Globetrotting Pop-up Ghetto Soul are Bringing a Taste of Africa to Auckland

Having already ticked off the comforting, spice-driven street food of Louisana and the 160-year-old traditions of the New York delicatessen, food experimentalists Ghetto Soul will next put their focus into a relatively unchartered cuisine.

Led by ex-Depot and Major Sprout chef Evan Botha, Ghetto Soul specialises in urban soul food from different parts of the globe, switching it up each month with a new city or region. You can find them temporarily set up at different venues across Auckland including the CBD's Elk Eatery and Weirdough & Tuck, plus Late Night Diner in Ponsonby. Following this month's theme of Creole, the globetrotting cooks will use the two remaining weeks of their residency to explore the art of African barbecue or braai, with each dish representing a different region in South Africa.

Highlights of the menu include the traditional potjiekos or 'small pot food', originally brought to South Africa by dutch Voortrekkers in the late 1700s. On this occasion the dish will feature wild African goat with butter beans and harissa. Then there's the lightly stewed spiral boerewors sausage with tomato, onion and coriander; a Zulu burger made with African boar, maize meal, roast garlic and tomato gravy; flatbread served with biltong, chermoula and corn, plus the braai staple: mealies - a foolproof combination of corn on the cob topped with percorino cheese.

The Ghetto Soul African pop-up will take place at Elk Eatery on Thursday 21 April (4 - 9pm), Weirdough & Tuck on Friday 22 April (4 - 9pm) and Late Night Diner on Saturday 23 (5 - 10pm). See the Ghetto Soul Facebook page for more information.