BOCHOO!

-
IT’S TASTY! IT’S CALLED BOCHOO!

Imagine you are travelling for about eight hours. If you are travelling by private car or public bus, you make stops at takeaway outlets and buy your refreshments. If you are travelling by air, an air hostess will wake you to some warm munchies that may include fresh juices.

This is because your body demands to be nourished for renewed energy and keep healthy.

So it is with us travelling to Ungland. When we have been paddling a laden boat or canoe over a distance of more than 30 kilometers, we stop to fill the tanks. 

We fix some original and real fast food! The difference is that our fastest meal will be complemented with delicious stuff known as Bochoo. It is indeed some quick delicacy that should not take a lot of time. The meal is better taken while it is hot.
 
The other difference with what you pals consume on the plane, your car or bus is that we cook our own while you get it ready-made. Here is how accomplished Unga sous-chefs do it:

 Boil well quantified water at 100 degrees Celsius. Take the water off fire. Take a good equivalent measure of cassava meal and pour it into the hot water. Accurate measurements are necessary if you do not want to go against our cherished adage, “amenshi balinga no bunga.”(Match the quantity of water to the equivalent Mealie meal)

 Mix until you get a solidified porridge called Nshima. It has to be done off-fire otherwise it will be elasticizing like plasticized chewing gum which can earn you enemies of travel companions!

The real one is hard and soft which glides down your gullet leaving you feeling like a real human. That sensation you feel when you eat what you certainly like, yeah!

Get the right sized natural swampy bred redbreast tilapia we call Mpende.
Carefully reap the bream in small cuts on both sides and spread quarter ounce of raw table salt. Place the fish direct on fire and let it roast for 6-10 minutes before turning it to the opposite side. Repeat the process with the rest of the fish according to the number of travellers.

Can see you are salivating to join the travelling team? Yes!

 Mind you, we rarely share a fish between two. The unwritten rule is each one for himself, or better, one man one sunfish.

Serve the meal in the center of any space around the cooking spot, and please don’t look at the size of my morsels and the speed at which I am tanking my belly. My tummy is empty and so justice demands that to every action, there be equal but opposite reaction.

 My granny would tell me not to worry about who is watching; “ombela umo ombela, amenso ya bantu tayalya!(Ignore the spectator))”

I surely only mind my own business because this is BOCHOO (roasted) and there is nothing like it anywhere! More importantly, it is roasted by fwebene (ourselves)! And it is really fast too! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SHOULD ABANDONED CHILDREN TAKE BACK ABSENTEE FATHERS?

-
Image
There are a million reasons why marriages fail. In addition, failed matrimonial unions have partners accusing each other of causing the break-up. Usually, consideration of the fate of children does not bother lovers-turned-enemies at all. Ultimately, innocent children pay the heavy price. Do you appreciate the value of growing up in a loving family? How much gratitude do your parents deserve if they endured so much to give you protection and a chance to grow up into a responsible person?  Lunga kid gazing at a doubtful distant future- Pic by LDA To understand why you must count your blessings if you had that tender loving care from both parents, think of those whose parents deprived them of that chance.  Every normal and responsible person knows that children brought up in broken homes face serious challenges. Usually, they do not only miss that vital affectionate care but also many opportunities because of the lack of necessities of life. But what does it mean to be brought...
Read more

GETTING BACK TO BASICS

-
Image
Life is all about basics. I listened to one supposedly learned person in an intense argument in one of the many minibus-political debates I have heard. The educated fiercely attacked the governance of the FTJ Chiluba government. He stated that the many challenges Zambia was going through at the time were because of the president’s primary education. He further condemned the establishment of Basic schools, which, according to him, did not add any meaningful value to the country. Finally, he encouraged people to vote for university graduates in future elections. In response, the opponents gave an example of the early Kaunda days. They stated that Dr. Kaunda did very well in his first ten years of rule despite having just attained a ‘basic’ education. They indicated that Dr Chiluba had, in fact, numerous cabinet ministers who were highly educated. This debate got more intense as those supporting graduates and non-graduates joined. Each contributor had their reasons for keeping their...
Read more

NOSTALGIA

-
Image
An excessive sentimental yearning of some past period or irrecoverable condition, termed nostalgia, is exactly what I felt when I traveled to Ncheta Island, my place of origin. Thinking about Lunga  As our boat approached the flooded villages, instead of feeling sympathetic, my memories took me back to the time when conditions like that provided cherished opportunities to us, boys, to search and find small fishes that we slew for pleasure . Wading through ponds going fishing without a canoe (kufushila) was a prized pastime. That day reminded me of times men brought in tasty, gigantic tiger fish or bream which, when cooked, tasted more like steak; and needed no artificial spices.   Back then, came mid-days when men gathered in one place, nsaka, where it rained nshima, our main dish. If you were an obedient boy, you feasted with the village elite and you were encouraged at the end, to take away the leftovers of chunks of fish, which was a great honor! Ho...
Read more