Food, part 2

A friend listed some ideas on what I should write about in my blog and one of them was food. This happened about three months ago, so in case you have any suggestions, it's a good idea to tell them immediately or otherwise I won't manage to write about them before leaving Lusaka.

Food here is basically synonymous with nsima, maize porridge, which is the staple food. Nsima doesn't have any taste at all, so it wasn't too hard to get used to eating it. We eat rice as well and occasionally also pasta. Rice is also cultivated in Zambia, especially in the Western province.

Typically we have some protein source and some vegetables with nsima. In my family, the protein source varies rather evenly between fish, sausages, beef, chicken, eggs and beans. The vegetables are often impwas, okra or some leafy greens such as pumpkin leaves, rape, sweet potato leaves or some others of which I don't know the names. My favorite food is eggplants with eggs.

The amount of meat is fairly small but we do eat it regularly. It might be beef heart though. However, there is a protein source that everybody in my family says they prefer over beef: caterpillars. They have a very high protein content, so in that way they are an important part of the traditional Zambian diet. I wasn't too enthusiastic about them but I closed my eyes and tasted a few. The taste isn't too bad but the mouthfeel doesn't allow you to forget what you're actually eating. They are not a big part of our diet though; during these three months we've had them twice and there was always something else besides them.

Fish is common in our household, either fresh or dried. I'm not a huge fan of fish since in my opinion nothing in this country happens that fast that you could have proper fresh fish in Lusaka. The dried fish is sold in the markets so I see daily the amount flies around the fish, which doesn't really increase my appetite. Then again, closer to water, the fish is often excellent. A specific type of fish is kapenta, which is a very tiny fish. It used to be one of the cheapest protein sources but apparently isn't anymore. Kapenta tastes like fish, so I prefer it over caterpillars (unlike the rest of the family) but I have the same prejudice against kapenta that I have for fish in general here.

Vegetables are almost always cooked. When I cooked for my family for the first time, I made some salad and the teenager of the family said that it was the first time ever she had salad.

Spices are not commonly used, in my home there were no spices besides salt, before I bought some. Salt is used a lot. I don't know is it the heat or what, but I've also developed a taste for salty food. Month ago I found myself adding salt to a toasted sandwich in a restaurant.

There are many customs related to eating. Before eating, we wash our hands. Classically this is done so, that there is a dish filled with water, and the man (the head of the house) washes his hands there first and then the rest in some sort of rank order. As the bacteria and diseases can actually spread that way, there has been campaigning against the custom, so instead we have a separate dish for fresh water, from which we can pour water on the hands.

Traditionally everything throughout the meal follows the rank order: men take food first, then women and the children last. Man is the one who brings the money to the house, so he gets also a lion's share of the food. There are also some other details that show the rank: For instance, I get a porcelain plate whereas the children eat from plastic plates. Traditionally also, the man would eat seated on a chair while everybody else sits on the floor. We have a dinner table but not all can fit around it at the same time, so some of the children usually have to sit on the floor. So did I for the first three months before we got the dinner table.

Nsima we eat with our fingers but rice or pasta we eat with forks or spoons (there are never enough forks for everyone). I had lunch with another mzungu in a restaurant, and we ate nsima with our fingers – not very exotic for either one of us after already spending a few months in Zambia. However, to the waiter this was apparently something special and afterwards he come to thank us for respecting their customs.

Admittedly, I don't eat nsima in a restaurant that often – once a day at home is quite enough for me. That time, the lunch restaurant had ran out of rice before we got there. Usually I go to Subway or to an Indian restaurant. Subway is cheap here, and it's nice to eat some fresh vegetables sometimes. Indian food isn't that cheap but there are quite a few Indians here so the Indian food is usually excellent. Then again, pizzas and hamburgers are hugely over-priced and not that good.