Bunny Chow – Epcot 2011 Food & Wine Festival

Okay, the name Bunny Chow drew me in. Purina (pet food company) actually makes a product for rabbits that is called bunny chow. So when I saw the name Bunny Chow, I knew I had to sample this dish. I try not to research food before I try it. Too often I am predisposed to not like something because there is some ingredient that I don’t like. So I sampled this with no idea what I would taste.

First bite was cold, not tepid, cold. It tasted like they had just pulled a “vat” out of the fridge and dropped in the warmer. (You know this is the primary way we get food at the festival. Pre-made then reheated as needed, not particularly authentic preparation.) Plus the vegetables were crunchy. The potatoes were seriously undercooked. The carrots could have been raw. The onions had zero caramelization. There was only a slight curry flavor.

Okay so I have NOTHING good to say about the Bunny Chow. But being the curious sort, I did look it up on Wikipedia.

Bunny chow, often referred to as a Bunny^[1] is a South Africanfast food dish consisting of a hollowed out loaf of bread filled with curry, that originated in the DurbanIndian community.

Bunny chows are popular amongst Indians, as well as other ethnic groups in the Durban area. Bunny chows are commonly filled with curries made using traditional recipes from Durban:mutton or lamb, chicken, bean and chips with curry gravy are popular fillings now, although the original bunny chow was vegetarian. Bunny chows are often served with a side portion of grated carrot, chilli and onionsalad, commonly known as sambals. A key characteristic of a bunny chow is created when gravy from the curry fillings soak into the walls of the bread, thereby rounding the dish off with the fusion of flavours & textures.

The version we had was vegetarian – they tried to make it traditional. But reading about the curry soaking into the bread and thinking about a good curry, this dish has serious potential. Even though I cannot recommend what is being served at Epcot, I’d try bunny chow in a South African restaurant. I think it could be quite tasty – too bad this sample was so bad.

nick