Mozambique Gastronomy
The cuisine of Mozambique, apart from colonial impact is also heavily influenced by the long shoreline, making abundant supply of seafood a vital ingredient of their most famous dishes. People in Mozambique consume cassava or rice or cornmeal dough as a staple. This is generally accompanied by a flavorful and sometime spicy stew. Different varieties of shellfish are pretty common in Mozambique. One of their most commonly made dish is any kind of meat with spicy ‘Peri-Peri’ sauce. ‘Peri-Peri’ is basically a spicy sauce that can accompany just about any kind of meat, be it fish, prawns or chicken. Another famous dish in Mozambique is ‘Matapa’ made from cassava leaf, shrimp, crab, coconut milk and cashews. People of Mozambique indulge in palm wine (Shema) every once in a while.
Mozambique is a African country located in the southeastern coast with an area of 309,496 square miles. The country is 44% coastal lowlands. Very thick forest covers the wet regions while the lower regions have some vegetation. The most important rivers in Mozambique are the Limpopo, Zambezi, Lugenda and the Sabi.
The delicious Cuisines of the Mozambicans has been greatly influenced by the Portuguese, dating back to 1498, when a Portuguese explorer, Vasco Da Gama landed in the country on his way to India.
He quickly established Portuguese ports and trade centers that introduced crops like cassava (a starchy food), cashew nuts and Paozinho (bread rolls).
A lot of flavorings and cooking methods were also introduced by the Portuguese; seasonings such as onions, garlic, paprika, chili pepper, bay leaves, wine and red peppers were common items of trade back then.
Today, a typical Mozambique Cuisine would include traces of Portuguese influence. It is commonplace to find Prego (steak roll), pudim(pudding), rissois(battered shrimp) and the widely eaten inteiro com piripiri( Chicken sauce),.
Other staple foods eaten by the Mozambicans include ncima(maize porridge), Cassava and rice served with vegetable, fish, beans or meat sauces.
