Once again I was commissioned by The Cook’s Cook magazine in the United States to write a feature article, this time on The Elephant Café. You can find the original story published in the December/January issue by clicking here, or for those with slow internet connections, I have reproduced my story below.
Rachel was an orphan. Her last name is Tembo, which in Swahili means “elephant.” How remarkable, then, that Rachel should end up becoming part of a family of orphaned elephants? And more so that she is especially loved by all the babies in the herd to which she has such a deep connection? “The young ones are my kids,” she told me earlier this week.
The ecosystems of Zambia’s rivers are in serious peril because of the introduction of an Australian species of freshwater crayfish, by a fish farm, 15 years ago. According to our friend Bruce Danckwerts, who lives in Choma two hours north of Livingstone, the crayfish escaped from the fish farm shortly thereafter and have spread up and down the Kafue River.
The nomination came as such a surprise. I’d neither heard of the Zambia Hospitality Awards (ZHA), nor expected any sort of recognition for The Elephant Café because we were still so new.
Last month, with little warning, Chris bought an air ticket to Greece. His three children had gathered on the island of Paros for the dying days of summer, giving him a rare opportunity to see them together, as they all live on separate continents. It was an out-of-character, impetuous move on Chris’s part, but one I wholly supported.
When I’m introduced to a new indigenous ingredient, I experience a similar reaction to that of a prospector unearthing a new mineral deposit. My eyes alight. I examine and prod and my fingertips tingle. I giggle. I have an urge to squirrel away what I come across until, that is, my taste buds demand a part of the action.
These are flavors few people out of Africa have tasted.
