A Heritage on Every Plate: Teaching Traditional Zambian Cuisine to Our Youth

By the Rabbecca Onassis Foundation June 15, 2025

Today’s Featured Menu at the Foundation

• Nshima (Maize Porridge)

• Sautéed Vegetables 🌿

• Kapenta (Small Freshwater Fish)

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This menu is just the beginning of what we teach in our cooking program. At the Rabbecca Onassis Foundation, food is education. Food is memory. Food is survival. Each recipe we pass down to the youth in our care is a legacy, rooted in the heart of Zambia.

This post is both a guide and a love letter to our culinary identity — with recipes, meanings, and traditions behind each dish we preserve.

🫓 NSHIMA

The Heart of Zambian Cuisine

🌍 Cultural Significance:

Nshima is more than a staple — it’s a way of life. Shared with hands, eaten as a family, and served daily across Zambia, it represents unity, warmth, and nourishment.

🥣 Ingredients:

• 2 cups white maize meal (mealie meal)

• 5 cups water

• Optional: pinch of salt

  
  

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Boil 4 cups of water in a heavy pot.

2. Make slurry by mixing ½ cup maize meal with 1 cup cold water; pour into boiling water and stir.

3. Slowly add rest of maize meal, stirring constantly until thick and smooth.

4. Continue stirring/pounding with a wooden spoon. Add water as needed to steam for 2–3 minutes.

5. Serve hot, molded into portions.

   

   
   

🥬 VEGETABLE RELISH (Chibwabwa, Rape, Sweet Potato Leaves)

🌍 Cultural Significance:

Zambian greens are often homegrown, making this dish a lesson in self-reliance, gardening, and health.

🥣 Ingredients:

• 1 bunch greens (rape, pumpkin, or sweet potato leaves), chopped

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 1 tomato, diced

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• Salt to taste

• Optional: 2 tbsp ground peanuts

  
  

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Heat oil, sauté onions and tomatoes until soft.

2. Add greens and cook 5–10 minutes until tender.

3. Stir in groundnuts for creaminess, simmer 5 more minutes.

   
   

🐟 KAPENTA

Tiny Fish, Big Flavor

🌍 Cultural Significance:

Sun-dried and preserved for rural sustainability, kapenta teaches youth resourcefulness and respect for the environment.

🥣 Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried kapenta

• 1 onion, sliced

• 1 tomato, diced

• Oil for frying

• Chili powder (optional)

• Salt to taste

  

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Soak kapenta in water 10–15 minutes, drain.

2. Fry in oil until golden, remove.

3. Sauté onions and tomato, return kapenta, season, and simmer 5 minutes.

   
   

🥜 IFISASHI

Groundnut Stew with Vegetables

🌍 Cultural Significance:

Ifisashi is creamy, earthy, and rich — and speaks to the Zambian love of groundnuts (peanuts), a prized local crop.

🥣 Ingredients:

• 2 cups greens (e.g., spinach or pumpkin leaves)

• 1 cup raw peanuts, ground

• 1 tomato, diced

• 1 small onion

• Salt and water

  
  

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Boil greens until tender, drain.

2. In a pot, add peanuts with water to make paste.

3. Add tomatoes and onions; simmer.

4. Stir in greens; cook until thick and creamy.

   
   

🌱 CHIKANDA

“African Polony” Made from Wild Orchid Tubers

🌍 Cultural Significance:

Chikanda is a delicacy tied to ceremony and tradition. It represents ingenuity — transforming native ingredients into gourmet.

🥣 Ingredients:

• 1 cup chikanda powder (from wild orchid tubers)

• ½ cup groundnut flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• Water, chili, and salt to taste

  
  

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Mix all dry ingredients with warm water into a batter.

2. Cook over low heat while stirring until thick and smooth.

3. Pour into a pan, let cool and set like a loaf.

4. Slice and serve.

   
   

🌾 SAMP

Coarse Ground Maize Breakfast

🌍 Cultural Significance:

Samp teaches appreciation for the simplest meals — often eaten with milk or sugar in the morning.

🥣 Ingredients:

• 2 cups samp (cracked maize)

• Water to boil

• Salt or sugar to taste

  
  

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Boil samp in water until soft (about 1 hour).

2. Drain excess water, add sugar or salt depending on taste.

3. Serve warm, optionally with milk.

   
   

🍛 DELELE

Okra Stew

🌍 Cultural Significance:

This dish, rich in vitamins and texture, teaches young cooks about natural thickening agents and creative vegetable use.

🥣 Ingredients:

• 2 cups okra, chopped

• 1 tomato

• 1 small onion

• Salt

• Baking soda (pinch, for color)

  
  

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Boil okra with tomatoes and onions.

2. Add pinch of baking soda for vibrant green and texture.

3. Cook until slimy or soft, based on preference.

   
   

🍠 TUTE NE MBALALA

Cassava & Groundnuts

🌍 Cultural Significance:

A survival dish, often eaten in the village — simple, filling, and full of tradition.

🥣 Ingredients:

• Boiled cassava

• Roasted groundnuts (peanuts)

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Peel and boil cassava until tender.

2. Serve with handful of roasted or ground peanuts.

   
   

🐛 MOPANE WORMS

Protein-Rich Delicacy

🌍 Cultural Significance:

Mopane worms are a delicacy and protein source in parts of Zambia. It teaches bravery and appreciation for all nature provides.

🥣 Ingredients:

• Dried mopane worms

• 1 onion

• Tomato

• Salt, chili

• Oil

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Soak worms in water 30 min, rinse well.

2. Sauté with tomato, onion, chili until soft and flavorful.

   

   
   

🍆 IMPWA

African Eggplant

🌍 Cultural Significance:

Impwa’s slightly bitter taste is balanced in flavorful stews — a lesson in patience and seasoning.

🥣 Ingredients:

• 10–12 impwa (eggplants), halved

• 1 tomato

• 1 onion

• Salt, oil

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Boil impwa 10 minutes, drain.

2. Sauté with onion and tomato until softened and lightly browned.

   
   

🍩 VITUMBUWA

Zambian Pumpkin Fritters

🌍 Cultural Significance:

Popular during celebrations, these sweet fritters remind us that joy, like flavor, is meant to be shared.

🥣 Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour

• ½ cup mashed pumpkin

• 2 tbsp sugar

• 1 tsp yeast

• Pinch salt

• Warm water

• Oil for frying

👩🏽‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients into a soft dough.

2. Let rise for 1 hour.

3. Heat oil and fry small scoops until golden brown.

4. Dust with sugar or serve plain.

   

   
   

💬 Why This Matters

Each of these dishes does more than feed — it teaches. Through cooking, our youth gain:

• A sense of identity and pride

• Practical skills for adulthood

• A deeper understanding of health and sustainability

• Connection to ancestors and community

These meals are living heritage — and at the Rabbecca Onassis Foundation, we make sure that heritage never fades.

🙌🏾 Support Culinary Education & Cultural Preservation

You can help us teach more youth the skills, stories, and strength behind Zambian cuisine. Your donations directly support curriculum, food access, and community empowerment.

📧 Contact: rabbeccaonassisfoundation@gmail.com

🌍 Foundation in Zambia: HQ Based in Seattle, Serving Zambia

🔗 Click here to donate or partner

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