Lunch

I wish I would have had the chance to get outside of Lusaka on this trip, but maybe on my next trip to Zambia - and if I've learned anything it's that there is always a next trip to every place. I've gotten a little taste of Zambian food at the conference lunches, and the food, not surprisingly, seems very similar to Kenyan food - and, like it was in Kenya, they serve ungodly portions for lunch (although, obviously, the average Zambian isn't eating like that - just like the average Chinese peasant isn't eating what you'd get in a Chinese restaurant). Apparently the staple of the Zambian diet is nshima, which is very similar to something I had in Kenya with a different name - it sort of looks like a cross between porridge and a mashed potato, although it is made out of maize. Zambians eat it plain, or with some sort of vegetable broth - or some meat if they are better off. I'll try and post a picture of the plate I had today under the big top tent during our lunch break. The pile of white porridge like material in the back is nshima. The biggest pile is something like okra, and maybe it's the southerner in me but I loved it - here and in Kenya - and also in China last summer. The meat in the right rear corner is ox tail - apparently ox tail stew is a Zambian specialty. What looks like shredded vegetables in the front of the plate is actually very tiny fish - very tasty, so much so that you don't even mind the little eyes looking up at you. The food I had was very nicely spiced and I really enjoyed it.