"How do you eat a flying ant?": Some notes on Zambian Cuisine

Mrs. Pope’s eyes grew wide at dinner with the Jesuit community when Ms. Lungu mentioned that for a few months in the fall the air fills with flying ants and Zambians eat them. After Mrs. Pope inquired about their method, Ms. Lungu laughed and said “the air is full of them – we catch them!” And we’re still not sure if she was joking or not.

Most Zambian foods are much tamer than flying ants. Their staple is nshima, a thick cornmeal served at most meals and called the “Five-Finger food”. Along with nshima and rice meals usually include combinations of stews, vegetables, and sauces. Traditionally Zambians use their five fingers to form bits of nshima into a ball and use it to lift up the stews and other sides.

We were surprised that most meals are served with a salad of what we would call cole slaw, or at times potato salad. Having these picnic staples at almost every meal have made it much easier to be away from home during the summer.

Another local item is caterpillar, which can be found everywhere from convenience stores to set dinner tables. Only Mr. Huynh and Mr. Bonina were brave enough to try those – be sure to ask them about the caterpillars in September.

Since Lusaka is a big city there are lots of restaurants with different types of food. There is a large Chinese population in the city and the Chinese restaurants you would expect along with it. We also saw Italian, steakhouses, pizza, fast food, and a Subway restaurant.

Of course, our team found the one Irish pub and enjoyed introducing one of the Zambian scholastics to some of “our” cuisine.

Each of the meals has introduced us to new tastes (usually with a hearty side of nshima). What we have enjoyed most, of course, is the company we have had, dining alongside of us and introducing us to ever more Zambian culture.