One of the fastest ways to learn about a new place is through food! In Malawi, meals have been one of my main methods for connection, bringing together fellows in my program, new friends, families, and oftentimes strangers. Dinners have ranged from fish bought straight from the lake, to Taco Tuesday at the sole Mexican restaurant in Lilongwe, and food has helped me understand daily life, history, and communities within Malawi.
I’ve tried a wide range of foods in Malawi, but the foods you'll find most often are nsima (a cornmeal porridge used for scooping), rice, fish, beans, and some sort of steamed or boiled greens. These staples form the base of most meals and are eaten daily across Malawi. Many meals have been also been familiar, like Italian pasta at Mama Mia, biryani chicken from Bombay Palace, and a plunger coffee with avocado toast at Maravi Cafe. The biggest difference from Michigan is that fresh fruit is often growing in people's backyards, including avocados, lychees, mangos, guavas, passionfruit, papayas, and more. Other local cuisine has included freshly caught chambo (a local tilapia we bought from two men in a canoe passing by) from Lake Malawi, Ethiopian food with spongy injera, North African shakshuka, full English breakfasts, and home-cooked meals sold out of the trunk of a car by a hospital worker named Mally.
