When I think of a creamy coleslaw, my earliest memory of the dish is a soulful seven-colours meal that gathered my family every Sunday.
Perhaps I'm a picky eater, but never in my 44 years would I have added coleslaw to kota. All of that quickly changed when I expanded my food palette at the 8th annual Soweto Kota Festival in Dobsonville at the weekend.
My experience at the festival blew my mind for more than one reason. As a young girl growing up in Mahikeng, my introduction to kota in the 1990s was during lunch break at school. The ingredients were basic: bread, atchaar, chips, polony and – the most elaborate ingredient – a russian.
The Soweto Kota Festival opened my eyes to how the street food must-have has evolved since my schooldays – with many sellers constantly pushing the envelope and coming up with creative ways to ensure that the kota is goated.
Mashed potatoes, chicken wings, spaghetti, chakalaka, coleslaw, lettuce, chicken feet and salsa are some of the modernised additions that took my breath away. A new dimension is the addition of the whole loaf meals, the Bazooka for example. Worth R240, the heavily loaded meal, also known as Gimba (the glutton), is filled with a rib patty, burger patty, russian, vienna, ham, polony, two fried chicken wings, two fried eggs, two slices of cheese, chips, lettuce, red onion and cucumber all plonked on a loaf of bread.
This is the offering of The Food Shed in Mofolo Central, Soweto. It has been on the market for two years and is one of its popular offerings. According to co-owner David Mofokong, 44, the idea was inspired by the need to cater for more than one person.
"Instead of buying two or three kotas if there is more of you and which will cost more, you save by buying this one. It has been popular since 2023 and has been well received,” says Mofokeng.
At a nearby stall, the Perfect One (R120) kept the traditional kota alive, with a little bit more. It has chips, lettuce, onion, burger patty, cheese, russian and jumbo wors.
"We came up with the idea of this kota because we wanted to try new things and people love it a lot. It's very filling; you get energy after eating,” says 43-year-old Violet Seloma, a chef at Sausage Salon in Mercy Park, Soweto.
Another popular offering is Dimenyemenye (R80) which, according to Seloma, is the township lingo for everything nice. It has mashed potato, mince mixed with spaghetti, cheese, atchaar and chicken feet.
While the inclusion of chicken feet may raise eyebrows, Seloma had the right explanation. Chicken feet are a popular street food delicacy in the township, she said. So, they wanted to incorporate that into the everyday culinary experience in the township.
“After eating bread you feel like eating meat, so chicken feet cater to that craving. This kota has been in the market for four years and people love it,” says Seloma.
In two weeks, music and food lovers will be descending to this year's Delicious Festival and that is where Nontobeko Tshabalala of Lele's Fast Food hopes to showcase her kotas.
One of their best kotas is called Showstopper. Its ingredients are atchaar, chips, beef patty, cheese, lettuce or colesaw, russian, vienna, steak, chicken nugget and a chicken wing.
Tshabalala, 36, says Lele’s Fast Food only caters for food festivals and it is here that they come up with creative ways to make kotas. Once they are received well, they then become part of the menu at Malebotsela Trade and Supply, their mobile food container in QwaQwa, Free State.
“Every festival we want to create something different. I wanted to include fish in this menu but some people are allergic. I then decided to go for meat because when people have been drinking they like something meaty. Also, you can put chilli on it," Tshabalala says.
“For this festival, we took a risk by adding steak. Normally, this kota has everything but steak, it's always a double beef burger. However, the risk paid off because it's selling well, it exceeded our expectations. I use these festivals to explore my creativity."
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