African Street Food in Namibia!!! OUTRAGEOUS Worms, Kapana and Rare Meats!!

Is that a cow stomach? Yeah. Hold on, let me wash my hands. Good. Ready? Ready. Welcome to Namibia, one of the most remarkable countries in Africa and the world. The culture here is diverse and dynamic, with roots that date back thousands of years. Here, this vast landscape stretches out wider than Texas, but they only have a population of 2.5 million. A big chunk of those people live in the country's capital, Windhoek. It means windy corner. People from every corner of this country have settled here, bringing their culture. German here is the local language. And their cuisine. I like this one, it's got some imperfections. They're all kind of unique. Today we're going on an all-out street food mission. I've never seen someone really take apart the whole chicken while the guts are still in there. Trying it all. From the delicious. I'm having a mouth chasm. To the straight up. Bizarre. You can do it! Welcome to street food Namibia style. I'm a little curious what's going on here. I look across this parking lot, it literally says superstore right across the street. Then you guys are set up here. I mean, what is this? This would be the open market. Okay. Because there's no roof. Right. And that would be the supermarket. With the roof. Slick the Dick. That's the name he goes by. He's traveled the world. Even lived in Beijing for a while. Ten years ago, he became the country's first stand-up comedian. So here you are, one of the biggest comedians in the land. Today, Slick will be my sidekick. Walking me through the complicated street food culture of Windhoek. But how does it work? Like the supermarket owners don't care that people are out here? Not at all. They call it competition is good. Really? It makes you work a little harder. That's awesome. This open market is a supermarket in itself. Run by several independent vendors and supported by walk-up traffic like me. First of all, what's your name? Memory. Memory? Yes. Oh, that's a great name. I hope I can remember it. Memory. Hold on. Memory. I was at a nearby butcher shop this morning, watching her buy fresh cuts of meat and sausage. Her specialty, turning this note into a pile of cash in one day. What are your specialties? Sausage, rye meat. What do you think I should try today? Maybe the bourre-wurst. Bourre-wurst. Bourre. Wurst. And which one is the bourre-wurst? Yeah, it's inside here. Bourre-wurst is inside there. This sausage is a mixture of beef and mutton fat, nestled inside a hot dog bun. Hey, is this bread from the supermarket? Yes. Oh, fantastic. Welcome. She adds some homemade salsa, a mix of onion, tomato, green bell pepper, some oil, vinegar, and barbecue spices. And this, my next meat is tomato sauce. So you made this? Yes, Tommy Mayo. Tommy Mayo? That sounds awesome. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Stunning. Oh. This is really delicious. It's no joke. I mean, it just reminds me of a classic kind of bratwurst, but with delicious toppings. The Tommy Mayo is a killer. This is fantastic. That's how you say it's really nice. My shatta. Yes. How long have you been here? Has this always been your spot? Like for three years. I mean, just looking, it can look kind of random, but there's nothing random about this. Nothing at all. If I come up here with my Weber grill, start cooking hot dogs down there, it's going to be a problem, right? In fact, this place is supported by the government. Each of these vendors has a space assigned to them, so it's completely legit, but it's not without its own challenges. Rosalia has had her spot for four years. She can feel the struggle as much as anyone here. There's no electricity and no water, so each day she must bring her own. But on the bright side, the meat she's cooking up is conveniently located nearby. Do you think that cow was alive this morning? I just think it must be fresh because the butcher doesn't have any ice or refrigeration. His cows probably woke up this morning thinking it was going to be a good day. Well, sorry. Nah, it's a good meal. This area will likely grow and become more developed over time. That's what happened here at Wernhill Flea Market. Years ago, vendors served food under this bridge, but the conditions were chaotic and unsanitary. Now, the government built permanent stalls where you can witness all kinds of unique local classics. There's so much going on here. There's the more common foods, lots of fried bread, pasta, macaroni. Here, we saw this earlier at the other market. This is the pop. Yeah, pop. Every region of the world has their staple carbohydrate. Here, it's pop, like a dense porridge made from mahangu, or pearl millet. Boiled with hot water, then left to cool until it becomes solid enough to handle by hand. On the side, some tripe. Is that a cow stomach? Yeah, that's cow stomach. It can be kind of bitter sometimes. Sometimes. You have to cook it for a while to get that initial bitter flavor out. You spice it up and you get a better flavor. That's exactly what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping for that, too. You usually go with a spoon or hands? Hands, usually. Hands is better. Good. I'm going to try just the pop at first. Muhanga. Mahangu. Mahangu. It has almost no flavor. The flavor comes from whatever you add to it. Like tofu or something like that. I think we got to go for the tripe. Oh, boy. A little bit of mahangu, a little bit of tripe. It's intense. It's super animal-y flavor. It's like, I know this cow better than I ever intended to know this cow. You almost got to work with your teeth to really get it down there. It's not like regular beef. They did a pretty good job addressing the gaminess, but it's still there. What's your name? Herta. Yes. Cool. Sunny. Sunny. Well, yeah. Not like the Japanese brand, but like the weather. And what's your name? Aina. This is my dude, Slick the Dick. Herta and Hilma's business was passed down from their mother. They offer a crazy amount of food, even pop. What is the dish that people always come back here for? Most of the time is fat cakes. Fat cakes? Yeah. Nice. That was my nickname in middle school. I was a sad kid. Anyways. We're here for this. But since they're also churning out one of the city's favorites, we'll try that too. Yeast and dough made from corn flour. Blobbed and dropped in oil. Then rotated around until they're golden brown. Goes down every time. So it's normal to eat it plain if you want to? You can dip it in sauce. Or if you're eating like some meat, maybe put the meat in between. I like that. This is fantastic. Super crunchy on the outside, just incredibly doughy on the inside. What time do you get out of here? Seven. Oh, long day. Full day. Yeah. Alright. Sounds like I'm trying to pick her up. We're just waiting for the number. Let's talk about the dish you're making right now. What is the name of this dish? Scrambled eggs. Yeah, also chicken liver. Oh, you're going to put chicken liver as well? Yes. In a pot, she fries some veggies, adds turmeric, eggs, mixes that, then the chicken liver. Pile on some spices and finish up the cooking. Side that with another local favorite, macaroni. I got you a, what is this, a reboost energy. This assumes you were already boosted at one point. Yes, another boost. Cheers. I'm just going to jump into it. I'm going to try just some of the egg at first. That's dynamite. That's good. That's very good. It's just like a savory scrambled egg and it tastes like there's salsa mixed into it. Have you had it in this style? Not specifically in this style. I've had it more full-boiled egg wrapped with the liver and a little bit of intestine together. This is like the metropolitan version. Yeah. I'm going to get some egg now with the liver. I'm down with that. What do you think? It's going to work. The chicken livery can be kind of dry, but… If I put the egg at the top there… It goes down easy. On the side here too, not mac and cheese, it's mac and mac. We have a barbecue culture and mac, a little bit of mayo on it, is a staple when we're having a barbecue. We call it a braai. Namibia has a long, brutal, and complicated history. For thousands of years, traditional ways of life carried on without interruption. But in 1884, Namibia was colonized by Germany, which led to conflict and massive bloodshed. In 1915, the country was captured by South Africa. And it wasn't until 1988 that Namibia became independent. There can be good and bad from these types of bad things that happen. Of course, there's nothing good about a ******* genocide. But what good came from colonialism, if any? Infrastructural development. A lot of the systems were set up during colonialism. That I can say is good, but the way it happened, I don't think necessarily that was good. With the strong influence the Germans have had here, do you think there's any parts of German culture that have just rubbed off into the culture at large? I can't say being on time has necessarily rubbed off. We still apply a lot of African time here. When someone says, I'll be there now, they mean in a little bit. Right. Give me some time. But I'll be there now. Oh my god, what means actually now? I'm here. We are in the market. It seems like it started randomly, and then parts of it became permanent over time. Well, that's exactly what happened. We call it the Konjini Market, which means, let's fight for it. The market probably has the largest space, stretches out from where we are. So, first part of the CBD. What's CBD? Central Business District. Oh, okay. I thought you were talking about the weed oil. Who's coming here? Everyone, really. You know, someone passing by, a student coming from school, someone coming to buy some food for lunch. So, the marketplace is huge. Here in her restaurant, she's offering a long menu of foods I've never even heard of. But I'm here for one in particular, the walkie-talkies. It's the runaway chicken. The runaway chicken. It has muscle on it. These are different than other types of chickens? Well, we like to think so, because we assume they walk a lot in a field somewhere. And that's the only reason we call it marathon. Walkie-talkie. This part does the walkie, this part does the talkie. We're eating both and nothing else. I've had something similar in Madagascar, but here she cooks it in her own way. I've never seen someone really take apart the whole chicken while the guts are still in there. Oh, it's unrecognizable. She's cutting the face right off. The backside of the chicken used to be a male delicacy only. Why is that? Patriarchy. Oh, okay. Cool. I mean... The walkie-talkie is cooked in a pot, then her special ingredient, curry vegetable soup. Add some tomatoes and cook it a bit more until her culinary instincts tell her it's finished. What's this? Piece of head? Yeah, that's a piece of head. I want to try it out. It's crunchy. It's super good. She put in some miscellaneous parts, some extra surprises. Now, does she throw away the fingernails? We usually get rid of them. You've got to file it or get fake ones. These are some of the better chicken feet I've had. It's soft. It's not crazy soft. This is like that middle texture. The heads are almost unrecognizable at this point. You can clear the bones away. And just go right for the brain. Going around the world, having lived in Asia a number of years, I really opened up my mind to trying different unique foods. Have you ever seen anything like that? Have not. Your face doesn't look happy. But in the U.S., chicken feet is just not going to happen. It's not a thing.