingly green Creme Soda or the jaundice-yellow Pine Nut are favourite pairings, considered by local Indians to offer a judicious balance to the chilli-punch of our South Indian-style curries. (And no, Pine Nut has absolutely nothing to do with those fancy seeds you sprinkle on salads.)
It’s a fact that the bunny chow originated in Durban’s Indian community, which began in 1860 with the arrival on the Truro of 342 indentured labourers, and now numbers over a million. (Not all direct descendants, by the way; other ships followed.) Today, Durban has by far the biggest Indian community in the Indian diaspora.
But I don’t know who first had the bright idea of hollowing out a loaf of bread, filling it with curry and then using the excavated bit to seal the top. It’s the perfect street-food, coming as it does in its own edible container.
How to eat a bunny
Ideally with your fingers, of course. But if you’ve nabbed an outdoor table at the relatively salubrious Rocky Bunny, you can protect your French manicure by asking the kind man behind the counter for some cutlery. And your meal comes on a plate.
A healthier option
A rectangular government loaf is standard, either a half-loaf or a quarter-loaf – nowadays always white bread, it seems. When I worked in the Mayor’s Parlour in City Hall in the late nineties, though, I would get my lunchtime beans bunny from a small café that offered the option of whole-wheat khune bread, with a side of chilli-hot sambal. Just the thing to see off a hangover… and we had more than our fair share of those back then.
So, let’s raise a glass to the humble bunny – and to its price. The modest sum of R56 (US$3.91) bought Roy and me two quarter beans bunnies today, and that included a bottle of water. What’s more, we may be paying over the odds in Umhlanga Rocks, which boasts some of the country’s most expensive real estate. It’s nice to be home!
[…] can’t remember when I last had a hangover like this one. One of the best cures is a bunny chow (click here for more on that), unless you’re in the vicinity of the Press Club in Umhlanga Rocks Centre. […]