Nyasaland Native : : Food ::

BY

Miss J. B A R K E RNUTRITION SURVEY

REPRINTED FROM

“ THE NYASALAND TIMES ”

Nyasaland Native Food By

Miss J. BarkerThe subject of food is to all peo­

ples an ihteresting topic but to the A frican it is one which is parti­cularly near his heart and upon w hich he is always ready to dis­course at great length. This is not to be wondered at when so much o f his life is bound up in one way or another with the production, storage, preparation and finally, consum ption of food.

At a very early age, small A fri­can girls are to be seen playing at pounding maize or sifting flour while their young brothers will spend hours trying to make snares for bids or watching holes from which, with luck, some de­lectable insect will emerge. As the girl grows up her day gets more and more filled with work connect­ed with food. She does the daily pounding o f flour, searches for the leaves for ndiwo in the garden or bush, fetches wood for the fire and water for the pot. Finally, she cooks or helps her mother to cook the evening meal. During the hoe­ing season, as soon as she is strong enough, she will do her share of the work and later help with the harvesting. I f there happen to be suitable spots for stream -bed gar­dens, madimba, near the village, it is she rather th a n ' her brother ■who will cultivate one o f these for its early maize and pumpkin leaves.

As the boy grows up, he does lit­tle work except a cursory herding o f the cattle until he is about 15

years old. Then he will begin to take his share in the hoeing, will help to build the grain store and will make an occasional contribu­tion to the meals in the way o f small game or insects that he has caught. However, once the food is grown or caught, it is no longer his province and he is entirely and pathetically dependant upon his wom enfolk for his sustenance. So dependant has he become that although the grain store may be full and there are leaves in the garden yet, if his wife is ill or away from the village, he will go hungry to bed unless he is asked to share some one else’s food. No wonder that it is a matter of such importance in choosing 1 one’s bride, to ascertain first that she is a hard worker and a gooti cook!

The Daily MealsMealtimes are very haphazard

affairs in the village. Perhaps there is some o f yesterday’s flour left over and a little of the cooked leaves, perhaps the wom an need not be off at dawn to her garden, in which case, there is chance o f a small morning meal. Much more frequently however, there is no flour left over and the woman is away early; so apart from some roasted maize or with luck, some sweet potatoes, it is a question o f waiting till evening for the proper meal.

Usually the women return to the village at about 3 — 4 o ’clock in the afternoon bringing with them

the leaves or beans for the even­ing meal.

The meal consists of a large amount of stiff porridge, nsima, to ­gether with a small quantity of the side dish, ndiwc, and by the time it is ready it will be about sun­down.

A boy will carry the men’s share to the bwalo where a group of friends will be waiting to eat it, while his mother., young brothers and sisters will either eat in a group alone or will join some other wom en and children.

Each group will by now have form ed a circle round the bowls. Possibly some other wife also will have cooked so that there are a choice of dishes. The leader of the group has the privilege of taking the first mouthful, he will break o ff a small lump of porridge, round it neatly between his fingers, dip it into the ndiwo and then eat it. T hen each in turn will eat and provided that there is plenty of nsima and the ndiwo is a good one, all will continue to eat until they have reached the blessed state of repletion while any morsels left over will be handed to the boys who are likely to be hovering around in anticipation.

2. Staple Foods (a ) Maize (Zea m ays), cimanga.

Maize is by far the most com ­m only used staple food in Nyasa- land. The preparation of the flour, « fa , in the village varies little throughout the country.

Preparation of Maize FlourThe first pounding, kukonola (N)The grains are first removed

Jrom the cobs. A small amount of grain is tipped into the m6rtar

and pounded as a ‘starter’ ; a little water is added to soften the grain. Then the mortar is filled up and the pounding of the bulk of the grain proceeds. During the process the bran becomes separated and the grain slightly broken, usually each grain splits into two pieces. At intervals during the pounding, the grain is tipped into a flat bas­ket, licero, and the bran winnow­ed off. Pounding proceeds until all the grains are free from bran. The resulting clean slightly broken grain is known as lipande or mphale in most districts. This first pounding which provides enough flour for about 4 or 5 days, takes about 6 hours and is very hard work.

' The Soaking, KubviikaThe grain, mphale, prepared as

above, is now soaked in hot water in a pot kept specially for the purpose. If flour is needed in a hurry, the grain can be pounded after only one night’s soaking but the product is not considered good, it does not soften quickly on cook­ing and its taste is unpleasant. Normally the grain is left to soak for at least 3 days. After this, amounts sufficient for the day’s needs are taken out each day un­til the pot is empty. Ferm enta­tion sets in fairly rapidly so that it is necessary to change the soaking water to avoid a sour taste in the flour.The Second Pounding, Kutibula

The soaked grain is taken from the pot, given a thorough washing in several changes o f water and then tipped into the mortar for the pounding to flour. The grain is soft by now so that the work is

comparatively light. After a spell o f pounding, the grain is tipped into a fiat basket or wire sieve and the flour winnowed or sifted off. Pounding proceeds until all but the very hardest fragments of the grain have been reduced to flour. These hard pieces, known as luse- nga, or nseche, are boiled in the same way as rice and form a ‘snack’ for the women and child­ren.

The flour is now spread on a mat until it is thoroughly dry.I

The Preparation of Porridge, Nsima

There are slight vacations throughout the country but the following method seems to be the m ost comm only used.

A pot is half filled with water and put on the Are. When the wa­ter is boiling, one or two handfuls o f flour are added and well stirr­ed in to make a thin gruel, phala. This is allowed to boil and thicken up for about five to ten minutes. A gourdful may be take out at this stage for use later in proceedings. Tile bulk o f the flour is now added a handful at a time, accompanied w ith very vigorous stirring by means o f the long porridge stick, ntiko, until the mixture is of the right consistency. If phala has pre­viously been removed it is now added and helps to ensure that the product is o f suitably soft and smooth texture. The final consist­ency dfffers considerably from tribe to tribe, some preferring a harder product than others.

The w hole , cooking process from the time that the water is added takes about twenty minutes.

The Serving of the PorridgeThe nsima is divided out by

means of large wooden spoons into the food bowls or baskets. Its sur­face is very carefully rounded and smoothed over by means o f a w et­ted spoon and immediately cover­ed with a second bowl or basket.

Maize nsima, if well prepared, is almost tasteless and of a slightly granular consistency.

The BranIn times of plenty, the whole o f

the bran may be given to the fowls. Fairly comm only, however, the coarse bran only is thrown away and the finer fragments, including most o f the germ and a good deal o f flour, is kept. The bran needs, to be very dry before it can be re­pounded to flour. This flour is known as madea or gaga and is mixed with true flour in propor­tions o f about one part bran to flour. The resultant mixture is still known as madea or gaga and is at sale at all the big markets. It is a sign of poverty and hence som e­what degrading to eat madea but in spite o f this a good deal is eaten especially by women.

In part o f the country, eg., in the Mzimba district, bran is used instead o f flour for the preparation o f beer.

Machine Milled Maize Meal, Ngaiwa

This meal contains the entire grain and hence all the valuable constituents of the germ. It like­wise contains the whole o f the bran which even if finely pulveris­ed, is likely to be indigestible.

A great deal o f the ngaiwa used in the country is ground in small hand mills m any o f w hich are

very worn, hence the meal produc­ed by them is often extremely coarse. It such cases, the coarse bran should be sifted off after milling otherwise a very unpala­table and indigestible cooked pro­duct will result.

A fricans who have become ac­customed to the taste and soft texture o f nsima made from Ufa, i.e., soaked maize free from bran, naturally And the change to nsima made from ngaiwa, i.e., unsoaked whole grain m achine-m illed meal, an unpleasant one for the first few months.

The Nutritive Value of Maize Flours

Maize flour, ufa, consists mainly o f carbohydrates, (starches and sugars'), but also contains a consi­derable amount o f protein (7—8 per cent.) and the yellow kinds contain the precursors of Vitamin A. W hole grain meal, ngaiwa, con ­tains a still higher proportion of protein and also appreciably more fa t <5 per cent.) and more mineral salts. To what extent the pre­sence of so much indigestible bran In the whole grain product affects detrim entally the absorption of these constituents is a matter which is not yet known.

As such large amounts o f flour are consumed, among maize eating peoples this foodstuff contributes the bulk o f the total protein and where the maize is o f a yellow kind a large proportion o f the to ­tal vitamin A of the diet.

3. Staple foods (b ). Cassava. • M anihot utilissima), cinangwa.

After maize, cassava is the next m ost com m only used staple food. In certain parts o f the country it

is used exclusively, eg. most parts o f the West Nyasa district and parts of the K ota-K ota lakeshore, while over wide areas it is used as a secondary staple.

Nutritive ValueCompared with flour made from

cereals such as maize or the m il­lets, it is o f poor nutritive value. The flour consists almost entirely of starch and is practically devoid of protein and any o f the vita­mins.

It serves a useful purpose if grown in small amounts as a seo- ondary crop to be used if the cereal harvest should fail but its cultiva­tion in large amounts, probably to the ultimate exclusion o f cereals, is to be strongly condem ned from the nutritive point o f view.

Preparation of the Flour

Th,e flour may either be prepared from soaked or unsoaked tubers.

(a ) From unsoaked tubers.This is the method used largely

in the Southern Province, parti­cularly among Yao people. The tubers are peeled to remove both outer and inner rinds and are then thoroughly dried in the sun. The dried tubers are known as m aka- ka and are often discoloured. Flour is prepared by pounding the tub­ers, it is necessary to sift it to re­move the few central fibres of the tuber.

(b ) From soaked tubers.This method is used all over the

Northern province. Freshly dug tu­bers are soaked either in pools, holes dug in the sand or in large pots. They are left for 2—3 days, then the rinds are peeled off, the

tubers well washed and squeezed and left to dry in the sun. The -dried product is known as kondooli and is easily pounded to flour.

Among the Akonde in North Nyasa, the soaked tubers are pounded before drying and the cen tra l fibres removed, then the pulp is made into neat little cones which are placed on a mat to dry. They are known as kodonosya and are very easily pounded to flour.

Preparation of porridge from cassava flour

The pot is ha lf filled with water and when the latter is boiling handfuls of flour are added and the mixture well stirred. Cassava becom es very glutinous when cook­ed and is liable to burn, hence, the pot is usually removed from the fire after a few minutes and the rest o f the cooking continued at the side o f the fire.

Flour^s added until the porridge Is of the required consistency.

The product is a dark coloured mass of very gluey texture and usually has a ’ pronounced smell. Africans who are not accustomed to eating it dislike it. In the Mzi- mba district considerable use is made o f a mixed flour of maize and cassava, a practice which might with advantage be copied in those other parts of the country where it is necessary to use cassa­va flour.

4. Staple Foods.

(c ) The millets, sorghums andrice.Two kinds o f millet, namely Fin­

ger millet (Eleusine coracana), mawere, and Bullrush millet <Pen-

nisetum sp), macewere, are in use in the country.

Finger MilletIn the past Finger millet was the

main food in use in large areas o f the Northern Province. Now its place has been taken to a large extent by maize and cassava. How­ever. it is still used in some parte for the preparation o f porridge and retains its popularity through­out the country as it makes the best beer.

The grain is very small and the several varieties vary in colour from light brown to a dark red.

The Preparation of FlourThe heads are lightly pounded or

threshed to free the grain which is then ground between stones to a fine flour. The bran is retained in the flour together with the rest of the grain.The Preparation of Nsima Porridge

W ater is boiled in the pot and the flour added a handful at a time and the mixture cooked un­til it is o f the right consistency. As the bran is present, the cooked product is o f a rough texture and dark colour. It is not very po­pular as it is said to be difficult to swallow.

Bullrush MilletThis millet is in very com m on

use in the Lower Shire district and is grown in small amounts throughout the rest of the South­ern Province. It is only rarely seen in the Northern Province.

The grain is small and yellowish- grey in colour. It is used for m ak­ing porridge and beer.

Preparation of FlourThe long heads are broken across

by hand and are lightly pounded to free the grains.

The First PoundingThe grain is pounded for a short

tim e and some of the bran win­nowed off. Then a little water is added and the mixture well pound­ed. By this time the grains are ad­hering together in a solid mass. The latter is turned out into a sifting basket and broken up by hand; when dry enough the rest o f the bran is shaken off. The grain now free from bran, is called mphale.

The Second Pounding The mphale is well washed apd

pounded without soaking. The flour is spread on a mat to dry.

Preparation o f Nsima It can be made simply by adding

the flour a handful at a tinie un­til the required consistency is reached as for Finger millet, or a th in gruel may first be made to which after well boiling, the rest o f the 'flour is added.

Kaffir Corn This is also in com m on use in

the Lower Shire district both for the making of nsima and beer. It is grown all over the rest of the country in small amounts. It is very popular eaten raw when it is fresh and in the Northern Pro­vince the bulk of the small amounts grown are eaten in this way.

There are many varieties but the com m on one is yellow coloured and about the size of half a rice grain.

The Preparation of FlourThe grain is freed from the

heads by threshing or pounding. It is then pounded and the bran winnowed off. The grain is now

washed and ground to a fine flour.The Bran

The coarse bran is thrown away but the finer fraction is well liked eaten either as nsima or raw mixed with cold water.

The Preparation o f NsimaA gruel is made as for m aiz^

porridge, then flour is added a handful at a time and the mixture cooked until it' is sufficiently thick. The nsima is well liked as it is soft and of a smooth consist­ency but it is said to lack the stay­ing power attributed to that of maize.

Riee, (Oryza Sativa) MpungaRice is being grown in increas­

ing amounts in various parts of. the country but with the possible exception of the North Nyasa dis­trict, in all areas it is still consi­dered as a luxury food, hence the bulk of the crop is sold. It is very well liked and is becoming increas­ingly popular with the waffe earn­ing clerk and kapitao class who like to eat it perhaps three or four times a week.

Rice is eaten either in the plain boiled form with certain ndiwo such as meat, fish or cabbage or as nsima made from rice flour. It ij also much liked as msere i.e., plain boiled ric6 mixed with poun­ded groundnuts and occasionally onions and tomatoes.

Preparation of the FlourThe grain is separated from the

heads by threshing or pounding. The inedible husks are then re­moved by pounding and w innow ­ing. A good deal o f the grain be­comes broken in this process. If whole grain rice is needed the

broken fragments are winnowed o ff at this stage from the whole grains. I f flour is needed, the pounding is continued. This home pounded rice usually retains a large proportion o f the pericarp and hence is likely to be rich in vitamin Bl.

The Preparation of NsimaW ater is .boiled in the pot and

flour is added quickly with conti­nual stirring, the whole process takes about 10 minutes. The p ro ­duct is soft i but as with Kaffir corn is said not to have the stay­in g power of maize porridge. This also applies to boiled rice, even if large amount are eaten, hunger is only appeased for a few hours and not for the entire day as is the case after a good meal o f maize nsima. %

Nutritive Value of these Minor Staple Foods

All four in com m on with other cereals consist largely o f carbo­hydrates (starches and sugars). They all contain appreciable amounts o f protein (7-10 per cent.) and in the few places where large amounts o f the flour are eaten, ie. 1J-2 lb. per head, they contribute the bulk of the total protein o f the diet. The cereals all contain m ine­ral salts in varying proportions bujt Finger millet is particularly rich in calcium. As the bran of the latter is not removed in the pro­cessing for flour, all o f this ca l­cium reaches the consumer.

5. Foods used for the side dish, — ndiwo or dende.

The im portant part played by the ndiwo has been mentioned in a previous article in this series. To satisfy his hunger, the African

needs to eat a very large am ount o f somewhat tasteless stodgy por­ridge and the role o f the ndiwo is, to enable him to do this. It fulfils this role by its strong flavour and soft consistencey. Hence, judging by European standards, it is al­ways over-salted ai\d frequently overcooked.

Throughout the country, by fa r the most com m only used ndiwo is one made from green leaves and groundnuts, hence this type will be described first.

Kinds o f Leaves Used. —• (a ) cultivated leaves. — Four kinds o f cultivated leaves, namely pumpkin, haricot bean, cowpea and cassava are in very com m on use in all dis­tricts. Two more, sweet potato and field pea are less frequently eaten, the form er as it is not so popular and the latter as its distribution is unfortunately limited by clim atic conditions. With the exception o f the field pea, all the leaves are available- in the rains but unless there happens to be a well distri­buted rainfall as in the M lanje district or there are streambeds suitable for cultivation, there is during the dry weather, a period of varying duration (3—6 m onths) during which cultivated leaves are unobtainable and use has to be made of alternative sources such as wild or dried leaves.

Preparation o f the cooked dish. — (1) Pumpkin, bean, cowpea or field pea leaves. — Any tough stalks are removed and in the case of pumpkin, the outer hard fibres of the stalk are peeled off. The leaves are put in a small pot and covered with water. They are then boiled rapidly until the water has almost all evaporated. I f the

leaves are tough it may be neces­sary to add a little more water ar.d to QOQk for a longer time. Often when the leaves are getting rather tough and old, a small am ount of cidulo (i.e. the liquid obtained by allowing water to dup through varidus plant ashes) is added. Young leaves take from 15 to 30 minutes to cook accord­ing to variety.

4jhi\e the leaves are cooking, a handful or two of groundnuts aie shelled and finely pounded. As soon as the leaves are soft enough, the nuts are placed on top and tiie pot left on the fire for a further o minutes. Then the contents are given a thorough stir and the dish is ready. Salt is usually added at the same time as the groundnuts. I f tomatoes are available, one or two will be broken across and add­ed during the cooking of the leaves.

This mixture of leaves, ground­nuts and tomatoes is very appetis­ing. The pounded groundnuts form a .sweetish tasting sauce with the liquor from the leaves and in this way make a large contribu­tion towards the palatability of the dish. Likewise this sauce sticks well to the lumps of nsima as they are dipped into the bowl, a matter of no little im portance to the con ­sumer.

(2) Cassava leaves and the use o f plant ashes. — Cassava leaves are tough and so need a different technique. The stalks are removed and the leaves pounded in a m or­tar until well broken up. Previous­ly some ashes known to produce a strong solution, e.g. those from the peelings of cassava tubers or from groundnut haulms, have been put

in a basket and water allowed to trickle slowly through them into a bowl beneath. This liquid is tasted to test if it is of the required strength and then put in the cook­ing pot, diluted if necessary with water. 'I he pounded leaves are added and the mixture boiled. An occasional stir is given to the pot- as the mixture is liable to froth up and overflow. Cooking is continued until the leaves are soft and only little water remains (about 15 minutes). 1

Pounded groundnuts, tom atoes and salt are added as in the cook ­ing of other leaves. The mixture is a bright green colour owing to the- addition of the potashes, and o f a pouring consistency. It is a very popular dish among most people. In certain parts, however, such as the Kota Kota and West Nyasa lakeshore areas, it is in such com ­mon use owing to scarcity of other leaves that the people have come to dislike it intensely. Likewise in these parts the necessary ground­nuts. are in short supply.

The Nutritive Value of Leaves. — Although leaves contain anyth­ing from 75—95 per cent., of water, yet they are very valuable foods. The protein, although small in ac­tual amount, is o f good quality and the relatively large amounts o f both calcium and iron make then particularly useful in a diet such as that o f the African which is very liable to be short in both o f these important minerals.

Moreover the kinds com m only eaten are one o f the richest sour­ces of the vitamin A producing substances and are very good sour­ces of vitamin C. They also contain the vitamins of the B complex.

In the native method all the cooking water is retained, hence there should be no loss in nutritive value unless strong potashes ire used. In the latter case, part at any rate of the vitamin *C and some of the components of the B complex are liked to be destroyed.

6. Food used for the side dish, ndiwo or dende.

(B ) Wild and dried leaves.A very large range of wild leaves

is eaten; kinds which in some districts are disdained are eagerly sought after in less favoured drier parts of the country. In the rains there are abundant varieties to be found but as cultivated leaves are also plentiful, it is only the espec­ially good kinds which are eaten at this time of year. Of these the following are in comm on use: — bonongwe (a name given to 3 or 4 varieties of am aranth), mtambe thengo (a wild variety of cow pea, Vigna sp), limanda (one of the many kinds of hibiscus), luni luni ( Gynandropsis gynandra) and lo- m bo (the large leaf of the taro plant, Colocosia esculentum). The two latter plants, although found wild, are also frequently cultivat­ed round huts in the villages.

With the exception of limanda, these leaves are cooked without the use of native potashes; the cooked product is of good flavour and almost as well liked as that prepared from any of the cultivat­ed leaves mentioned in the previ­ous article.

Later on in the year, as the cul­tivated leaves die out, a great number of wild ones comes into use. Later still during September and October, the young sprouting leaves of a number o f trees are

eaten including such well known kinds as the Baobab, mlambe, m ul­berry and one of the innumerable kinds o f fig, kacere.

The bulk o f these leaves used in the dry season become very m uci­laginous and slimy on cooking and hence are differentiated from the ordinary type such as pum p­kin or bonongwe, and are known in most districts as thelele or the- lele lolenda. All o f these latter kinds need potashes in order to soften them, hence the cooked pro­duct is often extremely unpala­table, tasting strongly o f pot­ashes and perhaps as well as o f the bitter im nadzi) or unpleasantly aromatic (kanzota) flavour o f the leaf in question. The hardship is still greater when as is often the case there are only few ground­nuts and no com m on salt to ‘sweeten’ the mixture. Women and children, however, eat these thel­ele very frequently. Men often grumble and refuse to eat them so that their well trained wom en do their best to find some other ndiwo to send to the bwalo while o f ne­cessity they eat these unpopular kinds themselves.

The Nutritive Value of Wild Leaves

Analyses are available for a a number of wild leaves and they differ only little from the cu lti­vated kinds used by A fricans such as pumpkin and bean leaves. The fact, however, that they are often tough and need the use of strong potashes to soften them, means that the bulk of the vitamin C and probably some o f the vitamins o f the B complex will be destroyed. Likewise because of the unpleas­ant flavour and slimy consistency

o f many of them, only small amounts are eaten at a time, thus m aking their valuable contribu­tion ' to the days’ food only a very small one.

I f suitable cultivated kinds were available during the dry weather, there is little doubt that with few exceptions the wild ones would rapidly drop out o f use to the be­nefit o f all concerned.

Dried Leaves, Mfutso,During the long dry season

w hich prevails in most of the Nor­thern Province, considerable use is made o f dried leaves, mfutso for ndiwo. The leaves are dried to ­wards the end o f the rains in April and May when fresh leaves are st Ml plentiful. The most com ­m only dried leaf is that o f the cow pel, mtambe, but considerable quantities of bean, khwanya, and pumpkin, mkhwani, leaves are also dried. A few kinds o f wild leaves are dried provided that they are available in sufficient amounts.

One in particular, zumba (Cro- talaria interm edia), is suitable for this purpose and occurs abundant­ly in most parts of the country. It is a plant growing to about 3 ft. h igh with small yellow pea-like flowers.

Preparation of Dried Leaves "Large amounts o f the leaves are

picked and the stalks are rem ov­ed. Usually the leaves are spread In the sun for a few hours in order to reduce their bulk by wilting. A little water is put in a large pot on the fire and the leaves tightly packed into it up to the brim. W hen steam is com ing vigorously from the top the whole ma5s is turned over to allow an equal steam ing of all the leaves. After

perhaps. 20 minutes on the firer the leaves are judged by their texture and colour to be ready and they are now turned .out on to a mat to dry in the sun for 2— 3 days. The leaves become very crisp and dark coloured in the process. When fully dried they are very palatable so that the wise wom an hides the mat in the bush for fear that passers by should take too heavy a toll o f its con­tents. The dried leaves are packed tightly into balls made of the large leaves of the msuku tree bound with string. These balls, zikwatu, are hung in the hut for use when required. They weigh from 3—4 pounds each and fetch a price o f 6d. — Is. a piece. It is not uncom m on in the Mzimba district to see 5 or 6 o f such balls hanging in a hut.

Cooking of the LeavesOnly a small amount, 2—3 oz.) is

needed at a time as the leaves absorb water again on cooking. They are apt to be a little tough so often a small amount of cidulo (potashes) is used to soften them, otherwise the cooking is the same as for fresh leaves. Tomatoes, groundnuts and salt are added whenever available.

The cooked product is well liked.Foods used for the side-dish,

ndiwo or dende.The Pulses, Beans and Peas.After leaves, the pulses are the>

next most com m only used ndiwo.Part of the crop is always eatfen

as soon as the seeds are fully form ed but while they are still fresh and at this stage they ‘are particularly well liked. The bulk o f the crop is allowed to dry ou t

and the beans kept for future use. Only in the Southern Province is use made of the green pods o f such kinds as haricots and cowpeas. In the rest o f the country this is thought to be a peculiar and wasteful habit to be practised only by the Azungu.

Kinds In Common UseFour kinds are in very comm on

use, namely haricot beans, cow, p i­geon and field peas.

The most popular kinds are the many varieties of the haricot bean (Phaseblus vulgaris, mbwanda, ci- m bam ba). Unfortunately, they are an unreliable crop and only do well under certain climatic conditions; hence their distribution is lim it­ed.

The most com m only grown kind is the cowpea iVigna unguiculata, khobwe, nseula). It is much hard­ier than the haricot and is grown in all districts. It produces long thin pods containing small, usual­ly brown or purplish peas. The peas are well liked but have consi­derably tougher skins and are not o f such good a flavour as the hari­cots.

The pigeon pea (Cajanus cajang, nandolo) is probably the next most com m only used. It is grown exten­sively in the Southern Province, to a lesser extent in the far north of the country and scarcely at all in the intervening stretch. The pro­fessed reason for its absence in the latter part of the country is ignor­ance o f it or a dislike for the somewhat acrid flavour of the peas. It is extremely hardy and bears for several years in succes­sion, it has the drawback, how ­ever, that its leaves are inedible.

Field peas have even more lim it­ed a distribution in the country than haricots as they only flourish at fairly high altitudes. The peas are universally popular and can always find a ready sale.

There are a number o f other kinds o f pulses of m inor im port­ance grown in the country such as varieties of lima, velvet and hya­cinth bean, Bambarra ground­nuts and the various grams.

The Cooking of the PulsesThe beans are covered with

water and the pot boiled until the water has almost all evapor­ated. By this time fresh haricots or field peas may be cooked but aid the other kinds will need at least one more addition of water and consequent boiling before they are ready.

Salt is added usually with the last lot o f water. Cooking is con ­tinued until the skins begin to split, the flesh is very soft and what little water remains has form ed a thick kind o f bean soup. The presence of this ‘soup’ is an essential part of the dish as it coats the lumps o f nsima as they are dipped into it. For this reason beans, eg. soya, which do not so f­ten to the extent of making such a sauce are not welcomed in this country.

Beans are very well liked as ndiwo but are thought to give rise to digestive disturbances if eaten too frequently. Hence with the exception o f the Asukwa in North Nyasa who eat very large amounts, the rest o f the peoples in Nyasa- land probably only eat on a aver­age throughout the year o f about 2 days a week.

The Nutritive Value of the Pulses

They are of value mainly for their high protein consent (about 20 per cent, in the dried bean) and as a source of vitamin B l. The green kinds such as field pea and green gram are in addition sour­ces o f vitam in A.

Foods used as side dish, ndiwo or dende. Mushrooms and other edible fungi, bowa.

Even before the rains set in, a few kinds of edible fungi are to be- found. One in particular is very com m only seen along roads at this time, a large white kind known in most places as utali. Later on in January and February, a very large number spring up almost overnight. They are of all sizes, shapes and colours, ranging from

’ the very large, utali, mentioned above, of about 1 ft. in diameter, to the white mass, manda, con ­sisting of minute m ushroom -shap-

„ed structures about i ’ across. Only a few varieties have as yet been identified scientifically: each dis­trict seems to have its own dis­tinct set o f names which makes classification still more difficult. The following, however, are three, kinds which seem to be known in m ost parts o f the country: manya- mi, m phofa and cimpindi.

CookingThe fungi are washed, broken

into suitably sized pieces and boil­ed until soft. Some kinds require m ore than one addition of water and especially tough kinds need a a little cidulo (potashes) to soften them. When they are soft pounded groundnuts and salt are added. A number o f varieties are bitter and a few poisonous, to avoid accidents

the first cooking water is thrown away of any bitter kinds.

PalatabilityBowa are much liked, the flavour

and texture varies considerably from kind to kind. Actually the bulk of them seem to be more or less tasteless but with the addition of groundnuts and salt make a very palatable dish, a very w el­come change in the villages from the eternal leaves.

Dried Fungi

In January and February when they are abundant, large quanti­ties are collected to be dried for use later in the year. The method employed is much the same as for leaves. The fungi are given a short steaming followed by 2 — 3 days sundrying. They are then stored either in pots or in balls, zikwatu, covered with msuku leaves. The dried product is cooked in the same way as the fresh and its taste is little different.

Insufficient use is made at pre­sent in the country by those in charge o f the feeding of Africans, o f this abundant, popular and easily stored ndiwo.

Food ValueAs far as is known, fungi are of

little food value. Certain kinds are good sources o f some minerals and most seem to contain appreci­able amounts of vitamin B l. Their value is that they make a change by their distinctive texture and flavour in an otherwise very m ono­tonous diet. Moreover, provided that groundnuts are added in suf­ficiently large quantities, the re­sulting mixture is of considerable nutritive value.

Foods used 'for the side dish, ndiwo or ctende. Miscellaneous plant products.

As well as leaves and the pulses, there are a number of other vege­tables that are used for ndiwo.

They can be divided into 3 groups as follows: —

(a ). The fruits of okra (Hibiscus esculentum. nthando oi^thelele), of the com m on luffa <LufTa cylindri- ca. cinkhupule), o f pawpaw, (Cari- ca papaya, papai), o f tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum, m ati- m ati or pwetekere), o f brinjals or egg fruit (Solanum melongena. bringala) and o f a wild nearly related fruit, zimphwa (Solanum sp).

(a). Okra, luffa, pawpaw, tomatoes, brinjals and zimphwa

(I}). Cucumbers.(c .) Wild tubers..Only the very young fruits of

the first three kinds are used while the remainder are not usually cooked until they are .ripe.

Cooking. — The fruits are broken or sliced across and boiled until tender. Then salt and pounded groundnuts are added and after a few minutes’ further cooking and stirring the dish is ready.

Tomatoes are the most popular o f these fruits and are used in this way throughout the country when­ever they are plentiful; the rest of the fruits are far more com m only used in the Southern than in the Northern Province.

(b). CucumbersOne kind (Cucumis sp, cikanya-

nga, cipokolo) is in very com m on

use in the hill areas of the coun­try during May and June. It is a creeper planted among the maize and bears a large number o f very prickly green fruits each about the size of a pingpong ball. This kind is used only for ndiwo. A second kind is cylindrical shaped, about 4” long and smooth skinned and is known by a variety o f names, such as kayimbe or uwimbe. This kind is often eaten fresh but its rind is also used for ndiwo. The rinds of both of these kinds are very com m only dried for use later in the year.

Cooking. — The seeds and juice are squeezed out and the remain­ing skins boiled till soft with the aid o f cidulo (potashes). Pounded groundnuts and salt are now add­ed and the dish ready to eat after a few minutes further cooking.

Provided that groundnuts are added the mixture is well liked as a change from leaves.

(c ) . Wild Tubers

One variety of orchid tifber Is frequently eaten as ndiwo in parts of the country at an altitude of 3,000 ft. or more.

It is small, about the diameter of a halfpenny and is ready for digging during March and April. It is called either cikande or cinaka.

Preparation. — This is rather complicated. The tubers are first pounded to remove the skins. They are then dried, repounded and cooked with cidulo (potashes). They become hard and are now squeezed to remove the liquid and may be sold as flat cakes at this stage. The tissue is fibrous and red in colour and is said to resemble meat, this is one o f the reasons

why it is liked. It is now cut into strips and boiled until soft when salt and pounded groundnuts are added.

Nutritive Value

None of the vegetables m ention­ed above are of particularly high food value with the exception of tomatoes. These are excellent sour­ces o f vitamin A and good sources o f vitamin C. The seeds o f plants are always of good nutritive value provided that they are soft enough to digest so that types such as okra where the seeds are eaten as well as the flesh are o f better value than pawpaw where the 'flesh only is eaten. All these vegetables, how ­ever, are useful like the fungi, they provide some much needed variety in the diet. In all cases provided that groundnuts are added the cooked dish becomes o f consider­able food value.

Food used for the side dish, ndiwo. or dende. — Meat andfish.

Undoubtedly these .are the two most popular kinds of ndiwo and if the supply were sufficient they ■would willingly be eaten daily.

(a) MeatKinds, eaten, taboos and cus­

toms. — Almost anything in the way of nyama is eaten and very wisely from the nutritive point of view,, all parts of the beast are consumed. After the slaughter o f a beast in the village, the lit­tle boys will be seen going off with pride with their ’perk; a foot or so o f the intestine. There are tribal taboos preventing the members of a clan bearing the name of a cer­tain animal from eating that par­

ticular beast, and religious sanc­tions against the eating of a pig by Mahommedans or of other ani­mals incorrectly slaughtered. Si­milarly certain tribes disdain to eat small rodents, mbewa, and the bulk o f them regard the idea of eating nyani, baboons, with dis­gust.

Domestic animals. — Cattle, goats and "sheep. — In the villages beasts are rarely killed unless for a very good reason such as feast for a wedding or funeral. Hence villagers in most parts o f the country probably only eat meat 2 or 3 times a year. Near towns where cattle are slaughtered re­gularly, the clerk and the kapitao class will eat it 2 or 3 times a week or .as often as they can afford it. Mutton is not nearly as popular as beef or goat’s meat, it is said to be kuzizira, tasteless and has not the good ‘smell’ o f the Gther two.

Game and rodents, mbewa. — Very rarely nowadays does any big game ft>r food come the way of the African'. Occasionally the kill o f a lion will be found in the bush or a hippo will be shot in the gar­dens Otherwise the game amounts to a few gwapi or other small beasts hunted with dogs.

Small rodents, mbewa, rats and mice of different kinds, however, provide endless excitem ent and quite an appreciable addition to the diet of many small boys. Par­ties of hunters armed with a vari­ety of weapons, including bows and arrows, go out and a well or­ganised hurit will return trium ­phant with 40 or 50 corpses to its credit. These subsequently will be m uch enjoyed as ndiwo by m oth­ers and sisters as well.

Poultry and eggs. — In every village a few fowls can be seen and In most one or two flocks of pige­ons. In certain parts particularly near the lake there are a few ducks. As with meat, fowls are not killed without a special reason, perhaps a husband has just re­turned from halale. perhaps a daughter has married and the

.guests must be honoured with a good ndiwo.

Eggs are extremely rarely eaten in the villages. The general, very sound attitude is that the result­ing fowl is more valuable than the egg. Likewise, the idea is prevalent among men that their sexual pot­ency will be lessened if they eat eggs and among the women that they will have difficulty in child birth. If there happen to be eggs w hich the hen has left, then some child will be given them provided that there is no European nearby to buy. Educated Africans some­times eat eggs as ndiwo.

The cooking o f meat and poul­try. — The joints or pieces are boiled untli the flesh is very soft a rd comes easily from the bone, salt is added and sufficient liquid left to serve as gravy. In towns the use o f onions is becoming increasingly common.

(b) FishA great variety are available in

th e lake but only a few kinds are caught in large amounts. The m ost com m only eaten are the m any different kinds of tilapias, cambo, mpende, kayawa to give a few only o f the innumerable names, and the catfish (Clarias sp ), milamba, cikuta, sapua, etc., while other com m on kinds are sanjika and mpasa both a species

of Barilius, nchila (Labeo sp), kampango (Bagrus sp) and the small fish known collectively as matemba or the still smaller whitebait-like usipa.

The distribution o f fish through­out the country. — Near the lake, people are able to eat a great deal of fish and possibly do so 4 or 5 times a week for most of the year. In the Southern Province, at many places there is a fairly steady stream of either fresh or dried fish and a fair part of the population will be able to obtain it provided that they have the necessary money.

A certain amount of dried fish will reach the villages in the rest of the country but the supply is very uncertain and only lasts for a few months. There must be a very large section o f the popula­tion so situated that unless they travel they never eat fish.

Cooking. — Fresh fish are boil­ed till very soft leaving sufficient liquor to serve as ‘gravy.’ Fre­quently when fish is very plentiful more than the day’s needs are ob ­tained. In such a case, the fish Is all cooked on the first day and on each subsequent day reheated un­til all is eaten. By the 3rd or 4th day even the hard bones have be­come soft and can be crunched and swallowed. This is im portant as bones are one of the few good sources o f calcium in the A frican diet.

Dried fish are either cooked as above or are roasted on a stick over the ashes. They are consid­

e re d to be very tasty cooked in the latter way.

Nutritive value o f meat, fish and other animal products. — T he

flesh o f meat or fish consists larg­ely o f protein with a varying am ount of fat. It also contains m ineral salts and some o f the vitamins o f the B complex. The fat soluble vitamin A may be present in varying amounts. In general Hie internal organs such as liver and kidney are richer sources of both minerals and vitamins than the flesh. Bones are very rich in calcium and the African takes ad­vantage of this b y eating all bones that are sufficiently soft. Fish, in particular, are valuable in this respect as the bones are soft.

The value o f protein derived from animal sources such as meat and fish compared with that from vegetables such as beans or cere­als is a much debated one. W he­ther or not, animal foods are an essential part of the diet, the fact remains that they are extremely palatable and appetising to the bulk o f the hum an race. For this reason alone, apart from their actual food value, they should find a place wherever econom ically possible, in the diet of the African.

Foods for the side dish, ndiwo or dende. — Insects and caterpillars.

The consum ption of insects, either in the larval stage as cater­pillars or as the fully mature in ­sect, usually strikes the new­com er to A frica with considerable surprise if not repugnance. A c­tually it is all a question of habit and there is little to choose be­tween the enjoym ent o f live oys­ters and boiled shrimps or live white ants and boiled locusts from the hum anitarian or any sther poimt o f view.

Varieties in Common UseThe following kinds are very

com m only eaten:—(a ) Locusts, dzombe. — W hen­

ever a swarm appears the village turns out to catch as many as possible. Any surplus are dried fo r use later on.

(b ) Termites (white ants), in - swa. _ The finder of the ant-hill is allowed to stake his claim to its produce. Towards the beginning o f the rains, he will build the ne­cessary frame work of bamboo covered with grass, litala, over the a n t-h illf W hen the termites begin to swarm, their on-ly exit is by a hole towards the base of the litala so that they perforce fall into a pot placed ready to receive them below the opening. Very large amounts are caught from one ant­hill as they continue to,em erge at intervals of 3 to 4 days for a long period.

(c ) Burrowing crickets (Bra- chytrypes mem branaceus), nkhu- lulu. — These are large fa t­bodied insects about 2 inches long and grey in colour. They are ob­tained by digging in the ground to a depth of 1 to 2 feet. They are found in large quantities and the- children turn out feverishly to dig as soon as a scout has reported their presence.

(d ) Lake fly, nkhungu. — This is an extremely minute fly w hich swarms and forms what looks like a cloud (hence its nam e), over the lake. Should the swarm come to land, the insects are caught usu­ally by beating against the cloud with flat baskets or mats. The millions of small flies are then pressed into a hard cake by hand and the surplus sun-dried for lat­er use.

(e) Caterpillars. — A large num­ber o f kinds are eaten at differ­ent seasons o f the year. Some of the com m on varieties are m phala- bungu, kawici, mabwabwa and katondo. Their names are usually taken from the tree upon which they are found. The finder of the tree may stake his claim to the caterpillars on it.

A very large number of kinds o f both mature insects and cater­pillars are caught one or two at a time by children. They som e­times eat them raw but usually roast them in the ashes: they ob­tain as much pleasure from this titbit as an European child gets from its icecream or bar of cho­colate.

Method of cooking. — The in ­sects are usually killed by boiling in water. Then the wings of the larger kinds are removed and the guts o f the big caterpillars squeez­ed out. The prepared insects are then boiled or roasted. Provided that there are .sufficient, salt is added and the dish serves as ndi- wo.

Palatability. — They are very popular among all the tribes es­pecially when they are roast as they have a most appetising smell. There is considerable trade in dried insects which is another proof of their value.

Nutritive value. — Analyses show a fairly high proportion of protein and varying amounts of fat, termites are very rich in fat while caterpillars have a consid­erably lower content.

During the rains they are eat­en frequently and play a useful. If small part both Jn providing

protein and fat and in relieving the m onotony of the diet.

Foods used for side dish, ndiwo, dende or liseke (K yangonde).

Milk. — At the present day, among the bulk of the Nyasaland tribes scarcely any use is made of milk. In the towns, a very small amount is consumed by the clerk and kapitao class for use with tea and in the villages the herd boys drink a little either fresh or more usually mixed with maize meal to make phala. In the old days, the Angoni used sour curds, amasi, tp a considerable extent.

Among the Akonde, in North Nyasa, however, use is still made o f soured milk and, as it is such a valuable foodstuff, the method of preparation warrants description in fair detail in the hope that its use in this form may be extended to other tribes, possibly through its use in institutions such as hos­pitals and schools.

Preparation of "thick milk,” mukaka or mukama (K yangonde). —Special pots or gourds are kept for the purpose, they are washed and dried in the sun. Fresh milk is poured in and the pot covered. On the second and third days more fresh milk is added to the already thickened milk. On the fourth day. the whey is poured off and more fresh milk added. The milk is ready for use on the fifth day after more whey has been poured off. It is now very thick like junket, and in this form it serves as liseke with which to eat bugali (porridge). It is also eaten with rice, bananas, boiled potatoes or cassava tuber. Salt is not added tfl the milk,

The whey also serves as liseke if there is no other dish prepared, it is drunk while eating the por­ridge. It is also used as a laxative.

This “ thick milk” is made regu­larly by all who possess herds and form s one of the im portant side- dishes in the district. It is very well liked and is on sale at K alo- nga market.

The effect of the establishment of the ghee industry on the home consumption of milk. — In dis­tricts where cattles are not nor­mally milked, the establishment of the ghee making is valuable apart from the econom ic aspect of bringing money into the district, as it induces cattle owners to milk their cattle. Only the cream is needed for ghee, hence the skim milk, a very valuable food, is made available to at least a small sec­tion of the population, i.e., the children who bring in the milk to the dairies.

On the other hand, where the people already make good use of whole milk, e.g., the Akonde of North Nyasa, it is to be hoped that all that is possible will be done to encourage them to continue to use such a valuable food.

Extra FoodsExtra foods: — The various

kinds o f native beers. — e.g. beer, mowa or peri: sweet beer, tibwe; phala or cindongwa; and kabanga (beer with added sugar).

Beer either in the slightly fer­mented form as tobwa, or in the more alcoholic form as mowa, is a very im portant extfa food. ,

Very large amounts are brewed in the course of the year. During the hoeing season, from Novem­

ber to March, beer parties are held continuously in most parts of the Northern Province and at the height o f the pressure of work they take place on about every second day. Later in the year, pro­vided that there is enough grain to spare, beer is brewed for a variety of other reasons; for the mere pleasure of drinking and giving to one’s friends, mowa wa cabe; for work such as building hut or grain stores, for feasts or as tri­bute to the spirits of the ances­tors or to the living, and most im ­portant of all for selling to enable the women to earn ‘ the money to buy clothes for the next year.

Although the adults drink the bulk of the beer, particularly of the mowa, children are given to ­bwa and occasionally mowa from the age of a few weeks upwards'. Children, together with the wo­men, likewise frequently sample the brew at all stages of its m a n u -' facture. As the process takes from 2 to 6 days, there is ample opportunity for such dips into the pots.

The preparation of beer. — The essentials of the brewing are the same throughout the country, though there are endless minor variations in procedure. The pro­cess consists of the ferm entation of a thin gruel made of flour or maize bran with the help of some previously sprouted and pounded grain, the malt or cimera. The lat­ter has also the function of sweetening the brew.

Beer can be made from flour of any of the cereals or from cassava. Malt can be made from any of the cereals but throughout the coun­try finger millet is preferred for

this purpose. The most comm only used beer is probably one made from maize flour with finger m il­let as malt.

Outline of th6 process. — 1st day —A thin gruel is made from one of the flours or maize bran and is well boiled. A small amount of coarsely pounded malt is added.

2nd day. — The brew is reboil­ed.

3rd day. — The brew is left to ferment.

4th day. — Large, amounts of freshly boiled malt are added.

5th day. — The brew is ready for drinking but is often left until the 6th day.

If sweet beer is required, the brew is ready on ’the second and third days.

Nutritive value of the beer. — The native conception of beer as a food is a true one. although very large amounts are needed if it is to be the only source of food. It contains all the. components of its ingredients, e.g.. carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and salts, in a readily digestible form and in ad­dition it contains the bodies of in­numerable organisms, e.g., yeasts and bacteria which have multi­plied during the fermentation. It is in the presence o f these organ­isms that the beers may have their great value. Yeasts are one of the few rich sources of the vitamins of the B complex and provided that they are present in the local brews, a fact which has yet to be demonstrated, then beer may be of great value from this aspect. In the meantime until our knowledge' is more exact it is unwise to res­trict to any large extent the drin­

king of beer unless at the same time provision is made for a sup­ply of its essential com ponents in other forms.

Kabanga and the.use of sugar.— A type of beer known as kabanga is being brewed in rapidly in ­creasing amount in the Southern Province and the practice has a l­ready spread as far north as Lil­ongwe.

Method of preparation. — Maize bran is soaked overnight in water and on the following day the m ix­ture is very thoroughly boiled. Water is added during the boiling to replace that lost in evaporation. The liquid is strained off and the husks thrown away. Sugar, in large amount ( about 6 — 7 lb. to to cause drunkeness.

Nutritive value of kabanga. — Kabanga is made largely of sugar. Sugar although of value as 8 — 10 gallons of liquid), is add­ed and the beer begins to ferm ent rapidly. It is ready for drinking on the next day. W omen like to brew it as there is little work attach­ed and there is always a ready sale at the comparatively high price of about half pint a penny. Presumably the percentage" of al­cohol in the brew is relatively high as only small amounts are needed a source of energy to the body contains nothing in the way of body building or protecting sub­stances such as proteins, the mi­nerals and the vitamins. Hence, apart from the disadvantages of its high alcoholic content, the brewing of kabanga is to be con ­demned from the nutritive point of view and likewise the use of sugar in any form ’by the African. Sugar is an expensive form of pure

carbohydrate, one pound of it costs from 3id. to 4id. whereas H lb. of maize flour, roughly its equivalent in carbohydrate and in addition useful amounts of protein, the minerals and vitamin B l, only cost id . to Id.

Extra foods: — Various forms in which maize and other cereals are eaten.

Maize and other cereals provide as well as flour, an endless variety o f ‘snack’ meals. They are about the only food which is at hand throughout the year.

Maize is by far the most im ­portant and the following are some of the ways in which it is eaten:

(a ) Green, cim anga caciwisi. — As soon as the grains are well filled and Arm, the cobs are pick­ed. Usually they are boiled but also may be roasted. They are very popular and are eaten in large quantities particularly if there has been a shortage £)f food in the pre­vious year. The entire village, man, woman and child, will eat about 2 cobs a day for a couple of months while a growing lad will think no­thing of demolishing 10 in a day.

(b) Roasted. — Either the whole cob is roasted in the ashes, cim a­nga cooca, or the grain stripped off and roasted on a tin or crock, cim anga cokazinga. Sometimes the grains are covered with ashes, c i­manga copulitsa, when certain kinds swell up and burst their skins to form popcorn. Large amounts of maize are eaten in these form s throughout the year by all who have strong enough teeth to cope with it.

(c ) Boiled whole grain. — The entire cob may be boiled for a

long time (3 — 4 hours) until soft or the separate grains may be boiled alone or mixed with beans (haricots or cowpeas). This m ix­ture is very commonly eaten in the North Nyasa district as ngata, while further South it is eaten oc­casionally as cingowe.

(d ) During pounding various fractions are sifted off by the w o­men, they are known by different they are known by different names according to the fraction and to the district, cindongwa, msere and mitama seem fairly general names. These fractions consist of small broken bits of grain, they are boiled till soft and the product resembles the semoli­na of wheat in texture. They are eaten almost daily by the women and children in maize growing districts.

Other cereals. — A number of the cereals, e.g., the millets, sor­ghums and rice, are often eaten in a form known as cigodo. The grain in question is pounded, or ground until fairly fine and then mixed with cold water to a stiffish paste. It is eaten thus with no cooking with apparent relish. Considerable amounts of bull- rush millet are eaten in the Low­er Shire district in this form.

Nutritive value of these cereals. —Most of these forms consist of the whole grain, hence the argu­ment o f a previous discussion ap­plies to the value of whole grain meal, ngayewa, compared with ordinary flour, ufa. The whole grain products contain higher pro­portions Of proteins, fats and mineral salts, but in addition con ­tain large amounts of indigestible bran. How far the presence of the

latter detracts from the digestibi­lity of the other constituents, is a question which needs to be prov­ed by experiment.

Some of the fractions which the women sift off during the pound­ing, are very fich in germ and, ho.ice z:e o f high food value.

Green maize as eaten by Africans contains about 40 per ccnt. of water and a small amount of vita­min C, otherwise its composition is much the same as the dry grain.

Other Foods

Extra foods: — Tubers such as sweet potatoes, cassava and yams. —The two form er are both im ­portant foods; sweet potatoes are the more popular and the more widely grown but cassava tubers are well liked both raw or cook­ed and are eaten in large amounts in some areas.

Yams (Dioscorea sp) have a very unequal distribution in the coun­try. In North and West Nyasa and the Mzimba districts, they are very com m oily grown on fences round the huts and a few are to be found in the Southern Province but in the intervening stretches of coun­try they are seldom seen.

The West African potato (Coleus dazl, buyo) is grown in some dis­tricts (N cheu), and is well liked. On the whole, European potatoes are not liked ,as they are consid­ered to be tasteless.

Methods of cooking. — (1) The tubers are either roast in the' ashes or boiled. The rinds of cas­sava are sometimes removed be­fore cooking. Soaked cassava tub­ers may also be roasted or boiled, cipunya.

(2) Sweet potatoes may be mashed together with pounded groundnuts, the mixture is called futali and is very popular.

Nutritive value of tubers. — The tubers are valuable foods particu­larly when eaten fresh. They con ­tain about one-quarter to one- third their weight as carbo­hydrate together with a small amount of protein and a fair proportion of mineral salts. They are rich enough in vitamin C, when eaten in large amounts, fresh, raw or cooked, to contribute substantially to the day’s needs. They also contain vitamin B1 and some of the yellow varieties are very rich in carot'ene (precursor of vitamin A).

These tubers are to most tribes no substitute for nsima and do not in anyway take the place of the main meal of the day.

Extra Foods: — Fruits, such as bananas, pawpaws, mangoes, gua­vas, oranges and peaches.

All fruits are much liked, espe­cially by children, but, with the exception o f bananas, are very seldom planted. There are two main reasons for this reluctance to plant trees; first, they are not considered essential to the diet in any way: secondly, they take time to bear and the planter may not reap the benefit o f his labours. H o w e v e r , l a r g e numbers of mangoe trees are to be found in certain areas and to a lesser extent guavas, for the simple reason that these trees seed themselves

-and it is difficult to prevent a few surviving, whatever the lack of care given them. Pawpaws are o c ­casionally planted, as they bear within a year.

Collection Number: AD1715

SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF RACE RELATIONS (SAIRR), 1892-1974

PUBLISHER: Collection Funder:- Atlantic Philanthropies Foundation

Publisher:- Historical Papers Research Archive

Location:- Johannesburg

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