Diplomats accredited to Zimbabwe have paid glowing tribute to First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa for safeguarding the country's culture and promoting traditional dishes in a way that promotes the country's growing gastronomy tourism sector.
British Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Pete Vowles, Ethiopian Ambassador Mr Rashid Homammed Abdulwahid and Ghanaian Ambassador Mr Alexander Ntrakwa visited the First Lady's traditional kitchen at the 64th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo where they joined Amai Mnangagwa in cooking indigenous dishes.
They also had an appreciation of Zimbabwean cuisine.
Mr Vowles prepared sadza and derere (okra). They also served the dishes to guests.
Amai's kitchen served traditional delicacies which enticed scores of people at the ZITF.
Mr Vowles said he enjoyed sadza and road runner chicken, sadza and dried vegetables (mufushwa) and had previously prepared "Haifiridzi", a mixture of beef and vegetables.
"It was a great honour to be able to cook with the First Lady, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, and to be able to serve some food to guests who have been here today. I love Zimbabwean food. I also once cooked beef Haifiridzi, but normally I eat sadza and road runner, sadza and mufushwa and it was a great an honour to serve the food with the First Lady," he said.
Mr Rashid Mohamad described Amai Mnangagwa as a role model.
"I am happy to be here and I was so impressed by the culture that Zimbabwe has. The First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa is really a role model because she is taking a step in promoting culture and gastronomy tourism thus putting Zimbabwean food on the map. This can be a good example that can be drawn by other countries. Amai Mnangagwa is a person of the people. She is very close to the people and is always with them initiating various projects and programmes through her Angel of Hope Foundation," he said.
First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, Ethiopian, British and Ghanaian Ambassadors to Zimbabwe respectively Mr Rashid Homammed, Mr Pete Vowles and Mr Alexander Ntrakwa serve food to guests in her traditional kitchen at the 64th ZITF in Bulawayo
He appreciated Zimbabwean culture.
"I was quite impressed with what I saw today in Amai's traditional kitchen. Some of the food that you have here is similar to our food in Ethiopia, which shows we Africans are brothers and we are the same people. We feel like we are at home away from home because the people of Zimbabwe are welcoming. We are not strangers here," he said.
The Ghanaian Ambassador said there was a lot in common between Zimbabwean dishes and those from his country.
"It is an honour to be with the First Lady on such an expedition and we applaud her for the direction that she is taking in promoting the consumption of traditional food. When it comes to Zimbabwean local dishes what I enjoy most is sadza and tripe and mufushwa. As Ghana we have so many things in common. In Ghana, we are used to chilly sauces, but Zimbabwe is not used to chilly sauces maybe our jollof rice could also be brought to the table," he said.
He applauded Dr Mnangagwa for hosting the inaugural regional traditional cookout competition at the historic Great Zimbabwe monuments in Masvingo which saw Ghana participating.
The competition drew participants from the SADC region and other parts of Africa who showcased their indigenous dishes at a colourful event which coincided with Africa Day celebrations.
"Last year there was a cookout competition, a gastronomy festival which was hosted by Amai Mnangagwa and Ghana was there. The First Lady's initiative set the platform for the growth in gastronomy tourism where people visit countries to sample exotic cuisine. We are looking forward to similar competitions," he said.
Amai Mnangagwa, who is the country's tourism Patron, introduced Amai's traditional cookout competition in 2020.
Following its successful implementation, the programme gained popularity, culminating in the first-of-its-kind regional traditional gastronomy tourism festival.
As the First Lady and the diplomats were preparing dishes and serving guests, girls who had attended her Nhanga session were also there learning about traditional dishes which have high nutritional value and medicinal properties.
British Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Pete Vowles serve food to guests in First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa's traditional foods kitchen at the 64th ZITF in Bulawayo
They were also given the floor to ask questions to the diplomats on the type of food they have in their countries.
"I wish to thank the diplomats for their interest in Zimbabwean dishes which are rich in nutritional value and have medicinal properties. Our forefathers used to live long because of the food they ate unlike now when we have exotic dishes that expose people to ailments. We are what we eat and we should always strive to eat healthy food at all times," the First Lady said.
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Dr Mnangagwa is a proponent of Zimbabwean tradition and has been at the forefront of promoting the cultivation and consumption of traditional grains which are drought tolerant to guarantee food security and ensure people have access to a balanced diet.
As Agric4she patron she has been distributing seeds to various communities to ensure people grow their own food for consumption and has been running traditional meal cookout competitions to promote the uptake of indigenous dishes.
Dishes that were prepared in the First Lady's kitchen include sweet potatoes, groundnuts, roundnuts, nyevhe, mazondo, haifiridzi, beef stew, sorghum sadza, millet, samp in peanut butter, okra, chicken and madora (mopani worms) to name a few.
British Ambassador Mr Pete Vowles interacts with girls who attended nhanga programme while serving food to guests in First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa's traditional foods kitchen at the 64th ZITF in Bulawayo
Indigenous fruits that were served included wild berries (tsubvu), nyii, oranges and baobab fruit.
The kitchen is in support of the First Lady's girl child empowerment, after one of the country's tourism player Hot plate grill house handed over a fully equipped restaurant to the Angel of hope foundation where the less privileged girls have been offered employment.
