South Africa, Suburban - At the Table: Food and Family around the World - Ken Albala

At the Table: Food and Family around the World - Ken Albala (2016)

South Africa, Suburban

Yael Joffe

SUNDAY LUNCH, 93 TOM TOM ROAD, KWANDENGEZI, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA

Dolly (age 62) and Robert (age 58) Maisurnam Madlala live in a two-bedroom house in KwaNdengezi, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Robert is a house painter, and Dolly works as a domestic worker in Durban. KwaNdengezi, a semiurban area about 30 minutes outside the city of Durban, is populated by lower-income black South Africans, mostly Zulus. It has minimal infrastructure, schools, retail, and transport. KwaNdengezi is an example of a community experiencing both the nutrition and urban transitions that have resulted from the movement of black rural populations seeking employment in the city, often exchanging one level of poverty and food insecurity for another.

Albala

Dolly Madlala together with her neighbor Mavis and Mavis's daughter Zodwa have prepared Sunday lunch for Dolly's friends and neighbors who stop by to eat after church. Dolly takes charge dishing up a generous plate of many dishes for her guests, who sit quietly with unspoken appreciation enjoying the generous meal. (Courtesy of Ciske Janse van Rensburg)

These communities are structured around a large number and variety of churches that play a strong role in the moral, material, and nutritional sustenance of the community. However, in contrast there is also a high incidence of substance abuse, violence against women and children, and crime. Sunday is for most the only day of rest and revolves around church services; as a result, the biggest meal of the week is lunch after church on Sunday. Dolly cooks for her and Robert but makes enough for any neighbor who may stop by. On this Sunday because Yael’s family was joining Dolly and Robert for lunch, Dolly invited her church friends for lunch and asked her neighbor and her daughter to help come and cook. Mavis (age 57), also a domestic worker, and her daughter Zodwa (age 25) live next door to Dolly and helped with the cooking, each showcasing her own specialty. Dolly, Mavis, and Zodwa each had dishes they were responsible for and were proud of. They took the lead on those dishes, with the other two helping out in the preparation tasks.

Cooking started at 9:00 a.m. Yael was relegated to drinking tea out of Dolly’s precious tea set, reserved for special guests and unpacked for the occasion. The tea was served with fresh milk rather than the long-life milk usually used. Yael was refused participation in the cooking and was to sit and drink tea as their guest. They spent the time talking and laughing. It was a time for the women to share their stories with Yael. They talked about their favorite foods and how no one ate pork but everyone loved lamb, which they couldn’t afford. Dolly cooked turkey and lamb on Christmas Day, which was an extravagance she was proud of. They spoke about the church and how strict they were. Zodwa is young and was dressed in modern clothes with false eyelashes and painted fingernails, all of which were frowned upon in the church (and by her mother). They spoke about the kitchen as the domain of the women. Robert was described as one of the better and more helpful husbands, who on occasion will cook if Dolly is not around. He boils everything he cooks and thinks it an excellent cooking method. With the nutrition transition and accompanying aspiration to eat and live like the whites, boiling is often regarded as backward, whereas frying food is modern and more delicious. Men in the community do not shop, cook, or make any food decisions. The community remains traditionally patriarchal; men do not do “women’s work.” Women are responsible for the home; for sourcing, preparing, and serving the food; and for all child rearing. In South Africa, black women carry the greatest emotional, physical, and financial burden. Women will care for the children and the home and work full-time, but the men decide how and where to spend the money. There is also an alarming prevalence of violence against women and children in poor South African communities, fueled by the frustration of poverty, substance abuse, and traditional gender roles.

South Africa has a quadruple burden of disease, characterized by undernutrition and underdevelopment, found predominantly in children; emerging chronic diseases associated with increasing overweight and obesity; HIV/AIDs; and injuries (often crime related). The paradox of obesity in black African populations is the prevalence of overweight and obesity with malnutrition as a result of poor food choices that favor processed, refined, low-nutrient carbohydrates; sweetened foods and beverages; and fried foods. Neither Dolly, Mavis, nor Zodwa had any knowledge or interest in the health properties or nutritional content of foods. In conversation around the nutritional value of different foods over others, they were unable to discern a more healthy from a less healthy food. Their food choices were based entirely on affordability and access.

Neither family grew any vegetables, as they did not have time owing to their long commutes to the houses they cleaned—this despite Mavis expressing a love of gardening and her wish to be able to grow her own produce. The majority of South Africa’s small-scale farmers are women. Black African women have a tradition of growing vegetables and maize (mielies) to provide basic sustenance for their families. Maize is eaten in numerous ways and forms the basis of all meals. With the move to semiurban overcrowded areas, there is little arable land, little time to farm, and an aspiration for cheap, processed, white flour, maize meal, rice, and sugar.

While poor food choices may partly explain the rising incidence of obesity in these communities, body size perception is still driven by tradition, culture, and to some degree superstition. Dolly, who would be defined as morbidly obese, expressed great satisfaction with her body weight and had no wish to look any different; she expressed pride in her corpulence. Mavis, who suffered from stomach ulcers and battled to eat, was very slim and wished she could be bigger. Zodwa was voluptuous and also expressed great satisfaction with her body weight. In black African populations, being bigger means being healthy, robust, and able to afford good food. Being obese is seen as a status of wealth. Being thin is to be sick, often thought to be due to HIV or AIDS. This poses a significant challenge to South African health authorities looking for ways to impact the growing prevalence of obesity.

In addition to a disinterest in and an ignorance of healthy foods, they also had no knowledge of or interest in organic food, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, sustainable agriculture, or the environment. There was no understanding of ethical consumerism or consumption, and when these issues were raised they had no empathy for why these issues should be important to them.

A beef curry and a chicken curry were the main offers of the lunch. These were very mildly spiced and may be described more as a stew than a curry. Beef is seldom cooked because of the cost and is reserved for special occasions and celebrations. Rather than constituting the main part of the plate, chicken and meat are used as a flavoring for meals, and each person is dished only a few tablespoons of each. Often meat bones will be bought and used to flavor food such as beans or samp (dried corn kernels that have been stamped and chopped until broken but not as fine as mielie meal or mielie rice).

The beef was braised with onion, mild curry spices, fresh curry leaves, fresh garlic, and ginger. Powdered stock cubes, frozen mixed vegetables, and water were then added to the meat, and it was slow-cooked for an hour at least. The chicken curry was cooked in a similar way. The chicken was in portions and frozen, and Mavis washed the chicken and removed the random feathers and gristle. The starch foods make up the majority of the meal. This is true of all meals. In more food- insecure households, many meals will include only cooked mielie meal, such as phutu and maas (sour milk). Mielie meal is a relatively coarse flour (much coarser than cornflour or cornmeal) made from maize (called mielies or mealies). It is a staple food in South Africa and many other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, traditionally made into uphuthu, sour-milk porridge, pap, and also umqombothi (a type of beer). For this lunch there were three different starch foods served. Phutu is a cooked fine maize meal that is the staple carbohydrate dish for the South African black population, and it is made by mixing the maize meal with water and a little salt and stirring it until it forms a thick mix that can be molded by hand. Phutu is made to varying consistencies depending on what it is being served with and at which meal. White rice was also served. One of Mavis’s specialties is steamed bread. Steamed bread is made from a yeast dough that has risen in a plastic tub covered with a large plastic bag. The dough is divided in two, and each portion is placed in a plastic carrier bag, which is knotted. A very large pot is placed on the stove with about two inches of water, and an upside-down plate is placed in the water. The plastic bags with the dough are placed onto the plate, a lid is placed over the pot that is not opened, and the bread is steamed in this way for 20 minutes. The bread is then taken out of the plastic bags, cut into slices, and plated.

A number of accompanying salads were also made. Chakalaka is made from a variety of grated and chopped vegetables, cooked beans, and a small amount of curry spice and chilli. It is a warm salad that is eaten like a relish alongside the meat and chicken dish or served with pap. Store-bought mayonnaise was used extensively. One salad included sliced processed sausages, a tin of baked beans, and mayonnaise. A coleslaw salad of finely cut green cabbage, grated carrot, and mayonnaise was made. A beetroot salad included chopped chunks of boiled beetroot mixed with a sweet store-bought chutney. Dessert was a very large bowl of pudding made from store-bought long-life custard, long-life tinned cream, a large tub of sweetened mixed fruit yogurt, and a tin of mixed fruit pieces. This was followed by a second dessert course that included a store-bought chocolate cake layered with cream and a berry-flavored “cold drink” (soft drink).

The majority of the preparation and cooking revolved around a small table and the stove with an array of very large aluminum pots. There was a microwave and also a food processor sitting on top of the fridge, but these items were not used and are probably not used at all. Everything was chopped by hand on wooden chopping boards, and there was a great deal of chopping done. Tins were opened with a knife, as the tin opener had long ago broken. Dishes and pots were washed and dried by hand by Dolly, Mavis, and Zodwa.

Dolly did the shopping a day or two before the lunch. Price was the primary determinant for foods bought, followed by accessibility. KwaNdengezi has no supermarkets. A few vendors sell soft drinks, sweets, and potato crisps on the side of the road. The majority of the ingredients were bought from two supermarkets (Shoprite and Cambridge) in the nearby town of Pinetown. Shoprite and Cambridge are the cheapest retail supermarket chains in South Africa. A few items such as the tomatoes, green pepper, and chilies were bought from street vendors, as they offer smaller quantities than the supermarkets, which means less waste of any fresh produce bought. These vendors are local and may be nothing more than a table on the side of the road or a shopping trolley piled high with produce. They buy bulk sizes from the supermarkets and then sell the fruit and vegetables individually or in small quantities. Food is bought daily to cook and only as much as is needed. Enough food will be cooked for that day and if possible leftovers for the next day lunch. Dolly and Mavis are very conscious of food waste. Their purchasing and cooking choices demonstrate a creative consideration for minimizing food waste.

The women cooked until lunch was served at around 1:00 p.m. There was no apparent starting time for lunch; the guests arrived slowly and quietly at different times. A table was set outside in the narrow cement driveway with plastic chairs up against the wall. A small gazebo and beach umbrella borrowed from a neighbor were erected over the table, as it was raining that day. There was no place for so many people to eat in the house. The table was covered with a tablecloth, and all the food except the desserts was placed on the table in the pots and dishes they were cooked or made in. Commercially manufactured white ceramic plates and metal cutlery (only spoons and forks) were laid out on the table in piles. A few glasses were placed on the table with colored paper napkins folded inside. These appeared to be for decorative purposes only, as no one used the napkins.

Yael and her family were encouraged to dish up for themselves first, but for the other guests Dolly dished up their plates. Robert was given a plate of food and ate his lunch inside, by himself. He was not expected to eat with the guests and removed himself from the gathering with no consequence. There was only one other man, who was younger and ate with the women. The older women were served before the younger women. Dolly dished up their plates, a small amount of each food, a few tablespoons, but because of the array of dishes the plates were full.

Each guest found a chair up against the wall and sat down to eat. There was a conspicuous silence, and manners were immaculate. Hardly any words were exchanged, and no one expressed any dietary or food preferences. Only a spoon was used to eat, and the phutu was eaten with a hand and used to dip into the food and mop up the sauces and gravies. The food was eaten in total silence with little eye contact, as if the food was shared among strangers. No one asked for second helpings, and no one helped himself or herself to more food. After the main course, the pudding was dished into glass bowls and handed around with spoons. As if agreed beforehand, the guests started talking to each other, transforming the lunch into a jovial animated gathering. After the pudding each guest was given a slice of the chocolate cake with a teaspoon and a poured glass of berry cold drink. This was clearly the highlight of the meal and was relished by everyone. The guests all stayed, perhaps waiting politely for Yael and her family to leave. When they did leave, the other guests all congregated in the driveway, waving goodbye to Yael with big smiles and loud farewells.

Chakalaka

6-7 medium-size carrots, grated

2 onions, chopped small

1 big green pepper, chopped small

2 green chilies, spilt open and seeds taken out

1 can of baked beans (beans in a tomato sauce)

2 teaspoons of curry powder

½ cup of sunflower oil

1 Knorex cube (a beef stock cube)

1.Fry the onion, green pepper, and whole chilies in oil until a little soft, then add carrots, beans, and stock cube.

2.Season to taste and cook until all the ingredients are well mixed throughout but retain their texture. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

FURTHER READING

Battersby, J. “Beyond the Food Desert: Finding Ways to Speak about Urban Food Security in South Africa.” Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 94(2) (2012): 141-159.

Frayne, Bruce, et al. The State of Urban Food Insecurity in Southern Africa. Cape Town: AFSUN, 2010.

Joubert, L. S., and E. Miller. The Hungry Season: Feeding Southern Africa’s Cities. Johannesburg: Picador, 2012.