One major staple of Malawian cuisine is cornmeal porridge, while most other dishes are vegetable or seafood heavy and served with relishes known as Ndiwo. Fruits in Malawi are fresh and varied, with pineapples, mangoes, papayas and tangerines all perfectly matched with the clear sunny weather. Drinks-wise no Malawi tours are complete without a Chibuku Shake Shake – a kind of beer brewed from sorghum and maize in a milk carton.
Breakfast:
Nthochi (banana bread)
Staple: Nsima (cornmeal porridge)
Ndiwo Relishes – made with vegetables, tomato and onion, leaves of cassava, sweet potato leaves, beans, pumpkin, cabbage, mustard, rape, kale
Finger Millet, potatoes, cassava, rice, beans, peanuts
Ana a Njuchi (wild bee larvae)
Vegetables:
Cucumbers, eggplants, carrots, green peppers, and cabbage
Fish:
Chambo (Tilapia fish), Mpasa salmon, Trout, Kampango (Catfish), Usipa sardine,
Wali Wa Samaki (salmon, vermicelli, onion, carrots, rice)
Snacks:
‘Chippie’ stand
Fruit:
Pineapples, guavas, mangoes, papayas, tangerines, lemons,
Dessert:
Mbatata cookies (sweet potato and cinnamon).
Drink:
Maheu finger millet malt drink
Soft Drinks: Cherry Plum, Cocopina, Fantas
Beer:
Carlsberg Green, Carlsberg Brown, Kuche Kuche
Chibuku Shake Shake (brewed from sorghum and maize in a milk carton)
Spirits:
Malawi Gin and Tonic
Malawi Vodka, Malawi Gin, Malawi Rum, Gold Label Brandy, Powers cane spirit
Courtney Gahan is a serial expat, traveller and freelance writer who has bartered with Moroccan marketeers, seen the sun rise at Angkor Wat and elbowed her way through crowds on NYE in NYC
