cooking Zambian

relishes made from local mushrooms and okra

Recently, one of my friends came to teach me some more Zambian cooking. We had way more food than the two of us could eat, so we invited the field officers over to help consume the lunch. "If relish without meat could always taste this good, I could be a vegetarian!" one of the guys remarked.

(Here, "relish" is the flavorful meat or vegetable served alongside nshima-- the staple food made from a stiff porridge of white corn flour and water.)