Food in Nyungwe-land

A plate of ntsima with cisai

The Nyungwe word for food is cakudya. It refers to the food made from grain that is the staple of the Nyungwe diet. The corn that is growing now will be harvested in a month or so. It must stay in the fields so that sugars can turn starchy and the product will be heavy enough to fill grumbly tummies. 

Arranging piles of dried corn for sale

 Forget that tender sweet corn of our dreams. African corn is appreciated when it is hard and dry and tastes of a sun-scorched field. It will be shucked and stored all year – if they have a plentiful crop. It will be taken off the cob, pounded to remove the hulls, soaked in water and dried in the sun… then carried to the mill to be ground into fine flour.

Only after the laborious task of planting, hoping and praying and tending, harvesting and pounding and carrying can the maize meal, ufa, be cooked into the much longed-for ntsima, a starchy, heavy, white paste served in flattened fist-sized balls – this is the only REAL food anyone could want.  
 

A traditional cisai- goat stew

Ntsima will be eaten with cisai, which can be any variety of stew prepared only to accompany the ntsima. I always forget that the vitamin-rich, protein-filled, tasty side-dishes are not considered “food” by tradition. Only the nutritionally poor, but filling ntsima "hits the spot" for a good meal. That is what Nyungwe friends feel nourishes a body and soul.