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Thali

🇳🇦 The food of Namibia

3 dishes from Namibia, best known first, across 2 cities and regions.

Namibian cooking brings together indigenous traditions and European colonial influences. Local wild plants, game, and cattle products meet German, Afrikaner, and British settler foods. Beer brewing, both indigenous and German-style, is a notable feature.

  • Indigenous diets used wild fruits, nuts, bulbs, and hunted game.
  • Cattle herding introduced milk and meat to local diets.
  • German settlers popularized dishes like Wiener schnitzel.
  • Vetkoek is a traditional fried bread.
  • Namibia brews both indigenous and German-style beers.

The cooking of Namibia

Namibian food reflects a mix of indigenous and colonial histories. Early diets drew on wild fruits, nuts, bulbs, and leaves, as well as hunted game. The arrival of cattle herding introduced milk and meat into daily meals. Later, German, Afrikaner, and British settlers brought their own dishes and techniques, which remain visible, especially in the use of fried breads and schnitzels. Beer brewing is part of both indigenous and colonial traditions, with local and European methods coexisting.

Staple foods in Namibia

Staple foods in Namibia include wild plant foods such as fruits, nuts, and bulbs, along with game meat. Cattle herding added beef and dairy products to the diet. Fried dough bread, known as vetkoek, is common. Millet is used for making traditional drinks like oshikundu.

Sweets and drinks in Namibia

Oshikundu, a drink made by fermenting millet, is traditional. Beer has long been brewed, with indigenous recipes using local ingredients for sugar or honey beers. German-style lagers, such as Tafel and Windhoek, are brewed for both local use and export.

Where this page comes from

The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Namibian cuisine", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Thali rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

Cities and regions of Namibia

Kavango Region 1northern Namibia 1
MealBreakfastLunchTea timeDinnerSupperSnacks
KindMain dishStreet foodSoupStew or curryRice dishNoodle or pasta dishDumplingBreadGrill or roastSandwich or wrapPie or savoury pastrySalad or sideCheese or dairy foodSausage or cured foodSauce, pickle or fermentSweet or dessertDrink
DietVegetarianVeganFish and seafoodMeat
BoereworsMeat 🇿🇦 South Africa and 4 moreSouthern African sausage made from coarsely ground meat and spices Sausage or cured food, Lunch, Dinner BraaibroodjieVegetarian 🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreA toasted sandwich with cheese, tomato and onion, cooked at a South African braai Bread, Snacks, Lunch

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly plate

Every Monday: seven dishes you may not know, what the world is cooking this week, and one way of eating.