Bringing Zimbabwe to Italy

In Italy, you will find some of the best food in the world, with countries across the globe adapting traditional recipes while also mixing in a little local flare. Although Italian pizza and pasta dishes definitely take the cake (no pun intended) for flavour and presentation, you start to look for other options after six months. Unfortunately, late night taco runs may leave you disappointed as Italy has little to offer when it comes to the international restaurant scene.

However, one night, a friend offered to cook us good bye dinner with foods from his home country of Zimbabwe. In addition to providing a welcome break from an overdose of cucina italiana, Alfred’s efforts made for an amazing evening filled with dishes we had never tried or seen before, lots of laughs as well as an eye opening discussion on his country’s culture.

If you would like to create your own Zimbabwean night, take a look at these amazing dishes he prepared for us. To make the experience even more authentic, turn up the tunes by Zimbabwean artists (listed below) while you chop up some fresh vegetables and prepare what’s sure to be a delicious feast. And as they say in Italy, bon appetito!

Pork stew

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Ingredients:

• Pork;
• Pasta sauce;
• Fresh tomatoes;
• Red and green peppers chopped into smaller squares;
• Frozen vegetables mix of corn, peas, beans etc.;
• Garlic;
• Onion;
• Paprika;
• Salt;
• Olive oil.

Instructions:

1. Fry pork in a pan with a bit of olive oil, sprinkling some salt and paprika over it.
2. While meat is cooking, boil frozen vegetables as well as fresh vegetables in a pot.
3. Add salt, garlic and paprika to the boiling vegetables.
4. Add meat to the vegetables and let the mixture boil for 3-5 minutes.
5. Add fresh tomato and tomato paste to meat and veggie mix and let it boil for another 6-8 minutes.

Collard greens

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As the stew simmered, we prepared the collard greens, a mix of fresh vegetables and spices.

Ingredients:

• Red peppers;
• Green peppers;
• Onions;
• Collard greens;
• Salt;
• Olive oil.

Instructions:

1. Clean and cut up vegetables.
2. Heat some olive oil in a pan and add fresh onions, peppers and salt and let this cook for 4-5 minutes.
3. Place lid over vegetables, letting them simmer and shrivel. Be sure to frequently stir the mixture.

Sadza

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Last but not least, here is the recipe for a Zimbabwean staple, known as Sadza, rumoured (by Alfred) to increase human intelligence. I am still waiting for this effect to kick in. Try for yourself and let me know if you experience a sudden onset of smartness.

Ingredients:

• Semolina;
• Polenta flour (you can also just use corn flour).

Instructions:

1. Boil four cups of water. Mix either corn or semolina flour and polenta flour with cold water in a separate bowl.
2. Add flour-water mixture to boiling water and stir constantly, allowing the mixture to thicken (make sure there are no lumps).
3. As the combination of flour and water cooks, it will eventually peel from the sides of the pot to form a large ball. Let it cook a few minutes more.
4. Serve with stew or soup. It is customary to take a piece of the Sadza with your hands and dip it into the stew.

Cooking playlist

Get on Spotify or YouTube and search for the Zimbabwean legend, Thoma Mapfumo and check out some his hits such as Juanita and Moyo Wangu.

There you have it, a crash cooking guide to making your first of hopefully many Zimbabwean meals. And a huge thank you to you, Alfred! We hope to return the favour with some maple syrup and Canadian back bacon whenever you find the time to make it to the Great White North.

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