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Tasty Mice: The Significance of Mice in the Diet of Zambia's Tumbuka
| Article
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20550 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1992 |
2,101 Words |
| Author
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Mwizenge S. Tembo
Mwizenge S. Tembo is associate professor of sociology at
Bridgewater College in Virginia. He wishes to comment that, of
course, one should exercise common sense, maintain good
hygiene, and take necessary medical precautions whenever
eating in a foreign country. Fears of contaminated food
and "dirty" water frequently create worries for the average
Western visitor to Zambia. Indeed, visitors may experience
some food-related discomforts. But be assured that in Zambia
most well-cooked foods, especially nshima, are clean, as is
water from faucets, taps, or concrete wells in rural areas. |
The hunting and eating of mice is deeply entrenched in the customs and traditions of the Tumbuka people of rural eastern Zambia. As a delicacy, mice might be offered alongside nshima, a traditional food prepared by boiling water and stirring cornmeal into it until the bland white mixture becomes thick. The nshima and mice might be served to guests, other respected elders, or the family as a special treat. A shrewd housewife knows how to budget and ration the mice. If there is a difficult choice, a wise wife who is worthy of esteem is expected to reserve some for her husband if she loves and respects him.
Common expressions among the Tumbuka include a couple's yearning or wishing for a baby boy so that he can kill mice for them when he grows up. Parents chastise boys who bully their little sisters by asking them, "Who is going to cook mice for you when you grow up?" One of the traditional criteria for a boy's growing to manhood was the ability to dig for and kill mice. It a child is running and accidental trips and falls, an adult will console him by dusting him off and saying, "Never mind, you killed a mouse."
A famous legend illustrates how embedded mouse consumption is in Tumbuka culture. A man went to the fields and caught six mice. He brought them home to the village for his wife to cook. She dried them nicely. The man ate two of them with nshima and enjoyed them a great deal. The next meal, to the husband's chagrin, he was served the nshima meal with delele (a leafy vegetable). He angrily summoned his wife for an explanation. The husband stated that there had been six mice, but he had eaten only two. He asked where the other four had gone. The poor wife explained that she and the children had eaten two and her uncle and other guests who had visited earlier had eaten the others. The husband gave the wife a beating for being so irresponsible. The wife wailed, saying that her brute of a husband was killing her because of mice.
In the village court, the elders severely rebuked the husband. He was disgraced in his village and the surrounding towns because he was trying to run what was going on in the kitchen and particularly the "kitchen pot," which was hardly a man's responsibility. From that time, the story tells us, men have never counted pieces of meat in the kitchen pot, be they beef, chicken, small birds, or eggs. The legend plays many functions among the Tumbuka. It defines limits of behavior between married men and women, reaffirms sexual division of labor land responsibilities, and discourages excess physical abuse of their wives. The punishment for an erring husband will be public shame and
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