I can best describe Sadza as a thick, dense porridge cooked with corn meal. It is a staple food in Zimbabwe. The options of what you can serve with it are endless, but it is typically enjoyed with a protein and a vegetable. I introduced Shyloh and Salome to it as soon as they each could tolerate solid foods and they loved it. I believe in introducing my children to as much of our traditional foods as possible even though they refer to tripe as chicken, I let it slide as long as they enjoy it. I believe that exposing them to our traditional foods is as important as teaching them about our culture.
Salome enjoys it so much that on a 3 month visit to Zimbabwe she requested it almost everyday and her Gogo was more than happy to run into her garden and pick fresh greens, tomatoes and onions to accompany it. On Salome’s birthday, my father anticipated devouring slice upon slice of pizza but was disappointed when his grandchild requested sadza and muriwo
( greens). I added cupcakes to the menu and felt relieved that we had fulfilled the birthday girl’s request. Unfortunately when I looked around there was someone who was looking down defeated. He was shuffling his feet back and forth but not saying much. I knew he had waited all week for this day to have something that had become his favorite food.
I couldn’t disappoint him.
“Ok Dad, I’ll order a couple of pizzas.”
Oh, ok. His face lit up... “wonderful, if it’s pizza my grand daughter wants, it’s pizza she’ll get!”
She ate sadza.
He ate a whole pizza.
They both ate cupcakes and had a joyful day!
The girls love sushi as much as they love sadza so I decided to make a combination of their two favorite foods. We are still trying to come up with a name
for it ! Sudza? Sashi? Oh well, if you think of a great name, share!
Check out the recipe for the Sadza Roll here.
