Chicken Feet

This summer I spent two months in Cape Town, South Africa. I was interning at a youth empowerment human rights NGO called Africa Unite in the center of the city. At Africa Unite, I worked with other people from all over Africa and Europe, as well as a good amount of local South Africans. As part of the internship, we did a lot of work in the impoverished township communities where unemployment, gang violence, and crime rates are high. Despite the undeniable danger in these communities, food is a key aspect of the culture that unites people.

As a sort of "right of passage," the Africa Unite staff members claimed that all interns must try the local specialty of chicken feet. In the townships, there are grills that are set up along the main passage way alongside the temporary housing shelters known as shacks. We stopped at one of these grills on the side of the road and one of the South Africans got out and ordered chicken feet for all of us. The woman making the chicken feet had them on the grill already and was preparing them by a method known as "braai." This is the classic South African style of cooking meat on an open flame with tons of spices that add flavor to the meat. After she took them off the grill she put a braai sauce on them and wrapped them in newspaper.

Eating chicken feet was a unique experience. I did not really feel like there was anything to eat since there is no meat on this part of the chicken. One of the less appetizing parts of the process was removing the nails from the feet. Although the skin was flavored with spices and sauce, there was not much substance underneath.

Overall, the concept of chicken feet makes sense in the township communities where there is so much poverty that no one can afford to waste any part of an animal. It also is an environmentally sustainable practice for the same reason of the lack of waste. Although, I would probably not choose to eat chicken feet again, I'm grateful for the experience and can appreciate the cultural significance.