The second thing is that it is considered rude to not eat food that has been offered to you. I did not want to seem rude during my first week in Zambia, so I had to eat the Nshima. I will say that I have grown to like Nshima during my time here in Lusaka.
You can cook Nshima in different ways, with different types of corn meal. You can use millet meal, cassava or breakfast meal. Truthfully, I do not entirely know the difference. I know that they tend to have different colors based on which one you choose. I have never made Nshima on my own, but I hear it is quite simple. You only need water and corn meal to make Nshima. You mix the ingredients until you get a Play-Doh like consistency. I have found that the longer Nshima sits out and cools, the harder it becomes. For this reason, it is normally served as soon as it is finished cooking.
Nshima is connected to the local environment here in Zambia. It is made from maize, also known as corn, which is one of the main crops grown in Zambia. The corn is dried to make corn meal, and corn meal is used to make Nshima. I cannot say this for sure, but it is possible that Nshima would not be a staple food in Zambia if corn was not produced in bulk. Most people in Lusaka have Nshima for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
