Nsima with relish. Let me explain.

Nsima is ground corn flour that is cooked like porridge until it thickens and is then scooped into large paddies. Nsima is the staple food in Malawi and is eaten with relishes. Here is where a little variety comes in. If you are lucky, the relish consists of two parts. There are boiled greens served with some ground nut powder and a tomato-based soup with pieces of meat, either chicken, beef or goat. To eat, you pinch off a piece of the nsima with your fingers. You ball the nsima up in your palm and then either dip it into the soup, which is quite salty, or pick up some greens with it. Thus the ‘relish’ adds a little flavor to the nsima.

That is my lunch for about 5 days a week, as I joined the memo at work where about 10 employees go together for lunch. I pay 600 Malawian Kwacha (~4USD) a month to buy the corn flour and an extra 100 MK (~65 cents) every day I eat with the memo for the relish. One of the men goes around the office in the morning to collect the daily contribution, and the women start cooking around noon after someone makes the trip to the market to purchase the relish ingredients. They do the cooking in the ‘kitchen’, a small room with a large sink and one table. The cooking is done on small charcoal burners which they light outside and then bring inside and set on the floor. When the food is ready, it is divided between the available plates and the aroma of the relish gets everyone’s attention and fills the small kitchen quickly.

Eating this meal is learned during childhood. As such, it has made me feel a little childish as I first attempted to ball the nsima in my palm and eat the relish without making a mess. Conversation is usually lively as people pause from eating as they ball the nsima in their hands. It is in Chichewa, so I rarely have a firm grasp on the discourse. However, the random English word usually gives way to the overall theme and I am able to contribute a well timed phrase now and then.

It is a heavy lunch. Afterward, I say my thanks (zikomo kwambiri! Chakudya chabwino!) and I head back to my office. It is there that I try intently to become quickly engaged in some interesting work activity before the ball of nsima in my stomach robs me of my ability to concentrate as all my energy switches to the digestive process.