Page 107 - Through the eyes of an African chef

chapter six
“UKUHAMBA KUZALA INDUNA”
A ZULU PROVERB MEANING: “YOU GROW AND LEARN FROM YOUR TRAVELS.”
MULTICULTURALISM AT HOME AND MY CULTURAL ORIENTATION INTO VENDA FOOD AND CULTURE
AT HOME, THE PEOPLE FROM THE NORTHERN PART OF LIMPOPO ARE FONDLY KNOWN AS ’ABANTU BAKWA VENDA’. AUNT SALU MOVED TO VENDA AS A JUNIOR NURSE BEFORE I WAS BORN. WHEN SHE CAME HOME, SHE PROUDLY WORE TRADITIONAL VENDA ATTIRE AND BROUGHT MANY INTERESTING EDIBLES AND THE LIKE FROM LIMPOPO. A FEW YEARS AGO, I MET VHO – THIVHULAWI LIZZIE PHIDZA, A GREAT VENDA COOK, AUTHOR AND STORYTELLER. SHE TOOK ME UNDER HER WING AND TAUGHT ME ABOUT VENDA FOOD AND CULTURE. WE SHARED MANY MEMORABLE COOKING TIMES TOGETHER AT HOME, AND DURING THE MZANSI INTERNATIONAL CULINARY FESTIVAL: VENDA MEETS MEXICO. SHE HAS SHARED INDIGENOUS AND INVALUABLE FOOD HISTORY. FROM TSHIGUME (PEANUT BUTTER), WHICH THEY MAKE AS A SLOW-RELEASE ENERGY PASTE EATEN WITH WATER IN THE FIELDS, TO MUKOKI, THE TRADITIONAL AFRICAN WAY TO PRESERVE GAME MEAT WHICH, AFTER HUNTING, IS PREPARED AND DRIED. MUKOKI IS A SKILL SHARED BY VENDA AND KHOISAN PEOPLE – INNOVATION THAT CAME AS A MEANS OF SURVIVAL. OF COURSE, MUKOKI IS NOW KNOWN TO THE WORLD AS ‘BILTONG’, BUT IT’S JUST HOW AFRICANS HAVE ALWAYS PRESERVED GAME BEFORE COLONISATION AND APARTHEID. HAVING SAMPLED AND COOKED VENDA DISHES, DOVHI IS MY FAVOURITE VENDA DISH!