The edible takeaway container aka The Bunny Chow
CNN recently named Durban as one of the best street food cities in the world, next to top cities like Bangkok, Mumbai, Istanbul and Marrakesh – this makes our hearts burst with pride. It’s no secret that Durban is known for making the best curries, but it is also the place where the famous bunny chow originated.
There are two different versions to how the first bunny chow was “invented”. The common version is that in the early 1900’s, during the Apartheid era, African people were not allowed to enter restaurants or café’s so if they wanted quick food they had to order takeout meals from the sides and back doors of restaurants. An ethnic group from India, known as the Bhanyias, opened a food store in Grey Street and locals would flock to the shop when hunger striked. The Bhanyias created a quick and easy takeaway for their African customers by serving curry in a section of bread scooped out in the centre. The interesting fact is that it was not called a bunny chow at the time. “Chow” is the Indian slang word for food, so locals would refer to this dish as “Bhanyias chow”, and over time with lack of correct pronunciation it was called a “bunny chow”.
The other version is that hungry caddies would send friends to Grey Street to buy them lunch as they were unable to leave the golf course. One day there was a lack of appropriate containers to dish curry in, so the restaurant owner poured the curry into a loaf of bread, ingeniously creating an edible takeaway container.
Be that as it may we are still proud to know that this “dish”, the bunny chow, was created in Durban. According to Times Live you can find the best bunny chow at Sasol Mount Edgecombe. The owner of the takeaway at this petrol station, Kumaran Pillay, won Durban’s Bunny Chow Barometer competition in 2010, and serves about 30 000 people a month.
A true Durbanite should attempt to eat a bunny chow at least once! When you “dig in” to your bunny chow, remember to forget your utensils. Traditionally you are not allowed to eat a bunny with any cutlery, as that is not how it was intended to be enjoyed.
Source: Food52
Ulwazi