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Unique South African Indian cuisine contest
By Fakir Hassen, Indo-Asian News Service

Durban, Oct 20 (IANS) A uniquely South African Indian cuisine contest saw hordes of people gathering at the beachfront here as 10 contestants vied for the prizes on offer to find the best "bunny chow" in the province - a snack created by a Gujarati restaurateur.

The bunny chow is a quarter, half or entire loaf of bread, with the soft inner hollowed out roughly, filled with a curry of the buyer's choice, and the soft bread placed back on top. Often shared between people, the bread is broken off and dipped in the curries in the centre, obviating the need for a plate or cutlery.

Nobody knows for sure, but legend has it that the bunny chow was created by a Gujarati restaurant owner in the 1940s as a way of providing a quick, nutritious meal for workers who had short lunch breaks. Since then it has grown in popularity among all communities and classes, with even businessmen and professionals sometimes opting for a quick bunny chow. 

"Like every region in South Africa has a cuisine speciality, like snoek (a type of fish) in Cape Town, we decided that we needed to do something that would make Durban famous for its bunny chow," said Nilsson Singh, marketing support manager of ABI, the bottlers of Coca-Cola in South Africa, who initiated the Bunny Chow Barometer.

"Only take-away outlets, and not professional sit-down restaurants, were allowed to participate," Singh told IANS.

After the inaugural contest last year, the event grew this year to 250 initial participants and was separated into two categories - meat and vegetarian - to allow for fair judging. This list was narrowed down to 30, and then 10 finalists participated in the final on the beachfront here. 

As a prelude to the judging process, a two-metre long bunny chow was prepared and portions sold in aid of charity. 

A panel of media celebrities and cookery experts spent several hours tasting the various preparations before the prestigious prize was announced. 

The judges considered taste, price, the vibe and cleanliness of the area, and the appearance of the bunny as well. 

The winners were Balarams Vegetarian Delights from the huge Indian township of Phoenix, north of here, and Coconut Grove, situated near the venue where the event took place, in the meat category. 

Besides a trophy and newspaper and television coverage, the winners will benefit by getting experts from Coca-Cola to assist with signage at their shops, and marketing and branding themselves.

But the ultimate prize is the recognition for having the recipe that is expected to draw thousands of curious cuisine lovers to their shops until next year, when they will have to defend their titles. 

The bunny chow, unique to South African Indians, has now even found favour in such places as the UK and Australia, where South African émigrés have established food outlets.