eBusiness Weekly
Fradreck Gorwe
Zimbabweans scattered across the world are known to demonstrate guts to create own tables against all odds and compete with business empires’ best. While some fellow countrymen have already been held in high esteem by all-and-sundry in the business circles, a quantifiable number is still breaking significant ground on foreign soil.
The awesome and inspiring story of Tapiwa Guzha’s Tapi Tapi in South Africa, recently carried in our sister publication, The Sunday Mail, is no exception. The man trended for his odd recipe of delicious ice-cream that catches the African reality.
Tapiwa’s list of ice-cream deserts speaks volumes on African cultural resilience as it is composed of red finger millet ice cream, fish ice-cream (made of dried kapenta), matamba ice cream and he also uses dried black jack (tsine) for some herby flavour.
It is by default that fellow compatriots compete on the global arena while at the same time negating the luxury of being isolated from that which defines them, the African tastes.
Of late is “The Ultimate Veggie Patty”, a dish by a Zimbabwean preaching a healthy gospel of veganism in South Africa’s Cape Town, Elisha Madzivadondo.
Veganism literally refers to abstinence from animal products in diet. The philosophy rejects the commodity status of animals and supports a vegetarian diet that excludes meat, dairy products, eggs and any other animal-derived ingredient. A vegan is a person who subscribes to this philosophy just like the entrepreneur Madzivadondo.
Madzivadondo made headlines on the South African front as a vegan, making what is arguably the best burger in Cape Town through his Sunshine Food Company.
Zimbabweans have known and mastered the art of working and pursuing own dreams and the vegan is one such.
An excerpt from an interview on CapeTalk with Kieno Kammies properly tells it all. Once again a Zimbabwean had stolen the show on CapeTalk’s Taste-Test Mondays, a programme apparently meant to showcase how individuals are doing it in the hotel and catering industry.
In the interview, Madzivadondo indicated he left Zimbabwe for South Africa in 2003 with dreams of becoming a mushroom farmer. What immediately ensued were humble jobs like gardening but the dream of establishing his own business never departed from his mind.
Induction to veganism
Any passion possibly erupts from a certain experience and for Madzivadondo it was a combination of both a personal experience and the broad African experience.
Having been bred on a farm and briefly worked for the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife, Madzivadondo knew the importance of conservation and the value of animal life.
He got to know the value of cattle in an African context — a measure of wealth rather than a source of food. This understanding ignited a passion for a vegetarian diet, both for consumption and for profit.
“I was raised up on a farm. You know, people have the perception that Africans keep cattle for meat only. Cows are for wealth or riches. The number of cows you have is the amount of wealth you have. So, you want them to multiply.
“We ate vegetables growing up in that environment where you do not want to kill one but let them (cows) to multiply”.
“Having been raised on a farm, I have a rich agricultural background, which I now turned into small-scale farming at Oude Molen. Sprouting is the easiest way of having food on your table and anyone can do it,” said the vegan.
Sprouting for a living
The journey to his actual passion of sprouting commenced when he joined the hotel industry, working as a chef and butler for a 5-star guest house. Having spent ten and a half years serving in the fancy guest house, Madzivadondo decided to pursue his own dreams. Eventually he ventured into what the hotel industry taught him best — cooking. People should eat healthy!!
“Because sprouting is my passion, I really wanted to find a way of eating healthy. In my line of work, I had discovered that people do not eat healthy but expensive food.”
For people to eat healthy, Madzivadondo found the answer in sprouting.
Sprouting is when plant seeds, nuts, legumes or grains are soaked or moistened at room temperatures then rinsed repeatedly until they sprout and develop a tail-like protrusion.
“The infant plants, dense in nutrients, are used for a healthy diet. The practice demanded that the vegan farms sprouts and microgreens on a small piece of land at Oude Molen. These include some sunflower micro greens and other sprouts.
“I needed to create micro greens and sprouts, so someone had to do the dirty job.
“I had to go to Oude Molen and find a piece of land where I am doing my urban farming. I eventually founded Sunshine Food Company,” said Madzivadondo.
The Ultimate Veggie Patty
The vegan ultimately found his unique burger recipe courtesy of Sunshine Food Company, arguably one of its type in Cape Town.
“The eatery at Sea Point in Cape Town, however, small (accommodates about six seated people), “serves a mostly wealthy community”.
“When you eat my food, you don’t go into a food coma. You don’t want to nap . . . It’s made from butternut, sweet potato, coconut flour, flaxseed, sprouted mung beans, sunflower seeds, buckwheat, seasoned basil and thyme. I call it The Ultimate Veggie Patty,” said the competent vegan.
The portfolio of delectable and toothsome servings also include chick pea dahl. The interviewee Kieno Kammies tested it and could not wait but hastily released some comments;
“It’s a fantasy of flavours . . . It’s the best tasting veggie-anything I’ve ever had! . . . This is really, really, really good . . . I can eat vegan food if this is what is served,” said Kammies.
