Food & Cuisine

Many places across Zambia serve western food today and street vendors can be found selling food of all sorts including exotic fruit, rice, vegetables and meat of varying types. However, historically the staple food for Zambians was Maize, also known as sweet corn in the west, and this can be used to make a range of recipes aside from boiling the vegetable, these may include Nshima (a stiff porridge made from ground Maize), Samp (Crushed Maize and Beans) and even Chibuku (beer made from Maize and Sorghum) as well as many recipes without it such as Ifisashi (green vegetables in peanut sauce).

Other common food sources include insects such as grasshoppers, cicadas, flying ants, termites and caterpillars, other vegetables such as cassava, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and groundnuts, and seasonings such as pepper, clove, cinnamon and nutmeg.