I’d like to share with you one of the more meaningful experiences of my life in our Renton community that I had recently with a group of friends. Four couples, including my husband and me, bought an “African Dinner Experience” at the Renton Chamber of Commerce auction last December. The African dinner was to be cooked by our own Capt. Terry Masango and his wife Rutendo from the Salvation Army, who were born in Zimbabwe. The group elected to have the dinner at our home last Saturday night.
Gracious and humble hosts, Capt. Terry and Rutendo cooked us a feast! She didn’t say, but I’m sure Rutendo cooked for days. Their native dish is called sadza, which is cornmeal, or “meali-meal” and comes out the consistency of mashed potatoes, or for those familiar with Italian cooking, a little bit like polenta. With this we were served three (!) different stews. One pork, one beef, one chicken. Some of the meats were seasoned with curry or garlic. Our meats were accompanied by collard greens and greens with peanut butter. We learned that in their country, having sadza with meat is a special occasion, because the country is very poor. I’d managed to find some outstanding wines from South Africa to accompany our dishes.
We all admitted we were a little unsure what to expect with a new cuisine but loved every delicious last bite. And we should have because we were all in for a new experience when we started the meal. We had to eat with our hands! Capt. Terry related to us that the proper way to eat the meal was with our right hands — which are considered clean. Take a little scoop of sadza, roll it in your fingers until it’s like a small dumpling, dip it in the gravy, take a piece of meat, a little greens and yum! We had great fun teasing one of our friends, who won’t even dine at a restaurant that doesn’t have cloth napkins, about eating with his hands!
Capt. Terry and Rutendo came dressed in their native costumes (she looked stunning!) and also shared with us lots of things about their culture and history. We learned that 1,000 people attended their wedding! That Terry paid a dowry to Rutendo’s father in the form of cows. They brought beautiful sandstone artifacts from home, and a slideshow of pictures of their families and Terry’s recent trip back to Zimbabwe to care for his ailing mother (she’s better, thank God).
The evening was just about as close to perfect as you can get. Thanks to the Masangos, the African Dinner was the experience of a lifetime!
Susan Bressler is an active member of a number of Renton organizations, including Piazza Renton. E-mail her at scbressler@comcast.net.
