Food brings people together, say Zimbabwean chefs

Chris CraddockJersey communities reporter
News imageBBC Tendai is to the left and Nyamwererei are in aprons standing side by side in a bright kitchen, facing the camera. Both are positioned in front of a cooker hood and tiled backsplash, with soft indoor lighting and kitchen items visible in the backgroundBBC
Tendai Chatama (left) and Nyamwererei Chatikobo from Taste of the Motherland said it is important to share African culture

Two Zimbabwean chefs are using food "as a way of connecting people together" as they take part in Africa Week.

It is organised by the charity Friends of Africa and involved visits to schools and care homes to spread African culture.

Tendai Chatama and Nyamwererei Chatikobo from the Taste of the Motherland restaurant will provide one of the food stalls in the Royal Square where the charity will be sharing food, music and fashion from the continent to the public.

Chatama said they "get to experience home away from home" in Africa Week, with Chatikobo adding: "For me, Africa Week is a way to recognise the unity between the different African countries."

News imageNyamwererei and Tendai are wearing black aprons stand at a stovetop in a modern kitchen. Nyamwererei holds a plate while Tendai uses a spoon to serve a cooked dish from a frying pan; a pot with a lid sits on the hob nearby.
Chatikobo and Chatama will be serving Zimbabwean dishes such as gango, which made up of four different meats

The celebrations are under way from 16:00 BST until 22:00 on Thursday and Friday.

Chatama said: "Africa Week brings diversity on the island and it's so important to embrace diversity because given the different challenges in the world.

"We are a thousand miles away from Africa; away from the sun, away from some of the colourful things that we experience in Africa, and Africa Week brings a lot of those things into play," she added.

Chatikobo said "Sharing our Zimbabwean food is basically our way of keeping our culture alive because it also makes us keep in touch with our identity and our culture."

She added: "I love the fact that it's held in the Royal Square, which is a very open space where everyone from every ethnicity or cultures can just come."

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