Zimbabwean Foods

I stared, and it stared back. It's eyes watched me carefully as I began to eat. Or at least I thought it was looking at me, because in fact, it was a fish. A fish cooked for my supper, and that was very much dead. I swallowed as much as I could before I began thinking about it's eyes staring.

The food here has been delicious, nutritious, if at all scary. I've enjoyed eating native foods and Zimbabwean's take on Western foods. The most basic food here is sadza, which is made of cornmeal and has the consistency of old mashed potatoes. Basically, it's flavorless, but is used like an eating utensil for the traditional African greens, gravy, and occasionally, meat (chicken or beef). A native Zimbabwean will pick up a bit of sadza, roll it in their hands to make it firmer, and use it to scoop up the other foods. I'm learning to eat like a native, but once, I caught a group of teenage boys laughing at the white girl attempting to eat her sadza. Needless to say, I might look like a fool eating, but I'm trying.

Although, I as a guest have had the opportunity to eat several variations of chicken, beef, and fish, the poorer natives do not eat meat often, maybe once every two weeks or even once a month. I've eaten chicken feet (not much meat on there), chicken liver (very rubbery), and fish (they were dried sardines that they cooked in some type of oil to make them softer. It didn't help with the crunch of the bones though). I am forcing myself to try new things to fully experience the culture here, but let's just say I will not be attempting to make chicken feet at home!

The western influence in foods is apparent when I see Lay's chips made with South African potatoes. The flavors are odd, "Balsamic Vinegar and Carribbean Onion," "Sweet Thai Chile," "Fruit Chutney," and "Ketchup;" but they are all very flavorful and good! My favorite food right now is a “chip” called “Things,” which have a texture like Cheetos but are beef flavored. They sound disgusting, I know, but they are really quite good and I’ll bring some back for you to try!

One place we ate at, I saw an "egg roll" on the menu. So I ordered what I thought would be a yummy Chinese treat. When it came out, my "egg roll" was literally a fried egg on a roll. That brought some laughs and embarrassment on my part!

A sensation here is "Chicken Inn," "Pizza Inn," "Bakery Inn," and "Creamy Inn." I've had the wonderful opportunity to eat at all four and the favorite so far is "Pizza Inn", although the closest one is still 3-4 hours away.

Due to the English and Dutch colonizing this area, there are English traditions that the people here have carried on. One such tradition is tea, HOT tea. Honestly, I don't understand drinking hot tea in hot weather, but they say it produces sweat which helps you cool off. I have yet to understand this theory. Everyday at 10 AM (and sometimes in the afternoon), tea is served with milk, sugar, and biscuits. This also helps tide people over until lunch, which is around 2 PM. I'm still adjusting to the late lunch and supper, but when I eat on my own, I tend to eat earlier.

The foods here are interesting and eating different foods has been fun, but I will enjoy a Chipotle burrito all the more after having eaten chicken feet.