Dávid from Zambia – XII. Blog Post

We Started a Zambian Cooking Club!

Has anyone ever tried making dumplings with sugar? Huge props to everyone! We've been in Zambia for almost 8 weeks now, and while we've had some small successes along the way, today is one of those milestones where we not only organized a special event teaching the "Young Mothers Group" of a local community how to make dumplings and jam, but we've also taken another step toward a more self-sustainable life.

Two weeks ago, we were tasked with coming up with creative ideas for the young mothers in the region of Mapolo, where we're working, on how they could earn an income in such a poor area. After several hours of brainstorming, we concluded: why not profit from cooking? Everyone needs food, and, as far as I know, there's not a single person alive who has quit eating. So, why not give this a try? And the thing is, Hungarian cuisine is a goldmine for ideas like this... so why not introduce something unique, something special that could even be a novelty in the whole town?

And that's how the idea of bringing a little Hungarian flavor to the Zambian recipe list came about – a dish that is easy, cheap, and quick to prepare. So, we chose Nokedli (dumplings). Flour, eggs, salt, water, and two spoons for "shaping." It's that ridiculously simple!

Aside from being filling and delicious, it's also one of the more affordable dishes to make in Zambia – an essential factor in our decision, as the average person here lives on about 2-5 dollars per day. Fortunately, the dumplings can easily be made for less than 3-4 dollars, and in large quantities.

Kitti is the expert in this field, so today she was the chef. After explaining and showing the basics, the young mothers eagerly tried out their newly acquired skills in practice. Some rather big, hefty dumplings made their way into the hot water... My grandfather would have probably flipped the table over, but he wasn't here, so the table stayed in one piece!

Once everyone learned how to shape the dumplings, we officially declared each woman an "official housewife!" At least, that's what we did in the name of Hungarian tradition... because a woman is only a woman if she can shape dumplings, right?

By the way, we also tried "sugar dumplings", where we replaced the salt with sugar. Personally, I think I'll stick to the salty version...

For those who aren't interested in reading about my culinary adventures, I totally understand, especially after we've "killed" a classic Hungarian dish. I apologize sincerely to all dumpling lovers... The idea actually came from the fact that locals here love sweet things... and I mean really unusual sweet things like sweet bread, sweet fried potatoes, and so on. Based on the feedback, everyone seemed to enjoy the sweet dumplings though.

At the end of the activity, we made jam from seasonal guavas. It turned out so well that it was gone while it was still warm... they couldn't wait... warm jam? Hmm...

Final thoughts:
The most important thing for us was to provide practical, usable knowledge to the young mothers. We also aimed for it to be something that could eventually be profitable. The end products, like the jam, can be used for personal consumption or sold. In Ndola, the city where we live, we haven't met anyone yet who knows how to make jam, or even heard of it – so it's a novelty and a special skill, and everyone loves something new and unique.

Once again, we've taken a step closer to a more self-sustainable life.

For recipes, just ask Kitti!

~ March Highlights