Spiced minced meat with dried fruit and soaked bread, baked under a thin savoury egg custard, with bay leaves on top.
What makes it bobotie
Minced lamb or beef, gently curried.
Sweetness from dried fruit and chutney or jam, sharpness from lemon or vinegar.
An egg and milk topping baked until just set, with bay or lemon leaves.
Where it comes from
The name is often traced to an Indonesian dish, bobotok, steamed in leaves, though the link isn't certain. What's agreed is that it took its shape in Cape kitchens, where enslaved cooks put their curry spices into a baked mince, and it spread from there to nearly every South African home.
It comes with yellow rice — geelrys, cooked with turmeric, cinnamon and raisins — and chutney and sambals on the side.