Food in Mozambique

Just for Kids: Food in Mozambique

I heard your class is about to embark on Snackrafice. I wanted to wish you luck, and tell you a little about food in Mozambique!

Food is a very important part of culture. I miss my favorite American foods very often, because they remind me of home – in Africa there is no Mexican food and only very little Italian food! Those were my favorite types of food back in the USA so I can’t wait to get back and eat them.

Yet I was surprised that in Africa there are many types of food in addition to the traditional food. Most of the food is Asian food – Thai, Chinese, and Indian food – because there are many Asians living in Mozambique.

However, this food is mostly found at restaurants which are only in the cities and far too expensive for a rural Mozambican to eat at. Instead, only rich Mozambicans, foreign business men (usually from India or China), and development workers and volunteers (often American or European) can enjoy the international cuisine.

Just like I usually eat American food, Mozambicans usually eat traditional African food. It is what urban and rural Mozambicans often love the most. This food is very different from American food. The most popular staple is called Xima (pronounced SHE-mah). A staple is food that you eat for energy and carbohydrates very often. People often eat xima for both meals each day. Xima is found all over Africa, though in different countries it has different names (such as pap). Xima is made of ground up corn meal or cassava.

The other staple in Mozambique is potatoes, which we also eat as french fries (“chips”) or boiled. This is less common but still a part of many diets. Rice is also eaten in some parts of the country.

On top of the xima, we eat sauces made from coconut milk or peanut oil. The picture above shows matapas, which is the most popular topping and my favorite. According to my boss, the dish Matapas originated in the southern provinces of Mozambique. The dish is prepared using ground-up cassava leaves mixed in a stew with coconut milk and peanut flour. You can also put fish or crab meat into this dish, although I prefer it plain.

Mozambicans also love chickens, but they are expensive for poor families. Eating a chicken is a very exciting occasion in Mozambique, and it usually only happens at a holiday or birthday.

Because Mozambique is on the ocean, they also produce a lot of seafood. They love to eat fish and other seafood. The most popular sea food is shrimp, which Mozambicans call prawns. These are a delicacy, and served covered in butter with chips, as you also see in the picture. The Mozambicans are not known to be very healthy!

Because Mozambique used to be a Portuguese colony, you find many Portuguese foods here as well. These include delicious breads and pastries!

For sweets, they also drink lots of soda around here. A “Fanta” is a treat for kids and adults to enjoy. It comes in grape, lemon, and orange flavor.

As you give up food for snackrafice, remember that in Mozambique, eating any of these foods is a sign of wealth. Children living outside my house ask me every day just to buy them a piece of bread. In rural areas, they may eat very little if the harvest has not come yet or has been destroyed. When that happens, someone may have to walk for miles to town to find food, or rely on an emergency aid organization or mission group to bring them food.

It is also important to remember that in most of Mozambique, you can only eat what you grow. So, as a rural Mozambican you must take very good care of the maize corn, potatoes, cassava, and peanuts that you plant, because that may be your only food.