A traditional delicacy, slow cooked offals with grilled white sweet potatoes and of course, a large spoonful of CHISA!
My hope is that all who eat Chisa will come to love it and marvel at how it will over time come to dominate their meals, in the sense that, a meal will be impossible to eat without Chisa
An all time favourite and so common in many Zimbabwean homes. Sadza, lightly stir fried rape, stewed beef and CHISA!
Depending on the chillies used and their strength, sumu can be used generously, as a tangy relish, as part of a typical traditional dish which comprises a starch, green vegetable and a meat. On the other side of the spectrum, when sumu is hot, it is usually measured by the teaspoon and used sparingly as a sauce, for any meal.
To augment daily market sales and in a bid to arrest losses from perished tomatoes, in particular, at a time when fridges were not a common asset in the households of black people, Gogo started to make sumu (tomato and onion based sauce with chillies), which she sold, with “mafatcook” (vetkoeks) mainly outside municipal community beerhalls to patrons who were either entering or leaving these establishments.
This is one of my households favourite snacks, so easy to make yet scrumptious and filling!
I am grateful to my mum who encouraged me to explore the possibilities around this product, and just as my dad was her “taster-in-chief”, my husband is mine too, as well as my brother. For me, feedback from the two and then from more recent sales, has enabled me to continue to refine Chisa to make it an addictive experience for the taste buds.