Join twowildtides on the country challenge. Each week, we’re going to be heading to a new country (in spirit). Primarily, we’ll be cooking a meal from each country; but we’ll also be watching travel documentaries, reading travel blogs, and listening to music. During the global pandemic, travel is largely inaccessible. We want to reignite our wanderlust, satisfy our travel bug as much as we can, and learn some new things along the way. I have a feeling our bucket list will have a number of items added to it through this experience as well. We created a simple alphabetical spreadsheet with all the countries of the world, and each week we will draw a random number that corresponds with a country on the spreadsheet.
This week takes us almost to the end of our list: country #196, Zimbabwe. With cultural and natural landmarks such as Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe, and King Solomon’s Gold Mines, Zimbabwe is a must-see country on any tour of Africa. Check out this quick blog post:
It was difficult to pick a dish to make at home for Zimbabwe. I refuse to pass judgment on any country or culture we cover on twowildtides, so I mean no offence when I say this, but this country had the most unsettling options so far. Dishes such as Mopane Worms, Mozondo (cow heels), and sour milk are things I may be open to trying in the country that relishes them, but not something I could stomach making at home. We decided to try Nyama, a traditional beef stew highlighted on AnswersAfrica.com, MedMuch.com, and iHarare.com. We followed this recipe by our trusty pals at 196Flavors:
This dish was easy to whip up and smelled excellent. I knew there was not much that could go wrong, but I was happy to see it come together so well. We loved the addition of green beans and that the carrots still had a little bone to them. The curry powder was a great touch, but if I made this recipe again, and I anticipate that I will, I’d add a little more. It was also a little fresh, so I’d be a little more liberal with the salt. We served up our Nyama beef stew with couscous, although the traditional option would be Zimbabwean Sadza.
See ya next week!
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