Of course people should visit the historic freedom struggle landmarks but it is also important to recognise that the activism of the past has brought us to where we are now. With freedom comes the space to take pleasure and pride in our culinary culture. I want our food tours of Soweto to share the fact that we are moving forward.”

And what better place to first taste the tang of moving forward than at a taxi rank? Though a visit to the commuter hub of the Baragwanath taxi rank is perhaps best described as a trip back to the future because of the deliciously retro-chic nature of the foodstuffs on offer. All over Gauteng, haute cuisine connoisseurs lament their inability to get butchers to provide them with beef cheeks ( the tender yet lean facial cheek muscle of a cow). It is common cause among the posh-nosh brigade that this traditional meat cut belongs to a bygone age when flesh vendors had more skill in their knives and time on their hands. The good news is that under the new skywalk at the Bara taxi rank there are beef cheeks galore. At Umthandeni Zondo’s rank-side booth, R23 buys hungry commuters a portion of inhloko (beef cheek) fit for a king with a complementary mug of umhuzi (gravy) and Pele-Pele seasoning on the side. Zondo sets up shop at 7am and slow-cooks inhloko into melt-in-the-mouth lunchtime perfection. Sure, you eat directly off a stainless steel table, but who needs fine-dining frills when the meat is this flavoursome?

The pumpkin flower-laden vegetable stall of Zondo’s neighbour, Margaret Hlongwane, offers the perfect Martha Stewart moment for those wishing to counterbalance cheap and cheerful cow cheeks. Northern suburbs chefs bemoan the fact that the markets they visit do not stock these pretty blossoms, which when stuffed and fried make such delicious entrees. And yet here Hlongwane sits like a flower fairy amid a sea of orange and yellow pumpkin blooms. Her stall is shaded by a giant chandelier, wittily sculpted to match the location from an assortment of cheese graters, colanders and vehicle hub-caps, and while commuters generally rush past, those who stop and chat are treated to hearty helpings of foodie folklore. Among other things, I learnt that Venda bridegrooms eat a stew made of pumpkin flowers on their wedding day, which apparently ensures a lifetime of happiness. At R6 a bunch, the blooming plan for connubial contentment is a serious score.

Speaking of scores, those with World Cup tickets for matches at Soweto’s Soccer City should know that Kliptown’s Peter Oshun at the One Nation Shebeen (073 364 8567) brews tinglingly tart traditional sorghum beer with which to celebrate a win and that chef David Blom’s (084 330 0681) R14 sausage-, atchaar- and chip-stuffed kotas at Bolo’s Place are ideal for subduing babalas blues.

The term kota is derived from the word “quarter” and refers to a township variation on a bunny chow which has just the right combination of fat, spice and carbohydrate to absorb excess alcohol from your bloodstream. Once the kota has worked its magic, do stick around to listen to Blom, who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the 107-year history of the Kliptown area. As your head stops spinning you will notice the restaurant’s engagingly eclectic décor, which offers a glorious jumble of 1950s kitchen cabinets, Victorian coal stoves and precolonial grinding-stones.

Whether you want the sweet surrender of coconut-coated queens cake at Vicky Tsikang’s (083 953 0239) container- based store in Klipspruit or to settle in for serious seafood platters with a side order of live jazz and Moët et Chandon at Godfrey Mautloa’s glamorous Masakeng restaurant in Mofolo (011 982 8034), Dhlamini will set up a food tour that suits your palate and wallet.

Those visiting Masakeng must make sure to pop around the corner to Mnikelo Mangciphu’s Morana boutique bottle store (011 982 2290/082 336 5948). The shop takes its name from the Tswana word for grapes and the on-site tasting- room (by invitation only) offers a heavenly melange of Brazilian music, leather couches and the most comprehensive selection of SA fine wines this side of Franschhoek.

If all this eating and drinking makes you fear for your waistline, why not take TK Dube’s (073 133 5234) bike-and- binge township tour, which allows you to pedal between eateries and work off some of the excess calories? The tour begins and ends at the four-star Soweto Hotel on Freedom Square (011 527 7300), which serves a Kliptini cocktail (homebrewed Gemmer ginger beer and vodka) that is dangerously delicious. Two of cocktail queen Thandi Nkosi’s Kliptinis and you won’t be able to stand, let alone ride a bicycle, so rather save this aromatic alcoholic experience for the end of the trip.

Better still, spend the night amid the hotel’s Madiba mosaics and Alf Khumalo photograph s and wake up to the bliss that is chef Junior Molewa’s township continental breakfast. In case you are wondering, the continent in question is definitely Africa and the bill of fare includes mdogo (millet porridge), caramelised onion-laden chicken livers with steamed dombolo (dumpling breads) and cheese-topped magwinya (vetkoek), crisp outside, light and fluffy inside.

About 40% of Johannesburg’s population lives in Soweto and edible excursions offer an ideal way for a visitor to discover the history and culture of this deliciously diverse domain. A food tour of Soweto is definitely a delectable day out.

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