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The Herald, February 22, 1979
DESPITE the removal of racial discrimination, few blacks are frequenting what were once “whites only” eating places.
It seems one of the main reasons is that they cannot get a “decent plate of sadza”.
A survey conducted in Salisbury’s city centre last week showed that it was not just money that restricted them, but that there were no African dishes on the menus of reputed restaurants and hotels in the city. Hence the scarcity of black diners.
A black man’s main dish no matter what his social standing is sadza “served with something”.
A field officer with an agricultural finance company perhaps summed up a black man’s feelings: “What the black man needs is sadza. Hors d’oeuvres, asparagus and spaghetti mean nothing to him. If only these hotels and restaurants would include sadza on their daily menus, then they would be assured of more black customers,” he said.
“There are many recipes to choose from.”
Upper and middle class blacks enjoy a decent meal of sadza, but find it difficult getting one in town, said one marketing manager for a big business concern.
“All hotels should start catering for a black man’s culinary interests as well. With the majority rule coming, many blacks to the north and around us will be flocking into the country. They will surely ask for sadza because that is their staple diet,” he said.
Restaurants that serve sadza are mostly run by Portuguese nationals and are located on the outskirts of the city, and these were difficult to reach for blacks working in the city centre.
A black journalist had an interesting experience on his arrival from Zambia. “I checked into this three-star hotel for dinner. I asked for sadza served with roast beef and vegetables. I was told I would only get sadza at cafés in Charter road, Moffatt and Sinoia Streets,” he said.
“In Zambia, sadza is served at any good hotel, even the Ridgeway in Lusaka. Surely hotels here must do the same.”
Asked whether his hotel had made a provision for sadza on their daily menu, a spokesman for the Ambassador Hotel said: “There has been no demand for this facility that I know of. If there is a sufficient demand to warrant it, then I might be able to do something about it.”
A spokesman for the Wimpy group of restaurants said: “This is the first time this has been brought to our notice. If these people come forward and ask for this service, then I am sure we will be willing to provide it.”
LESSONS FOR TODAY
- As Zimbabweans we should not be ashamed of being seen eating our staple food or feel that it is inferior to the staple food of other nations. Sadza/ugali, defines who we are as a people and as such we should always be proud of our heritage and strive as much as possible to market it to other nations.
- Starches such as rice and spaghetti are staple foods for other nations that have been popularised by those nations and are now recognised internationally. Similarly, we can do the same with sadza since we have a large representation all over the world.
- Service providers, especially those in the food industry should be constantly aware of the needs and tastes of their clients. They should also be able to continuously diversify their menus to meet the needs of a diversified population such as the one in Zimbabwe. When Zimbabwe adopted the Look East policy, local hotels and restaurants did well to introduce the Asian cuisine on their menus in response to an influx of tourists from that continent.
- A country’s staple food is very important because just like a native language, it identifies a people and who they are. So, sadza as a staple food should feature prominently on menus in hotels and restaurants not only for the benefit of locals but visitors as well. In Asian countries for instance, they ensure that visitors try as much of their cuisine as possible. This allows the visitors to have an appreciation of their culture. Likewise, when people visit us they should also sample what defines us as a people including our staple food.
- In African culture, food is central to building relations, and as a nation that is engaging and re-engaging and trying to grow our tourism industry, we can do well to ensure that local cuisine, especially sadza is available almost everywhere where food is served.
Online Reporter