If there is ever one article that has attracted the most feedback in all my column’s life, then Chimbala which came out end of September 2010 tops the list. I am yet to find out why but it keeps on attracting so much ‘core’ calls.
This time I reproduce the article dedicating it to my mum (Nyamuziya) and by extension to my mother in-law (Nyabanda) and the mother to my two bubbly boys (Nyapyole). All of them will be home with us for the Mothers’ Day this Tuesday, 15th October. So, here we are again with the article as it came-out in 2010:
This morning, as I was making my way out of our house, I passed through the Kitchen. I saw some leftovers from last evening’s food. It was a lot of food by urban Malawian standards. Just as I was about to ask the housemaid on what was not happening, my wife popped from behind and just said one word ‘Chimbala’ (the Tumbuka word for leftovers). I laughed my lungs out. Very clever woman. She got me and got me very well.
The story of Chimbala goes like this: last year, I took the liberty to visit my mum; I can’t remember the exact occasion but I went there with my wife. As is normally the custom in my village, almost every family comes with a plateful of ‘nsima’ and usually ‘chicken’ or some other meaty relish. We ate as much as we could. But somehow, left-overs were inevitable.
Early the following morning, my mum warmed up some of the left-overs and put them on the table for me. So I was surprised and asked the meaning of it all. She then asked ‘mukuzizwachi? (Why do you look surprised?)’. I answered ‘Amama kasi nilyenge Chimbala? (Will I be eating last night’s leftovers?)’ I asked. To which she responded ‘a Tomasi, mwaleka pawuli kulya chimbala? Betele ichi nathukizga, kwamba kale ukatemwanga chimbala chomeni’. My wife rolled to the ground with stitches of laughter. I knew my days of eating chimbala would be many – because my wife would abundantly provide the same when we got back to our base.
What’s the lesson? Folks in the village learnt from their deep wisdom that one of the best ways to really extract the most value from a meal is to utilize every bit of the leftover food instead of merely throwing it away. Visiting the village for the first time, one would think villagers are extravagant, but if you observe closely, they hardly through away food. They will eat even fish and meat bones while many in town who consider themselves more economic throw too much food away. Not only does utilizing left-overs reduce waste, it also drastically reduces the cost per meal in your household, and over the long term, that can add up to a lot of money.
The only problem with this philosophy is that leftovers are often not exactly the tastiest thing for the palate. Because of this lack of culinary appeal, many people often toss their leftover food, or they put it in the refrigerator with the intent to use it but forget about it until it’s stale. I know of fridges that are three quarters full of left overs.
The mother to my children, whom I am so proud of, has a different approach. She tries very hard to find ways to use leftover food in interesting and substantially different dishes a night or two later. This way, the new meal doesn’t seem like a stale re-hash of the first one.
What’s the key lesson here? Try to prepare food that is just enough for the occasion or day. However, this may not always be possible. In that case, look at left-overs as merely an ingredient for a completely different meal later. If you keep that in mind and utilize your own creativity, you’ll be shocked at how many useful ways you can find to use your left-overs and save money. Ultimately, there is a huge cost in throwing left-overs away.
Happy Mother’s Day to amama and all Mothers!
