Gastronomic Gaborone: Can culinary innovation co-exist with authenticity?

In Gabor­one, Bot­swana, the food scene is trans­form­ing, blend­ing indi­gen­ous ingredi­ents with mod­ern gast­ro­nomy. As Gabor­one reima­gines tra­di­tion­al Set­swana fla­vours for the tour­ist pal­ate, Delly Cha­ti­bura and Brighton Hur­ombo ask: Can culin­ary innov­a­tion co-exist with the com­mun­al spir­it of the past?

Thanks to “Good Tour­ism” Insight Part­ner Tour­is­m’s Hori­zon: Travel for the Mil­lions for invit­ing Dr Cha­ti­bura and Dr Hur­ombo to share this delect­able “GT” Insight. [You too can share.]

A new taste of tradition

Gaborone’s culin­ary land­scape is under­go­ing a quiet transformation.

Once defined partly by West­ern­ised dishes — ham­burgers, pizza, and fast-food out­lets — the city is wit­ness­ing a tra­di­tion­al-gour­met awaken­ing; one that reima­gines tra­di­tion­al Set­swana fla­vours through the lens of mod­ern gastronomy.

Innov­at­ive dishes, includ­ing beef liv­er sauce with korong (a type of whole wheat) and grilled chick­en with leth­lodi (tra­di­tion­al green len­tils), are not­able examples.

But as this renais­sance unfolds, a press­ing ques­tion arises: can culin­ary innov­a­tion co-exist with authenticity?

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Chef Mpho’s reflection: The soul of Setswana cuisine

Last week, we came across a Linked­In post by Chef Mpho Motlalekgosi, a con­sult­ant chef in Fran­cis­town, regard­ing ses­waa; Botswana’s nation­al poun­ded beef dish.

Reflect­ing on the elev­a­tion of tra­di­tion­al cuisine, she wrote:

“Tra­di­tion­al Set­swana cuisine was nev­er meant to be ‘elev­ated’. It was sur­viv­al food, cel­eb­ra­tion food, com­munity food. When my grand­moth­er cooked bogobe [sorghum por­ridge] in her three-legged pot, she was­n’t think­ing about present­a­tion. […] Ses­waa became tender not through sous vide pre­ci­sion, but through patience born of necessity. […]

“Now I serve this same ses­waa on white por­cel­ain to tour­ists who pho­to­graph it before eat­ing. I’ve added micro­greens and foam, jus­ti­fied the price point with ‘artis­an­al’ sourcing. 

“The profit mar­gins work but some­thing essen­tial gets lost in translation.

“What hap­pens when we take food rooted in sur­viv­al and com­munity and trans­form it into indi­vidu­al fine din­ing exper­i­ences? When we remove the shared pot, the eat­ing with hands, the stor­ies passed down with every meal?

“I’m not anti-pro­gress. I’m proud that Set­swana cuisine is finally get­ting recog­ni­tion bey­ond our bor­ders. But I won­der: are we elev­at­ing our food cul­ture, or are we san­it­ising it? Are we hon­our­ing our ancest­ors’ ingenu­ity or pack­aging their neces­sity for pal­ates that have nev­er known hunger?”

The devel­op­ment of ses­waa as Botswana’s nation­al dish res­ults from a com­bin­a­tion of spe­cial­ised skills, social and his­tor­ic­al sig­ni­fic­ance, and commitment.

Tra­di­tion­ally, ses­waa is a del­ic­acy reserved for social events such as funer­als and wed­dings. Pre­par­ing it requires unique cook­ing tech­niques to achieve the ideal tex­ture — a bal­ance between dry and moist. At tri­bal meet­ings and in cer­tain dis­tricts, the respons­ib­il­ity of pre­par­ing ses­waa is entrus­ted to a respec­ted group with­in the com­munity who have per­fec­ted their skills over time.

As such, the dish rep­res­ents the essence of Botswana’s culin­ary her­it­age, embody­ing the country’s his­tory, prestige, and honour.

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The Kgale Hill gourmet experience: Where tradition climbs higher

Trans­ition­ing from Chef Mpho, and her con­ten­tions of ses­waa, to the out­doors, Gaborone’s culin­ary exper­i­ment­a­tion extends bey­ond the plate.

The Kgale Hill Hike and Gour­met Pic­nic Exper­i­ence rep­res­ents a new way of blend­ing gast­ro­nomy with nature. Hikers take in scen­ic views of Gabor­one Dam, indi­gen­ous veget­a­tion, and dis­tant moun­tains along the South Afric­an bor­der, often meet­ing Cape baboons and black eagles along their trails.

This guided 45 to 60-minute hike to the sum­mit of Kgale Hill — Gaborone’s ‘sleep­ing giant’ — cul­min­ates in a scen­ic feast. Upon des­cent, hikers are wel­comed to a pic­nic of artis­an cheeses (like ched­dar and creamy brie), fresh bread, and fruits, blend­ing nat­ur­al and tra­di­tion­al out­door recre­ation with non-tra­di­tion­al food.

Although the hill is only 1,287 metres (4,222 ft) above sea level, scal­ing it is a tra­di­tion­al pas­time for loc­als. Adding the pic­nic for tour­ists has ‘elev­ated’ it per­haps; cer­tainly trans­formed it. Yet, this trans­form­a­tion raises import­ant ques­tions about the bal­ance between pre­serving cul­tur­al authen­ti­city and cater­ing to mod­ern tastes.

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Authenticity meets ambition

Reflect­ing on Chef Mpho’s Linked­In com­ments, we con­sidered the dilemma des­tin­a­tion man­agers face when pro­mot­ing loc­al food cul­tures: bat­tling authen­ti­city, unique­ness, and con­tem­por­an­eity all at once.

With Gabor­one embra­cing the City Tour­ism Ini­ti­at­ive—a gov­ern­ment pro­gramme intro­duced in Septem­ber 2025 by the Min­istry of Envir­on­ment and Tour­ism to diver­si­fy tour­ism products — these ques­tions take centre stage.

• Should loc­al dishes, like ses­waa and ser­obe (diced, boiled sweet­breads or offal), be ‘elev­ated’ to culin­ary mod­ern­ity to serve a grow­ing tour­ist niche?
• Can they serve as vehicles of tour­ism diver­si­fic­a­tion while main­tain­ing their unique tra­di­tion­al flavours?

While gour­met exper­i­ences like ‘foamed ses­waa’ and the Kgale Hill pic­nic offer a fresh per­spect­ive, they risk dilut­ing the com­mun­al essence that tra­di­tion­al meals embody. 

For ses­waa and oth­er dishes, to what extent can authen­ti­city be spared at the expense of culin­ary innovation?

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Gaborone city at a culinary crossroads

Gabor­one stands at a culin­ary cross­roads where gour­met tour­ism can flour­ish along­side a com­mit­ment to authenticity.

As more chefs and tour oper­at­ors embrace the chal­lenge of elev­at­ing tra­di­tion­al cuisine, the city’s din­ing scene can become a vibrant tapestry reflect­ing both rich her­it­age and future aspir­a­tions. By hon­our­ing the past while innov­at­ing for the present, Gabor­one can carve out a niche as a culin­ary des­tin­a­tion that truly cel­eb­rates the taste of Botswana.

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Preserving the communal spirit by storytelling

The solu­tion for des­tin­a­tion man­agers and culin­ary innov­at­ors may lie in cre­at­ing din­ing exper­i­ences that hon­our the his­tory of Bot­swana’s cuisine while appeal­ing to a glob­al audi­ence through storytelling.

The nar­rat­ives behind tra­di­tion­al dishes can be pre­served by infus­ing storytelling ele­ments into culin­ary exper­i­ences. As guests savour each bite, they can learn about the ingredi­ents’ ori­gins, the sig­ni­fic­ance of pre­par­a­tion meth­ods, and the com­mun­al ele­ments of the meal.

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Cooking as cultural education

Anoth­er aven­ue for pre­serving authen­ti­city is through culin­ary edu­ca­tion and workshops.

These ini­ti­at­ives can intro­duce loc­als and tour­ists to tra­di­tion­al cook­ing tech­niques, emphas­ising the com­mun­al and his­tor­ic­al aspects of food pre­par­a­tion. By teach­ing the art of pre­par­ing tra­di­tion­al dishes, chefs can cre­ate a sense of pride in loc­al cuisine while provid­ing tour­ists with hands-on exper­i­ences that deep­en their under­stand­ing of Bot­swana’s heritage.

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Conclusion: Striking the right balance

For Gabor­one — through the recently intro­duced City Tour­ism Ini­ti­at­ive — and for Bot­swana as a whole, the path for­ward lies in strik­ing a del­ic­ate balance.

It is a bal­ance that respects and hon­ours the cul­tur­al sig­ni­fic­ance of tra­di­tion­al meals like ses­waa, while embra­cing the cre­ativ­ity that mod­ern gour­met exper­i­ences offer. Through this effort, Gabor­one can ensure its culin­ary renais­sance is not just a trend, but a sus­tain­able cel­eb­ra­tion of its diverse food culture.

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What do you think? 

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About the authors

Delly Cha­ti­bura is a lec­turer in hos­pit­al­ity man­age­ment at the Uni­ver­sity of Bot­swana. She sup­ports research that advances prac­tic­al and sus­tain­able gast­ro­nom­ic exper­i­ences in the hos­pit­al­ity industry and advoc­ates for the recog­ni­tion of Africa’s tra­di­tion­al culin­ary her­it­age in tour­ism. Dr Cha­ti­bura wel­comes collaboration.

Brighton Hur­ombo is a lec­turer in the Depart­ment of Tour­ism and Hos­pit­al­ity Man­age­ment at the Uni­ver­sity of Bot­swana. He holds a PhD in Tour­ism Man­age­ment, a Mas­ters in Tour­ism and Hos­pit­al­ity Man­age­ment, and a BSc in Tour­ism and Hos­pit­al­ity Man­age­ment. Among Dr Hurombo’s research interests are gast­ro­nomy, uni­ver­sal access­ib­il­ity, and what makes tour­ism exper­i­ences memorable.

Featured image (top of post)

Gast­ro­nom­ic Gabor­one: Can culin­ary innov­a­tion co-exist with authen­ti­city? Image by Gem­ini fea­tur­ing ses­waa (poun­ded beef), the nation­al dish of Bot­swana. “GT” added the words.

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