Book of Days Tales

Cetshwayo kaMpande was installed as king of the Zulus on this date in 1873. He was the commander in chief of the Zulu during the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879 – famous for the massive defeat of the British at the Battle of Isandlwana, after which Cetshwayo repeatedly sued for peace and was repeatedly rebuffed.  The battle of Rorke’s Drift, made famous by the movie Zulu, ensued. It turned out to be a brief highlight in a long series of British defeats.  Violent war as opposed to civil negotiations was the only way the British colonists knew.  Who were the civilized ones?

There are a great many traditional Zulu recipes to choose from.  I choose to go with imifino, a dish of wild, foraged greens which reminds us of the abundance of nature. Obviously you cannot get African wild greens, but if you are adventurous you can gather edible leafy greens in your own area.  Dandelion is a good start.  Then there are sorrel, dock, purslane . . . what have you.  Google will find some excellent sites such as https://joybileefarm.com/wild-greens-weeds-eat/ . You will have to experiment with the leaves that you pick for their taste. You also need to be careful.  Pick only what you are sure of. Or go with farmed greens as most Zulu do nowadays.  The recipe below cops out but you can replace the cultivated greens with those you pick yourself.

Ingredients

    200 gm turnip greens, washed and torn

    200 gm spinach, washed and torn

    60 gm watercress

    4 tablespoons olive oil

    200 gm baby onions or baby leeks, halved lengthwise

    350 gm parsnip, peeled and sliced

    salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Instructions

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, keeping a bowl of iced water close by. Blanch the greens by cooking them in the boiling water for 3 minutes, then submerge them in the iced water.

Heat a large skillet and add the olive oil. When the oil is smoking char the onions/leeks and the parsnips. Remove them from the pan and keep warm. In the same skillet, stir-fry the greens and season them with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the vegetables on a warmed serving plate.