Learning to Cook in Zambia – again!

Mykitchen, for the moment.

Coming back to Zambia has required a re-awakening of my culinary memory. A trip through the main supermarket here revealed what I had forgotten: if you want Western food, be prepared to pay Western prices. Tinned goods, which in the UK are seen as basics are luxuries here, a tin of tomatoes costs over £1 as opposed to as little as 9p back home. So we need to reassess our eating habits a little, pasta, rice and potatoes are fine so that's a good base to start from.

Another problem is that we are in temporary accommodation, so as you can see from the picture, my cooking area is rather basic. I have two cooking rings but no surfaces to speak of or an oven and not cooking utensils, those soufflés and roast dinners are on hold for the moment!

My next aim is to start frequenting the 'Tuesday' market where fruits and vegetables are cheap and plentiful – so I hear. There is a large Indian-Zambian community throughout Zambia and therefore spices are plentiful and cheap as they come from neighbouring Tanzania.

When I lived here before we were not in the capital so my diet was much more traditionally Zambian, meaning – nshima, staple starch eaten here made from maize. It has little nutritional value but fills you up quite efficiently. Ironically now we are in capital, nshima is harder to come by as Lusaka is more cosmopolitan. If you do want nshima, it is quite expensive because many restaurants cater to tourists.

There is however an array of restaurants serving Western style food and also Indian and Chinese restaurants. Again though, prices are about the same as in the UK, fine if you're on an ex-pat wage, but the average Zambian wage is ...