Amagugu experience
LAST week Amagugu International Heritage Centre hosted the third edition of their annual Traditional Food and Beverage Expo with fun activities like mountain climbing and braaing on the rocks.
The week-long Traditional Food and Beverage Expo, which started on Monday and ended on a high note on Saturday, was aimed at celebrating and raising awareness on traditional foods and beverages. The first five days of the expo involved the educating of school children in Matabeleland about the benefits of traditional foods.
On Saturday it was all about fun activities with a traditional vibe to it from traditional food cooking competitions and traditional drinks as well as mountain top music experience to braaing on the rocks.
The last day of the expo was an amazing experience consisting of a historic tour, walking past some small villages to climbing a mountain to its peak which saw this reporter and many others breaking some sweat before reaching the mountain top.
Upon reaching the climax you are welcomed by a beautiful view of Matopo’s monumental landscapes including a glorious mountain scenery of the Njelele and the sparkling Gonda Dam, while the ears were being treated to some exuberant tribal music by Drums of Peace.
While on the mountain peak, we got to have a different approach to braaing as people got to grill meat on a hot rock which was quite mesmerising. Seeing the hot meat being grilled with bare hands, the soothing grill sounds and the sweet aroma of the meat left many drooling. When it came to sampling the meat, it had more flavour than that which is braaied over hot coals. The braaing on the rocks session was hosted by former Skyz Metro FM staffer Babongile Skhonjwa.
An elderly tour guide got to educate people about the Njelele shrine which is found in a granite kopje with hidden entrances. The shrine is sacred and it is forbidden to climb the Njelele.
While people enjoyed the rock-grilled meat, those who drink alcohol were served with traditional beer — popularly known as “seven days” or isigodokhaya — brewed by local experts.
During the first five days, the centre hosted some schools from Bulawayo including Eveline High School, St Thomas Primary School, King George, Newmansford Pre-School and Nketa High School.
Learners were educated on seed varieties, traditional foods and their nutritional values.
On the second day of the food conference had presentations from universities including Midlands State University, Chinhoyi University of Technology and Lupane State University who exhibited their traditional food and beverage products.