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Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Senior Health Reporter 

SHE left her suckling eight-month-old baby in the wee hours to compete in First Lady Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa’s Bulawayo Provincial Traditional Cook-Out competition yesterday with one goal; to showcase her skills and learn from other 19 competitors. 

The 22-year-old first time mother from Nketa suburb was the youngest of the 20 contestants.

She was determined to make the most of the opportunity that was granted her. And all her baking skills came to her after watching YouTube videos.

A little creativity with umtshwankela and amacimbi (mopane worms) is all that Ms Iphilinda Maphosa needed to impress the judges and walk away with the first prize. 

The self-taught cook, who is currently studying Tourism and Hospitality Management at Lupane State University, will represent Bulawayo during the national competitions set for May 25 in Victoria Falls. 

For starters, Ms Maphosa served kebabs with slices of gaka (African cucumber), fried pumpkin, mopane worms, chicken gizzards, carrots and English cucumber. 

Her main dish was mopane worm pie served with avocado and crushed samp and round nuts fused with peanut butter. 

The Traditional Cook-Out competition programme was pioneered by the First Lady in 2021. 

The initiative was birthed out of a realisation that the consumption of indigenous food has been on the decrease in the country as most people are opting for fast foods, exposing citizens to the negative after effects of some of the processed foods. 

Ms Maphosa swept judges off their feet with her mtshwankela cake and mtshwankela cupcakes where she mixed the wild fruit, currently in season, with flour and other ingredients for the fluffy and moist traditional flavoured desert. 

In preparing for this, Ms Maphosa took hours peeling the tiny fruits, delicately scraping off the fruit from the seed to be able to get enough for both the cake and the cupcakes. To the cake, she also added crushed grapes and lemon for that rich fruity flavour. 

“I am a self-taught cook who got inspiration from watching YouTube videos and that is how I learnt to bake. I had my doubts about this competition as I had to leave my baby but I eventually decided to come and learn from other women who have had so much experience cooking traditional food,” she said. 

“I was not even confident of the dish I made but when I was announced the winner, I realised that young women matter and there is so much that we can do if we tap into these opportunities presented to us.” 

Ms Maphosa said she knew others would serve mtshwankela as a fruit in season, which inspired her to come up with a different way of presenting it. 

“So, I decided to try out mtshwankela flavoured cake, cupcakes and I am humbled by the positive response I got from the judges and the guests who graced this occasion.

Now that I will be representing Bulawayo in the national competition I have to up my game. We are grateful to our Mother, the First Lady who is helping us to be creative in serving our traditional foods.  She is a blessing to me and the rest of the women,” she added. 

In a speech read on the First Lady’s behalf, Environment Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Deputy Minister Barbara Rwodzi said there is a need to document information on the preparation of traditional meals for generations to come. 

“The programme presents opportunities for women to participate in the supply value chain through income earning, which is in line with the Government’s thrust to leave no place and no one behind.

Today we are gathered here where 20 contestants have shown their skills in preparing traditional dishes which are unique and peculiar to Bulawayo and wish them all the best as two of them will represent the country in the national competition to be held on May 25, a few weeks from now,” she said. 

She said the competition was also an opportunity for women to showcase products which can be locally sourced and produced for mass consumption.

Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Judith Ncube  commended the women for their hard work in showcasing various ways of preparing traditional food. 

“Some people are quick to claim that traditional food is not tasty and dull even in colour but today these creative ladies showed all of us that we can still have scrumptious meals from the food that our forefathers ate.

I am proud of them and I am sure they can consider opening a food outlet to serve these meals so that we all access these meals and in turn, they will make a living from this business venture,” added Minister Ncube. 

The two officials went on to plant trees, which is part of Amai Mnangagwa’s legacy of sustaining traditional food production. 

Judges were chefs from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and prizes came in form of food hampers.

– @thamamoe