Online Reporter
Tendai Rupapa in BEITBRIDGE
HUGE tongues of fire kissed the bases of large pots, sending a rich aroma of different flavours into the air as 84 contestants battled for honours in the national finals of Amai’s Traditional Cookout competition in Beitbridge on Sunday.
The cookout competition is the brainchild of Dr Mnangagwa, who launched the traditional meal cookout competition in 2019 and thereafter handed over the programme to the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry following its success.
The host Ministry on Africa Day invited Dr Mnangagwa, the tourism patron, as the guest of honour for the event.
It was a battle of wits as chefs of different shapes, sizes and ages came up with a rich catalogue of recipes to land the crown at the well-subscribed competition, which had four categories, one for people with disabilities, community members, tertiary students and professional chefs.
Winners walked away with cash prizes, stoves, gas cylinders and food hampers.
An inmate at Kwekwe Prison, Knowledge Chirenje, came out tops in the community category, showing the inclusivity of the programme, which is leaving no place and no one behind.
A Chinese chef from the Midlands Province also joined the competition, enhancing the diversity of the showcase.
Chef Gan Zou from Zhong Zhing Hotel in Redcliff blended Chinese food with Zimbabwean food.
There were eight people per province – two people with disabilities, two people from the community, two students and professional chefs.
Matabeleland South Province had three extra people from Bulilima, the San community.
Some of the juices and beverages prepared from traditional indigenous fruits by contestants during Amai’s traditional cookout competition organised by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa in Beitbridge on Saturday.
Although she was not competing, the First Lady exhibited her culinary skills by preparing a motley of mouth-watering dishes presented on a table decorated with sugarcane, horned cucumbers, pumpkins and wild fruits.
The dishes she prepared included road runner, kapenta, mazondo, rabbit, dried vegetables in peanut butter, highfiridzi (a mixture of meat and vegetables), nhopi, zvinyenze, zvihuta, madora, biltong, sweet potatoes, mutakura, brown rice, sorghum sadza among many other dishes.
For dessert, she prepared hodzeko cheese and hute cakes. The drinks were mahewu, the traditional brew, seven-days and mapfura wine.
Some of the dishes were particular to certain provinces like Masvingo presented sorghum sadza, which they served with harurwa, a delicacy in the area, as well as zvingozha and ishwa.
Mashonaland East Province weighed in with mbeva and madhumbe.
Their drinks were 7-days and bumhe which is mahewu prepared from millet. Manicaland had rupiza, nhopi and magogoya.
For drinks they showcased pumpkin juice and baobab juice. Matabeleland North had umxhaxha and cake made from sweet berries and sindambe juice.
Harare Province presented gango, a mixture of intestines, chicken feet, gizzards, goat meat and rolled goat intestines with usika and masawu juice.
Mashonaland East presented birds, grasshoppers, crickets, pumpkin soup and a drink made from horned cucumbers. The Midlands Province had marula drink, rabbit, mazondo and rupiza, while Matabeleland South had homemade bread mixed with fresh maize and dried meat in peanut butter.
Mashonaland Central exhibited mamunye insects, manyanya roots, doves, grasshoppers and peanut butter relish.
Mashonaland West offered cowpeas leaves in peanut butter, Kariba bream, matemba drumsticks, pumpkin and sweet potato fritters.
Midlands had crickets, mice, termites, mapfura seed, bhondasi and tamarind.
The San community showcased pearl millet sadza served with madora, sorghum, okra, white sadza and dried meat as well as wild fruits.
Masvingo presented hwakwa, termites, flying ants, shomhwe, fish and sweet potato chips, sadza made from mapfura powder, sorghum and millet, berry juice, sweet potato crush mixture, lemon juice and pumpkins.
Chef Gan Zou showed a variety of dishes that added colour to the competition like matemba in garlic and chilli, madora in pepper and onion, chicken highfiridzi and beef highfiridzi, chicken stir fry and sweet and sour pork. For dessert, the chef had watermelon, berries, beverages, baobab juice and maheu.
First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, Minister of State and Devolution for Matabeleland South Albert Nguluvhe and other delegates admire one of the traditional dishes prepared and styled by Knowledge Chirenje an inmate at Kwekwe Prison during Amai’s traditional cookout competition in Beitbridge on Saturday.
Nicole Banda, who is studying Tourism and Hospitality Industry Management at Kwekwe Polytechnic made madora and matemba in creamy cheese, honey custard nhopi, wild fruit salad, baobab smoothie as well as ginger and honey juice.
Her sorghum sadza was served with meat and vegetables and she spoke glowingly about the competition.
Mr Milton Banga, a professional chef from Village Lodge in Gweru showcased Matemba vol au vents which is a mixture of matemba and flour, sorghum pasta, rolled intestines, goat meat and mashed pumpkin, road runner and brown rice with peanut butter, nhopi and rupiza.
Mrs Vaida Samuel from Mashonaland Central Province said while learners and professional chefs presented some differently packaged dishes, as mothers from the community, they stuck to the traditional way of cooking.
She presented tsubvu cake, Manyanya relish (roots from the Manyanya tree) served with sadza, mushrooms, rabbit, mabumbe, meat in vegetables, fish, mbwirembwire and nhopi.
In her remarks, the First Lady described the Sunday competition as yet another historic moment for the nation to celebrate the diversity of its culture and heritage through gastronomy tourism.
“It is indeed a joyous moment which has brought together different experts in the field of food techniques from across the 10 provinces to demonstrate their capabilities in terms of preparing traditional dishes.
“It is now more than six years since this cookout competition programme started and what makes me excited is the level of creativity and innovativeness coming from our contestants.
“Every year new ideas are coming up on how to prepare traditional cuisine using the locally available ingredients. This is indeed amazing,” she said.
First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa is hugged by the elderly as they appreciated her love to them by donating food hampers and other basic needs during Amai’s traditional cookout competition in Beitbridge on Saturday.
The mother of the nation said globally, that gastronomy tourism was emerging as a lucrative niche in the tourism sector with great potential to catalyse inclusive socio-economic growth of nations.
“It is also an important pillar for safeguarding our rich cultural heritage and a key driver for the healthy well-being with great potential to reduce non-communicable diseases which are threatening human lives.
“As Zimbabwe, we have taken heed of the need to embrace preparation and consumption of traditional foods as we are now cognisant of the benefits derived from promoting gastronomy tourism.”
Dr Mnangagwa demonstrated how the programme has grown exponentially from humble beginnings.
“The programme started as female-dominated and progressively we have witnessed the involvement of male contestants, youth, students, professional chefs, persons with disabilities, inmates and churches,” she said.
“All this is in the spirit of leaving no one and no place behind in the journey towards achieving an upper middle-income society by 2030. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a moment to celebrate victory. We have overcome the challenge of phobia towards traditional dishes among the general populace.
“This milestone can be sustained by continuing to prepare innovative traditional dishes with modern twists and flavours that appeal to all age groups, as so brilliantly demonstrated by our contestants today.
“During the tour of the stands, we witnessed a variety of nutritious traditional dishes prepared by the contestants today, demonstrating a high degree of expertise and creativity, such as cakes made from sorghum and millet. We also saw pumpkin fritters, among other appetising dishes.”
All the food prepared, she said, sought to prove the capacity that the country has in preparing traditional cuisines and the concept of aligning eating habits with consciousness.
“Today’s travellers have changed their tastes and preferences. They are now after local and familiar dishes which are healthy and create lasting memories,” she said.
“Distinguished guests, our efforts to promote gastronomy tourism have resulted in Zimbabwe gaining regional and international recognition. To ensure a sustainable gastronomy tourism programme, Zimbabwe was accorded the opportunity to build a UN tourism academy in Victoria Falls to train students.
First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa distributes newborn baby preparation kits to expecting women during Amai’s traditional cookout competition in Beitbridge on Saturday.
“Building on our efforts to promote gastronomy tourism, Zimbabwe hosted the first ever UN tourism regional forum on gastronomy tourism for Africa in 2024 in Victoria Falls.
“To this end, the forum is now on the UN tourism calendar as an annual event to be hosted by African countries on a national basis. The second UN tourism regional from us Zimbabwe was held in Tanzania in April this year and I was also honoured to attend as a special guest speaker and shared with other countries Zimbabwe’s experience in promoting gastronomy tourism, signifying our efforts in ushering in a new era for gastronomy tourism in Africa.
“The presence of Zimbabwean cuisines has grown remarkably from local recognition to regional appreciation and now to international acclaim.”
The First Lady said traditional dishes were increasingly being served at gatherings, meetings and forums, presenting valuable opportunities for local communities to explore food-related business ventures.
As a country, she said, Zimbabwe has been invited to several regional and international forums to showcase its rich culinary heritage alongside major events.
“This has greatly enhanced the visibility of our cuisine in diverse markets. Notably, Zimbabwe participated in the inaugural Paris 17 International Gastronomy Forum and the UNESCO Gastronomy Festival,” she said.
“I had the pleasure of witnessing French nationals and other international visitors enjoying our food, music and dance, drink, gastronomy and fashion.
“Furthermore, we have witnessed tremendous growth in the tourism sector since the inception of gastronomy tourism in Zimbabwe, contributing 12 percent to the gross domestic product in 2024.
“This is the first time it has surpassed other key economic sectors such as agriculture and mining. Ladies and gentlemen, let me hasten to say I have deliberately intertwined gastronomy tourism with other related programmes to ensure the sustainability of our culture and heritage for the good of today and future generations.
“This includes, among others, Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba for Girls and Boys Forum, which seeks to maintain our norms and values, especially at a time when drug and substance abuse is prevalent.”
There is also the Farm to Market, a programme which seeks to provide a ready market for fresh farm produce, creating links between demand and supply, particularly in hotels and restaurants, where most of them are now serving traditional dishes.
“Recently, we launched the Agrotourism4she, where we expect the ministries responsible for agriculture and tourism to work closely together and encourage our communities to venture into agricultural activities that seek to further their economic benefits, thus dovetailing with the whole of Government approach,” she said.
One of the traditional dishes prepared and packaged during Amai’s traditional cookout competition organised by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa in Beitbridge on Saturday.
“All this is aimed at creating jobs and empowering communities for the socio-economic benefit of our people. I would like to conclude by saying congratulations to all of you contestants. We have managed to compete in the 2025 national cookout competitions. I know you are all winners.”
Speaking at the same occasion, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbara Rwodzi hailed the First Lady for her exploits in championing the country’s culture and national heritage.
She congratulated the First Lady for the special recognition she is getting from the United Nations because of her hard work.
“Last week, you took us to France where UNESCO had called you for the Africa week, where you were the guest of honour and the best First Lady in Africa in terms of culture,” she said.
“Barely three weeks ago, the United Nations branded you the godmother of gastronomy tourism in Africa. We were in Tanzania where they appreciated your work. Today you are here where you interacted with contestants whose work you took time admiring and we thank you.
“We are seeing our tourist arrivals rising and we are now ranked the sixth most visited country in Africa since the visit of the United Nations because of gastronomy tourism which you taught us.”
Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Albert Nguluvhe said his province was privileged to host the seventh edition of the First Lady’s Traditional Meal Cookout competition.
“Your Excellency, Allow me to extend our sincere appreciation for honouring us today with your presence as we celebrate your vision towards community empowerment, which has allowed us to connect to our roots through traditional gastronomy and promotion of cultural values. Matabeleland South is rich in heritage, magnificent and majestic geographic outlay with immense potential to drive both domestic and international tourism,” he said.
“As the host province for this year’s national cookout competition, which we are truly honoured to be the stage upon which our diverse culinary talents are being showcased by people of different abilities.
“As Matabeleland South, we boast of our unique traditional delicacy amacimbi/madora or mashonja. This competition lies perfectly well with our National Development Strategy 1, which seeks to promote Zimbabwe’s rich cultural values and traditional knowledge systems. It also reverberates with President Dr E.D Mnangagwa’s ethos, ‘Leaving no place and no one behind’ as we march towards a prosperous upper middle income society by 2030,” he said.
In the community category, Matabeleland North came third, Matabeleland South Second and in pole position was Knowledge Chirenje who won US$2 500, a 4-plate gas stove, gas tank and maize seed.
In the category of people with disabilities, Mashonaland West came third, Harare second and Matabeleland South won US$2 500, a 4-plate gas stove, gas tank and maize seed.
Among students, Bulawayo was number three, Mashonaland East’s Seke Teachers was second and the winner was a learner from Nyadire Teachers College who won US$2 500, a 4-plate gas stove, gas tank and maize seed.
Among professional chefs, Chef Zo came third, in second place was a contestant from Kariba in Mashonaland West and at the top was a woman from Manicaland employed at Holiday Inn, who won US$2 500, a 4-plate gas stove and gas tank.
All contestants also received food hampers courtesy of the mother of the nation.
The mother of the nation also gave food hampers to traditional chiefs, some of the elderly, child-headed families and the less privileged who were present.
Pregnant women also received baby preparation kits.
One of the traditional dishes prepared from yams and styled during Amai’s traditional cookout competition organised by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa in Beitbridge on Saturday.
Last year’s winner Buhlebenkosi (31) from Matabeleland South now owns a catering company employing 15 people and was thankful to the First Lady for her programme.
She also thanked the First Lady for affording her the opportunity to participate in gastronomy tourism in France.
One of the professional chefs said, “We are very grateful for this programme. It helps us mostly in our hotels, where people no longer want exotic dishes, which are not healthy, but this food is nutritious, and our forefathers lived longer because of these foods.
“At Village Lodge, we serve traditional dishes for three days a week and people are coming mostly for this food. At this competition, we are modifying the food, but our mothers are cooking the traditional way.”
So overjoyed were some of the participants that they danced with joy and pledged to put up a good show next time.
“I am thankful to the First Lady for the competition. Though I did not win, I wish to try hard and win next year. The First Lady is making wonders for us and we need to celebrate her success countrywide,” said one of the women.
Similar sentiments were echoed by another contestant, a learner.
“I am still at college learning, but I wish to work hard and take advantage of the openings in the hospitality industry to earn a living,” he said.
“I really appreciate what the First Lady is doing as we also have to continue promoting indigenous dishes which have high nutritional value and medicinal properties.”
Elderly recipients of food hampers were over the moon.
Gogo Vuyo Mleya said she was grateful for being remembered by the First Lady.
“I thank the First Lady for the food hampers she gave us and I will now go and prepare my grandchildren nourishing food. The First Lady regularly remembers us showing her great love for us as elderly people,” she said.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Sekuru Bonface Baleni.
“The First Lady has great love for us as the elderly and all other vulnerable groups. Apart from ensuring we get health checks, she also ensures that we have something to eat since we are no longer able to fend for ourselves.
‘‘She has great love for us as a people and we thank her deeply for what she regularly does,” he said.
Diana Samukange, Andy Muridzo and several other cultural groups entertained the crowd.
