Nothing like zondo on Father’s Day

The idea grew in popularity and as a result, millions of fathers in 52 countries around the world enjoy special treatment and extra love and attention, for 24 hours, on a particular Sunday in June.
Over the years, Father’s Day was always a special event in our household. Early in the morning there would be a flurry of papers and muffled sounds of hilarity as greeting cards were hurriedly made. Saskia, Marianne and Elise were all into art, so they would usually create a large card in three sections, with drawings and paintings depicting notable domestic events of the previous year. They would then ‘make breakfast’, to be served in the garden. In the early years breakfast would consist of toast and fruit salad. Later, as the girls’ cooking skills developed, they would prepare Dad’s favourite, pancakes served with Maple syrup and grilled bacon.
As all three daughters now reside in far off countries collectively referred to as the Diaspora, I ensured that Father’s Day would not go by unobserved, by making a pot of Tanganda tea and serving it to George in bed. While drinking tea and perusing the newspaper I noticed an invitation to enjoy African traditional cuisine ‘at its finest’ at a Sunday buffet at Pandhari Lodge in Glen Lorne. The lure of Road Runner chicken stew and mazondo with sadza being too strong to ignore, I put the proposed lunchtime dish of chickpea and sweet potato stew on the back burner and phoned the lodge for directions.
Pandhari Lodge, built on a hillside in the rolling countryside of Glen Lorne, is decorated with wooden carvings, basket ware and Kuba cloths. On arrival a charming young lady wrapped in a zambia offered us mugs of mahewu and chibuku. Clutching our traditional brew, we transited a spacious sitting room with velours sofas and a flat screen TV, reaching a large wooden deck overlooking the trees, hills and sky of the Umwinsi valley. Wooden tables and chairs were set out, and an enticing buffet of steaming bain-maries was all ready for Fathers’ Day lunch. We could eat our fill for the princely sum of $10 each.
For starters, I took a small plate of crisp fried matemba and salted and roasted groundnuts, adding a spoonful of a delicious combination of boiled nyimo and nzungu beans. I gave madora a miss, having never fancied munching a mopani worm. Cokes having run out, our friendly waiter brought me a Mazoe orange squash and water ($2) and a Castle beer ($1.50) for George.
Every main course dish looked delicious, but it wasn’t possible to taste everything. Flavoursome Road Runner chicken sourced from nearby Chishawasha was cooked with onion and tomato and served with brown rice made with peanut butter. Mazondo with sadza remhunga was tasty, as was chimukuyu chine dovi (biltong in peanut butter sauce). I didn’t try guru ne matunhu (offal) as I needed to keep space for some roast goat, which the chef was busy preparing on an outside braai. There was a choice of mufushwa, or fresh tsunga cooked with onion and tomato.
Dessert choices were watermelon, sliced sweet pumpkin or a chew-as-you-go stick of sugar cane.
After lunch one could sit out in the sunshine and admire the view, knock around on the tennis court in preparation for Wimbledon, or relax in the sitting room and watch the latest soap on the flat screen TV.
The waiter service at Pandhari is efficient and friendly without being obtrusive. Our waiter was particularly knowledgeable about the preparation of the traditional dishes we enjoyed and advised which combinations were more delicious than others.
For a delicious, healthy meal, cooked the way your mother used to make it, visit Pandhari next Sunday and enjoy a traditional African buffet.

Pandhari Lodge
Barlow Close
Glen Lorne
Cell: 0912 565 263
Comments to cmalakoff@gmail.com