Have you ever travelled to the shores of Lake Malawi because your tastebuds are craving kondowole with charcoal-grilled batala fish and chigwada or visted Mulanje Mountain to savour boiled makaka, kalongonda and crispy grasshoppers? Indigenous dishes add value to tourist destination, writes tourism scholar NATASHA RUNGANGA, from Mzuzu University. Local people have consumed indigenous cuisines for many generations. Indigenous cuisines help destinations stand out and attract tourists who want authentic cultural experiences.
Indigenous meals are part of an intangible cultural heritage in societies, and they can be leveraged as one of the key aspects in gastronomy tourism.
Gastronomy tourism is a growing trend, as tourists increasingly seek food experiences that depict the local culture and traditions of a destination.
Nowadays, tourists travel to seek and experience the authentic taste of a destination. Indigenous cuisines have emerged as one of the key elements of product differentiation in destinations.
They continue to be a major distinguishing element across cultures and destinations that no replica can replace.
In many contexts, food serves as a primary marker of cultural uniqueness and plays an important role in bringing the unique elements of a destination.
Food-based tourism remains underexplored and leveraging our indigenous cuisines can help distinguish destinations with unique indigenous cuisine offerings.
As the world celebrated World Tourism Day on Sunday, Malawi’s rich indigenous cuisine has an opportunity to enhance visitors’ experiences and become a powerful tool for gastronomy tourism.
Indigenous cuisines generate opportunities for everyone in the tourism value chain as they support local sourcing and allow local farmers to thrive and earn a living from selling their produce.
They provide a valuable platform for farmers to market their fresh, organic and locally-grown ingredients.
In today’s competitive tourism landscape, meeting guest expectations is crucial, but it is no longer enough; destinations need to go an extra mile in further defining and differentiating themselves.
While quality service, cleanliness, comfort and overall guest experience remain key pillars of guest satisfaction, there is a growing demand for unique, authentic and place-based experiences, especially when it comes to food experiences.
Local cuisine has emerged as a powerful attraction, drawing visitors not just to see a destination, but to taste it.
Tourists increasingly seek the unique flavours that reflect a region’s history, culture, and identity.
Offering guests what they want is good customer service; however, offering the guest what they didn’t know they needed transforms a trip into a story worth sharing and a meal into a memory.
Destinations such as Italy, Thailand and India have a vibrant gastronomy tourism, anchored by their unique food offerings, which range from indigenous cuisines which are accessible in restaurants and on the street (street food vending). Food allows a destination to reach the world, and has to be placed as a key priority in destination marketing.
Dishes like kondowole with chigwada or usipa, mbalagha, futali, chinaka and edible insects (dzombe, inswa and nkhungu) are some of the unique offerings that have the potential to entice food-happy tourists to Malawi.
Many hotels offer indigenous cuisines as a special menu and this trend exhibits a missed opportunity.
The country’s indigenous cuisines, like many across sub-Saharan Africa, share deep similarities and are rich in flavour, culture and history.
Unfortunately, they have long been overshadowed by the cuisines of other destinations.
To truly celebrate Malawi’s culinary heritage, we must decolonise our food culture by valuing and promoting indigenous culinary traditions that tell an authentic story of Malawi.
Let us remember that every plate of an indigenous dish is a passport to Malawi’s soul. That indigenous dish may be the secret ingredient in our nation’s tourism future.
As a country, we need to work toward integrating indigenous cuisines’ knowledge into curricula as some of the key action points that can save indigenous cuisines from being diluted and possibly erased as the world moves at a fast pace of modernisation.
Cuisine innovation is also another aspect that can make our dishes appeal to the international market, though there is a growing debate about finding a balance between preserving authenticity and embracing innovation, ensuring that indigenous cuisines retain their cultural richness while adapting to a changing world.
