A Taste of Zambia - by Charlene

There are several purposes for this blog:

1. to introduce you to the culinary experiences of Zambia
2. to show how adventurous “we” are (meaning John)
3. to really freak out our friends Dave & Ruth who are visiting later this month

Miriam, our maid, cooks her lunch at our place and often eats together with some of the other people who are working on our property. Today they were eating at our house and as I was making my salad in the kitchen they invited me to come and taste their food.

from left - Rape Relish, Nshima and Chinkubala

The two staple foods of the Zambian diet are Nshima (bottom centre) which is a corn maize product and Rape (upper left) which is a green leafy vegetable (from the Rapeseed and Canola family) which when fried in oil with a bit of onion and tomato is called a "relish".

Mmmm....Chinkubala!

I hesitated because Zambian food is not my favourite, but when I discovered today’s menu included Chinkubala I suddenly remembered some urgent emails that needed to be sent! Chinkubala are caterpillars, picked from the trees and dried. To cook them you soak them in water for a while, and then fry them up with onion and tomatoes.

Luckily John drove up just in time to save the day, his adventurous palate was more than happy to give it a try. While the Zambian ladies were disappointed that I wouldn’t taste the caterpillars, they all had looks of horror when I offered them a taste of my salad . (A lot of Zambians don’t really eat raw food or fresh vegetables). We decided to call a truce and each stick to our own foods!

Mmm, crunchy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside

Also in season now are the flying ants known as "Inswa", they are on the top of John's "Must Taste" list (apparently crunchy and buttery) . So, we've asked Miriam to make a "special" Zambian meal for when Dave and Ruth come.