The Sunday News
Cultural Heritage, PathisaNyathi
For a functional and utilitarian people, art is sometimes downplayed and given expression though utility and functionality.
However, we are able all the same to see cultural expressions in African cuisines. It may not translate to beauty or aesthetic rendition, but there is some cultural expression resident within certain aspects of food preparation, serving and consumption.
Usually, language will indicate if this is true. The Ndebele will say, in reference to meat that they are consuming, “Hawu, iyahlabusa.” That relates to taste which is an important consideration in matters of food.
Also important to consider is the aroma, “iphunga layo limnandi.” Food must appeal to the taste buds but also pleasantly tinkle the olfactory buds in our nostrils. Uqhatshi may be a better term to apply as iphunga usually connotes a bad or revolting smell. Such attributes of meat and other foods are relevant whether food is cooked (boiled) or roasted (ukosa). We must point out at this point that frying was not one of the methods of preparing food. Meat was cooked in big clay pots that were hermetically sealed.
Meat was cooked for long periods of time in intense heat, in fact the whole day. Cooking during big gatherings such as weddings (imithimba), Inxwala, umthontiso, ukukhehla and many others was performed by men. Very little water was added to the meat. The idea was to retain the taste of the meat. The little water there was evaporated but because the pot was tightly sealed there was no steam that escaped. What that meant, in essence, was that no water was lost. All the steam was ultimately retained through condensation when it reached the cooler lid.
A potsherd was used to seal the mouth of the big pot. Alternatively, a smaller pot was placed over the mouth of the big cooking clay pot. In order to ensure there were no steam leakages, cow dung was applied to the pot’s rim. Meat juices were retained and that helped preserve its flavour that was keenly sought after. “Iyahlabusa,” the people would exclaim as they sat around the platters, izitsha, imigwembe or izithebe.
More importantly, there were cultural considerations that were ascribed to the good taste. A beast was slaughtered by a man identified the previous day. This was to allow the chosen person to observe certain cultural taboos and practices to ensure the meat retained a good taste. Indeed, as the people tucked their teeth into the meat, they would pass judgment, “Ulesandla esihle umfokazibani.” The taste of the meat did not depend solely on the way it was cooked, or the quality of the meat itself.
Usually such men were known within a community and invariable always called upon to undertake slaughtering.
The status of he who stabbed the beast came into play. This may seem nonsensical to people who are strangers to African culture and related beliefs and worldviews. Sexual impurity on the part of the one to undertake slaughter is considered paramount. Sexual intercourse was perceived to change the blood chemistry of the indulgent. This apparently makes sense to a people who posit a spiritual component within human beings. Inevitably, perceptions of such people differ from those whose world is seen largely in physical or material terms.
It was men who slaughtered beasts. This was done within cattle byres, sites within the homestead which were beyond the cultural reach of women. Spears were used to bring down the identified beast. More often than not, usiba (the throwing spear) was used. This was the kind of spear that incorporated aerodynamic principles that ensured its forward propulsion. Its broad blade was so designed that there were two flat but opposite sides. Wind impacted on the flat side causing it to turn. The opposite but also flat side complemented the propulsion. As a result, the spear is pushed forward towards the target.
This was the spear that was used to tackle the Afrikaners who resorted to the lagger (umgwalo) as a defensive measure.
Ox-wagons were arranged in circular fashion. Where there were diselboms (amadazibhomo), thorn bushes were piled up to discourage breach by the Ndebele fighters. From inside the lagger, Afrikaners fired bullets from guns and rifles. It pains some of us to realise there are people who fail, sometimes deliberately, to see science and technology resident in African culture.
Quite often culture and science are, out of ignorance, seen as diametrically opposed. Nothing could be further from the truth. Science and technology are elements of all people’s cultures.
The other type of spear that may be used is isijula/umdikadika/ijozi. This is the broad-bladed spear that was innovated by King Tshaka and subsequently revolutionised warfare in the south eastern seaboard of South Africa. As to where the spear was thrust required knowledge of animal anatomy. The position of the heart was known, since the heart was the target which, when perforated, led to the animal losing energy and succumbing to death due to loss of blood. That position was determined by the left front leg, just at the end of the shoulder blade (isiphanga). This was the position referred to as emahlabankomo.
For our purposes here, it is the state of the meat, more specifically its taste that is of interest. The resulting taste of the meat had to do with the state of the man who stabbed the animal. Did he indulge in sex the night before? The belief was that if he did, the meat would not taste nice. As a result, he was advised to refrain from sex the previous night. This is an important consideration not only among the Ndebele people but indeed other African peoples who share a similar cosmology and worldview.
Sexual intercourse is perceived as inhibiting potency in human endeavours. This is observed even today where soccer players are taken to some secluded camp where they are isolated so they do not engage in sex before a match. Superficially, the explanation may seem to suggest the physical sapping of energy as the major consideration. For the Africans, the reasons were more deeply rooted and lying within the spiritual realm of interpretation. Similarly, soldiers going out to war abstained from sexual indulgence. Sex, so goes the interpretation, brings bad luck or simply loss of potency.
Also related to this all important consideration for ensuring the good taste of the meat, the man delegated to do slaughtering the following day was encouraged to drink a lot of beer. The thinking was that beer increased the amount of his blood and also thinned it.
In addition to the state of the man who did the stabbing, there were other considerations to take on board. Where a cow miscarried the belief was that its meat did not taste nice. Once again, this is a case of applied cosmology by the Ndebele and other African peoples. Miscarriage is an undesirable condition, a condition that was seen as traversing the animal and passing on to those that have consumed the meat of an animal with such a condition. We become what we eat. Our bodies reflect what we eat. Where failure (miscarriage), has been “consumed” the consumers become associated with failure. This is how Africa looks at the broader world. Failure begets failure.
Some may argue that Africans did not know how to use fork and knife. It was not lack of knowledge at all but a deliberate choice. The condition of the food that we eat passes on to us. When food is stabbed or pierced with a fork and cut with a knife, all the resulting pain is passed on to the one that has consumed food with such negative attributes. The use of hands was therefore a deliberate and conscious decision on the part of Africans to avoid izihlabo and other body aches.
Just see how they look now-puffed up “monsters” who consume monstrosity in the form of food. We shall deal with more of such cultural issues as they relate to food in order to bring out the cultural expressions resident in food.
