Dish Western Cape
Koeksister
A plaited or ball-shaped doughnut, fried and drenched in syrup — two versions: the Cape Malay spiced ball and the Afrikaner plaited crisp.
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Why it's worth your time
Two dishes share the name. The Cape Malay version — round, syrup-drenched, spiced — comes from the enslaved cooks who brought Indonesian doughnut traditions to the Cape. The Afrikaner version — a plaited, brittle crisp — is the farm-gate parallel. Both are weekend-morning food, sticky enough to need a napkin. Find the Malay one in Bo-Kaap bakeries and the Afrikaner one at farm stalls and church bazaars.