The Zulu Tribe and Their Culinary Practices

Running head: THE ZULU TRIBE AND THEIR CULINARY PRACTICES
The food and diet of a specific cultural group and the cooking of a typical dish
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Introduction
The aim of the paper is to analyze the issue of the food habit and their cultural practices
associate with food. The paper will be highlighting the cultural group of South Africa and their
food habits in particular. Hence this paper has taken up the Zulu cultural group of South Africa
to explore the food habits and their cultural connotations. Zulus consume food mostly made of
maize due to the availability of maize in the region. However, this paper is an attempt to analyze
the interconnection between the food habits of the people with their culture. This also highlights
the preparation of one of the dishes of the Zulu people. This is divided into multiple parts and
each of the parts deal with separate issues of their food and tradition.
The Zulu people, historical context
Of the sub-Saharan Bantu people, the Zulu tribe is the most famous. The Zulu people
fought for their rights with the other clans for their land rights. It is in the beginning of the 18th
century that these people raised their voice for the protection of their rights (Lombo 2017). The
fights between the clans resulted into the victory of the clan with Shaka as the head of the clan.
These tribal warriors prove to be the brave soldiers and it is this power which has established
themselves as one of the most prominent tribes of South Africa. These groups belonging to the
Bantu ethnicity are largely concentrated in the province of KwaZulu- Natal. Some of them are
established in the provinces of Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique (Masuku et al. 2017).
Climatic, agricultural factors for this type of food habit
It has been found that the staple diet of the Zulu people is maize and over 40% of their
food items are made of maize. It is also found that the Zulus are lovers of meat however due to

the unavailability of meat and the agricultural habits of the people have led to them consume
maize in almost all their food (Masuku et al. 2017). There is another issue with the agricultural
habit of the people that has led them to develop this kind of food habit. It is to be noted that the
region where the Zulu people lay are low in rainfall and it is due to the dependence of the low
summer rainfall, they tend to depend on foods that are less water consuming. These dry plants
due to the agricultural and ecological factors are solely responsible for their reduced
consumption of meat and higher consumption of green vegetable and dry plants. Their main
cultural and traditional dish is known as the “phutu” (Naik et al. 2018). This is a mixture of
maize eaten with sour milk. Moreover the climatic condition is such in the provinces they reside;
there is larger availability of certain type of foods. Hence it is imperative to note that the food
habit of the people is determined by the climatic conditions. It is also found that the Zulu people
who have predominantly been the warrior class suffered n extreme conditions and this is one of
the reasons for the development of their typical food habit.
Significant factors that have influenced the development of their culinary culture, domestic
food practices and cuisine
One of the primary factors for their development of the “phutu” dish is due to the
excessive and cheap availability of maize in the region they reside. Another factor responsible
for the development of this cuisine is the expensive meat and the financial conditions of the Zulu
working as constraints for their food habit (Zulu-culture.co.za, 2019). There is a historical
context attached to their food habit and there are specific domestic practices for the development
of a particular food habit. For example, they have an extensive way of processing their food and
there are roles attached to people for the preparation of this food (Naik et al. 2018). Irrespective
of being vegetarian for most part of their diet, they consume meat occasionally and there is