SEVENTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD Concilia Mudimu walked into Victoria Falls with firewood on her mind and Hurungwe heritage on her hands.
A villager under Headman Zindaga, Mudimu was Mashonaland West’s provincial winner at the 2024 national cookout competition held in Murombedzi.
She won a set of pots, a food hamper and a national dress cloth.
The victory gave her a free ticket to one of the world’s seven wonders: Mosi Oa Tunya.
It was her first trip outside rural Chief Dendera, home of the late traditionalist known as Kerechani, famous for his Korekore language, tongue lashing and court sessions.
“Late Chief Dendera’s court sessions left everyone laughing with his unlimited lashing words, mainly to men who preyed on women,” Mudimu recalled.
“Under him, even justice came with humour.”
She linked that memory to her achievement far from home.
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“I had never been to Victoria Falls and with Amai’s (First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa) assistance, I met other traditional foods spiced with regional and international flavours,” Mudimu said.
Her presentation stood out.
She cooked munyemba, dried vegetables and sadza rezviyo.
She also mastered traditional maheu from mukoyo and traditional opaque beer popularly known as “Seven days”, both brewed over firewood.
There were no shortcuts.
Mudimu’s display included sorghum sadza, mapfunde millet porridge, mudzvurwa pounded grain relish, mukoyo groundnut stew, muchekecha dried pumpkin leaves, mhandire sugar beans, and mutetenherwe jackal berry drink.
For judges from across the country, it was their first taste of Hurungwe.
“Young people today want rice. But these foods survived droughts when maize failed,” Mudimu said.
“Zviyo and mapfunde need no fertilizer. They are our answer to climate change.”
The competition brought together winners from every province.
Mudimu was among elderly women fighting for recognition.
Mnangagwa has been leading national cookout competitions to empower communities through culture and tradition.
Through her Angel of Hope Foundation, she has held works with rural women to revive indigenous foods, train youth in traditional cooking and create income opportunities.
The events give elderly women like Mudimu a platform to pass on knowledge while linking them to markets and tourism.
“I am grateful that Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa is working hard to preserve our culture through cookout competitions around the country,” Mudimu said.
“It is motivational and we are restoring our culture as Zimbabweans.
“She teaches us that our food is medicine and our culture is wealth.”
Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Barbara Rwodzi said the competitions support government efforts to promote cultural tourism and diversify beyond wildlife and waterfalls.
“Traditional cuisine is our heritage and a tourism product. When visitors taste mukoyo and muchekecha, they taste Zimbabwe. We must document, package and market these foods so they benefit communities and grow the economy,” Rwodzi said.
A mother of four with 14 grandchildren, Mudimu said Victoria Falls was for training and networking with local and international chefs.
“I left Hurungwe footprints in everyone who attended the extravaganza,” she said.
Women Affairs, Community and Small Enterprises Development ministries Hurungwe district officer Miriam Kagoro said the cookouts are reviving cultural values.
“We are really happy because Amai’s (Mnangagwa) gastronomy programmes are taking everyone on board: women, youths, the disabled, traditional leaders, professional chefs and school children,” Kagoro said.
“We applaud her for motivating communities to showcase traditional foods. Lifestyles and health practices will change. Awards and consolation prizes will go a long way in empowering contestants.”
Mudimu left with more than recipes.
She left with a mission.
Her fear is simple: When she dies, the knowledge dies.
There is no market for mudzvurwa, no packaging for muchekecha, no youth willing to pound grain for hours.
“Our thriving effort is to foster cultural development.
“But will government remember grandmother foods that feed us when rains fail?” she asked.
At 72, Mudimu still travels miles to competitions in Hurungwe and Murombedzi.
Her pot is not just for cooking.
It is for preserving culture one dish at a time.
From Hurungwe in Mashonaland West, her traditional foods are also a food safety story.
Zviyo, mapfunde and dried vegetables need less water and no refrigeration.
Drought-resistant grains give rural families options when taps run dry.
Without clean water, markets for mudzvurwa and muchekecha, and youth trained in pounding and processing, these foods remain “grandmother foods” instead of climate solutions.
For the national champion, every pot she carries is an argument against forgetting.
Her message to ministers, councils and those in authority is the same as food safety campaigners: heritage cannot survive on memory alone. It needs water, markets and policy.
But with Mnangagwa’s support, she believes the next generation may still learn to pound grain before it is too late.
