Every road trip is really about the stops (or… the snacks!)
We know, the route gets all the attention. The playlist, the petrol, the argument about who packed the cooler box wrong.
But ask anyone what they remember about a good road trip, and it's never the kilometres. It's the stops. The flask of koffie passed between seats. The tin of beskuit that somehow held the whole conversation together between towns.
That tin is padkos. And getting it right is an art in itself.
So, before the school holidays send you out onto the open road, here's how we'd pack the perfect padkos: what to eat, when to share, and how to make the kilometres fly by.
What makes good padkos
Good padkos follows a few honest rules (see the official rules below). It travels well. It doesn't need a fridge, a fork, or a flat surface. It can be eaten with one hand while the other holds the wheel, the map, or a sleeping toddler. And it's the kind of food that tastes better shared, always.
Most of all, good padkos does double duty. It feeds you, yes. But it also gives you a reason to pull over, stretch your legs, and turn a long drive into a string of memorable moments.
Start with the beskuit
No South African padkos pack is complete without a bakkie beskuit. They're built for the road: sturdy, satisfying, and made for dunking in whatever's hot in the flask.
Reach for our All Bran and Buttermilk Boerebeskuit first. It's the classic dunk. Honest, hearty, and built to hold its own in a strong cup of filter coffee somewhere past the halfway mark. For the ones in the back seat who think every trip needs a treat, pack a sleeve of Choc-Chip. A little sweet something to break up the long stretch and reward the road.
Going far, or going with a crowd? Our bulk packs mean more beskuit for more kilometres, so you're not rationing the tin before you've cleared the city limits. You'll find them in selected stores.
Build out the rest of the pack
Beskuit sets the tone. Here's what we'd pack around it.
- A fles of hot koffie or rooibos. The anchor of any padkos pack, and the reason the beskuit is there in the first place.
- A bietjie biltong. Protein for the long haul, and a snack that gets better the longer the drive.
- Fresh fruit. An apple or a naartjie cuts through the salt and the sweet, and keeps small hands busy between stops.
- Water, and lots of it. Easy to forget, impossible to road trip without.
Simple things. The ones that make a journey feel like a destination in itself.
The unwritten (but very official) rules of padkos
Every family has them. The biltong gets passed back before anyone's allowed to complain about being hungry. The beskuit tin lives within reach of the front seat, never the boot. Mum (or whoever is in the passenger seat) has the right to pick the music and the responsibility to collect the trash.
And the first rusk of the trip officially signals the start of the journey. Everything before that moment is mere preparation.
Those are the rules.
Make your own, and pass them down for generations to come.
The padkos is packed. Let’s go!
A good padkos mandjie isn't complicated. A fles of something hot, a tin of beskuit, a bit of biltong, and the people you'd happily be stuck in a car with for nine hours. That's the whole recipe.
Most importantly though, stock up before you set off.
Buy rusks online and we'll have everything ready, or find your nearest stockist to grab a pack on your way out of town. While the kettle boils for the flask, you might enjoy our guide to koffie, rooibos, or red wine pairings for the road (definitely keep the wine dunking situation for those in the passenger and back seats).
Wherever the road takes you, Alette's comes along for the ride.
Above all, rest well and savour the journey.
Tyd vir beskuit.
