Bunnies conquer Africa burbs
DURBAN’S signature dish, the beloved bunny, has gone digital.
It was the inspiration behind Bunnies in the Burbs, a digital cooking show which will air via Viva Nation TV, a music and lifestyle channel that broadcasts throughout Africa.
The show features award-winning afro-jazz guitarist and producer Kunle Ayo, storyteller Zanele Ndlovu and leading HIV and gender activist Yvette Raphel. It aims to get African millennials sharing good food and wisdom with their peers.
“We are basically introducing township food and Indian food into the suburbs,” said Vanessa Perumal, founder of JT Communications, which launched the show with Content Africa.
“I’m from the north of Johannesburg but enrolled at the Durban University of Technology and when I arrived in Durban, I discovered they made these amazing bunnies, which I hadn’t seen in Johannesburg.
“Friends had to teach me how cook the curry and that’s how the idea of having a show evolved, all through the love of the bunnie chows,” said Perumal.
In one episode, a guest from Empangeni, Vimla Govender, made fish roe chutney, crab and chicken palau.
“I went to Johannesburg to visit my sister when our cousin told us about this show and said I should be a guest. At first I didn’t agree, I doubted myself a lot,” said Govender.
Host Tynita Harilal said she enjoyed travelling around Africa to find new foods.
“I’m a student at Wits and, with this job, I can pay for my fees. I enjoy meeting new people and discovering new cultures. Bunnies in the Burbs is not about making bunnies only, but experiencing different cultural foods from around the content,” said Harilal.
Harilal said the show aimed to inspire young people to be entrepreneurial.
“Bunnies in the Burbs highlights an eagerness by the youth to take charge of their lives and careers,” she said.
Young people in South Africa and beyond need to be encouraged to become active participants in building the continent’s economies, especially as jobs dry up and the fiscal landscape rapidly changes from industrial to hi-tech.
“We have a mix of recipes from fast and fantastic, through to ideas for effortless entertaining, to big deal dishes and everything in-between. There’s something for cooks and home-makers of every skill level. We elevate everyday dining experiences with simple, affordable home cooking,” said Harilal.