Excellent Edibles

Many people have asked what I'm eating here in Zambia. Generally I'm eating quite well – much better than I thought I would. The fruits and vegetables grown on farms just outside town and sold by the roadside are typically quite excellent. Tomatoes, bananas, lemons, onions, eggplants and of course corn (maize) are plentiful, fresh and tasty! For special occasions, a trip to the butcher yields some excellent cuts of meat from local farms. For bread and baked goods, we have a great little bakery that was set up as a Catholic Church project. I've also taken quite a liking to the coffee grown in the Munali Hills just outside Mazabuka. The 100-mile diet is just about achievable under these conditions.

The two supermarkets in town are decent too, though there's not nearly the selection one would find in a Loblaws or Metro back home. But who needs Blue Menu frozen dinners when sharing a house with an equally creative chef. Life is less hectic so there's typically plenty of time to cook in the evenings too.

For this relatively short post, I thought I'd introduce you to the food that powers the people of Zambia through their day. The staple food in Zambia is a maize porridge called nshima (pronounced with a nearly silent 'n'). I've never had it for breakfast, but I understand that the breakfast version is more runny than the type served at lunch and dinner.

At first glance, nshima looks a lot like a big heap of mashed potatoes. Typically, nshima is almost always served with a few side dishes (relishes) and/or some meat (beef, chicken or fish). The relishes I've had so far have been quite tasty. The typical green vegetable is called rape, which is a leafy vegetable similar to collard greens or swiss chard. Below is a photo of my first nshima meal from a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, I chickened out and asked for a knife and fork that time.

I have become more Zambian since that first meal and now eat nshima with my hands. The technique involves taking a goodly quantity in one hand (which I might add, can be very hot) and then rolling it around to make a ball. The next steps are to press a dimple into the ball and then to fill the dimple with some of the relish. Enjoy and repeat until all is gone... mmm, tasty!