Fat cooks

The following dish shows I think the Afrikaner influence to some dishes so beloved by Zimbabweans, The Fat cook/Fat cakes that I remember from my childhood are called ‘Vetkoek’ in South Africa    and ‘Magwinya’ in Botswana. I haven’t done much research on them and the Boer influence leads me to believe that they are derived from the Dutch “oliebollen” which are a Dutch pastry similar to a doughnut but with raisins in them. That for me is a sign how food culture like language evolves as it goes along.  I remember my mother frying these as an alternative to Lobels bread or when there was a bread shortage and we would eat them while they were still warm with loads of golden syrup on them oh yummy yummy...

Ingredients

250g self-raising flour

1 egg

120ml milk

Pinch of salt

*Sugar is optional

Oil for frying

Cooking method

1-mix egg and milk

2-mix salt with the flour

Mix 1 & 2 together until mix is smooth with no lumps and depending on the consistency you can add more milk or sometimes I sometimes even add cream just for richer dough.

When the oil is hot spoon the dough in the pan and when it is brown on the bottom, turn over and cook the other side until both sides are evenly cooked.

You can either deep fry, which makes the Fat cook puff up, and rounder but I prefer to shallow fry them, cooking on both sides for a flatter Fat cook, which is a bit like a pancake.

Just Like Mama Used to Make: Recipes and Traditions from an African Kitchen

When it comes to food the Italian cliché “it’s real food just like mama used to make” denotes pleasure with the first bite of an evocative and hearty dish full of flavor.

I love food and I love Africa specifically my motherland Zimbabwe, and this love has motivated me to try and share recipes and tips with others on this blog, which may help bring the smell of Africa into the kitchen with it the colorful, and rich vibrant flavors of African cuisine just like mama used to make!

Most Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora miss many things about the motherland but for most at the top of the list would be food, simple well made comfort food like a plate of hot steaming sadza, vegetables nenyama.

Nothing says the taste of home more than a warm plate of sadza on a cold wintery British evening, indeed when I moved to England as a lonely young man, during the dark, cold winter months I used to get homesick and really missed my family and the warm, sunny climes of Zimbabwe, however a steaming plate of sadza made life seem better.

When I had friends over for a visit, with all the material comforts of the West at our fingertips nothing connected us better to the motherland than plate of sadza nenyama and a bond was created over food and nostalgic memories of a childhood past. The memory of mama’s sadza was the taste of home, not all mamas were the best cooks of course, but the fact that theirs was food cooked out love not a sense of duty elevated the taste of mama’s food to gourmet proportions.

I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that food is interwoven in the fabric of our culture and upbringing as Africans and as such is an integral part of our lives that we only realize when we are adults and look back on our childhood from a distant haze of memories. Our food culture as Zimbabweans and Africans provides a clue to how we socialize and social structures. Zimbabwe is a family and gender based culture, and this can be seen in how the social structure is mirrored in the way people eat; who they eat with, how they are served and who prepares the food, At family gathering and funerals man huddle in separate groups away from the women and build and renew relationships over food and drink, while for the women. In many African families, the kitchen is reserved as the women’s domain, where mothers and daughters gather together to prepare family dinners.

It is often said that stories and events of present generation will constitute the history of future generations. The stories and political struggles of our parent’s generation in the 60’s and 70’s now constitute the history of the armed struggle, which brought about the birth of Zimbabwe. It therefore is our responsibility in the era of globalization where many people find themselves living in foreign lands to try and preserve our family histories and culinary traditions we grew up with for our future generations. Just as most African history as we know it was written by white men from the West, the modern history and traditions of Africa are at risk from suffering the same fate if the present generation of African people do not rise to the challenge and take the responsibility for documenting and writing their own history. This is not a political blog, but is more an attempt to document our own Zimbabwean culinary traditions which albeit are very different from say the French as anyone who has ever read Larousse Gastronomique will testify have a rich and varied archive of regional recipes and seasonal ingredients documented in the book, which lists an extensive, range of ingredients, techniques and recipes that make up French cuisine. A perusal of Zimbabwean recipes on Google brings up books such as Diet and tradition in an African culture, Culture and Customs of Zimbabwe and A Taste of Africa of which none are written by a Zimbabwean. In a book entitled The World Cookbook for Students, Volume 1 the section on Zimbabwe after giving a brief description of the country lists typical dishes as Sadza and stews of meat and vegetables. Under a section entitled Style of eating it has this to say

 “Families eat together on a mat on the floor, surrounding the communal dish placed in the center. Some families have individual plates and spoons. European families eat European style. Only the right hand is used to eat with. Each diner takes off a piece of the stiff cornmeal paste and shapes it in the same palm and fingers into a ball. An indentation is made in the ball with the right thumb. The ball of paste is dipped in the sauce and brought to the mouth.”

The passage above while it might have been relevant at some point does not mirror my experiences or of any of my friends. We can only have ourselves to blame as Zimbabweans if we let this kind of patronizing and misinformation take precedence. My hope is that by writing this blog, I shall begin a process of documenting our rich and varied culinary traditions.