The Three Dishes I Grew Up With

Today's blogging topic is about the staple food in my family. Rather than tell, I will show. A picture is worth a thousand words no?

1. Sadza, Stew and Relish

This was our daily go to. The stew might be beef or mutton or goat. The spices might be mild, or not there at all. The relish might have onions and tomatoes or have been prepared in nothing but sunflower oil but the sadza was always the same. We ate sadza 98% of the time so this can safely have been called the staple food of our household.

Isitshwala in Ndebele (source)

2. Rice, Chicken and Coleslaw Salad

Weekends were a treat for my young mind! We'd have chicken! For those who don't understand, growing up chicken was more expensive than beef so it was something that we'd have once in a while and its rarity made it extra tasty in my mind.

In Zimbabwe, 'salad' can actually be used as slang for a brat. People from the upper middle class who had salad everyday. (source)

3. Chips and Chicken

On extra special occasions like my birthday, my mom would make french fries (or chips in Zimbabwean English) and deep fried chicken. Those days were paradise. (Funny story to be included in my autobiography, someone once found their way to my heart by making me french fries)

In Zimbabwe we have chips with vinegar not the abomination of a meal that the french do; chips and mayonnaise or apple source. (source)

These three meals defined my childhood, probably 80% of our meals were a combination of the above, though on some occasions we'd mix things up with things like ostrich meat, pork, tripe etc. #nostalgia #memories