I probably don’t have to tell
you how surprised I was to find out that one of the most common vegetables in
Zimbabwe is a leafy green called “rape.” Leaving aside all forms of tacky
inappropriate jokes, the word is a common word in Shona dinner-speak.
When I asked our first
housekeeper, Beauty, to teach me how to make this popular green last year, she
said, “Uggh. You want to eat more
expensive vegetables. That one is terrible.”
Of course, at the time we were eating all of our meals with Beauty –usually
doing the cooking for her- so her passion for introducing us to run-of-the-mill
Shona food was less than enthusiastic compared to her enthusiasm for learning
our American cuisine.
It is hard to find recipes
for Shona food, or even a lot about it online.
That is because it is often as simple as a green vegetable cooked or boiled
with salt and pepper, then eaten with hot sadza. Add in margarine, bread, sugar, tea, and a
small amount of fruit, and you have the makings of a very typical Shona diet. Quite
bluntly, no matter which other cuisines it is compared to, Shona food is
notorious for being the less desirable. It
is common for those of Shona culture lifted out of poverty to add other habits
of eating to their repertoire when given the opportunity. These new habits are often influenced by the surrounding
English cuisine and include adding more cheese, milk, butter, and meat to the
diet. (As I often say, I am speaking in
very general terms here, so please note that there are for sure people who will
not fall under this description.)
Last month I asked our
housekeeper, Ziwone, about Shona food traditions at Christmas time. She smiled shyly and said “We always have
apple. Very special.”
“Oh,” I’d said. Is that a cooked dish? Do you use some spices?” I am always shamelessly open to trying new recipes.
“No…” she had said. “We just
cut the apple and eat it.”
Oh, baby. Am I ever spoiled.
Back to rape. When I saw a beautiful, bright green bunch of
rape yesterday at the market, I decided it was finally time to embrace a new
vegetable. I brought home the bunch and
showed our housekeeper, Ziwone, asking how to cook this emerald-colored Shona
treasure.
“We cook the same way as pumpkin
leaves…and spinach… and cabbage.”
“Oh,” I’d said. “…Isn’t that the same way you cook beet
greens?”
“Yes… and squash leaves… and
collard greens.”
You get my drift. Wash.
Cut into small pieces. Cook with water.
Then add a tomato and salt. A bit
of onion if you are lucky. No creativity necessary. Boom.
Done.
Meet rape, which,
coincidentally, tastes a lot like pumpkin leaves… or spinach… or cabbage… or
beet greens… or squash leaves…or collard greens….
