What Would Zumbi Eat? Food Reflection (Part #2)

Mark Bitman’s Flatbread. That is what Zumbi would eat.

What am I talking about?

Let me back up and explain. (I am going to write a brief summary of Zumbi based on the wonders of the internet; I am in NO way an expert)

Zumbi is one of the greatest resistance fighters in history, in my opinion. He was born in 1655 and fought against repression in northern Brasil. He was a free black man born in the quilombo of Palmares. Quilombo’s are an incredible Brasilian phenomena that exist to this day. They were/are community’s of slaves that freed themselves (escaped) and created homes and lives of independence in remote areas. As a child he was captured and raised in a mission, taught to read and write by a priest, and at 15 years old decided his liberty and people were his priority so he took off. And it is in that return to the quilombo and later on as their leader, fighting the state that was determined to destroy them, that his legend was born. Zumbi could have settled for the freedom of the people in his community but his fight was for the freedom of all slaves, everywhere, and that greater vision and commitment makes him a rockstar.

When I went toSalvador,Bahia few months ago I was enchanted by his statue and the story of Zumbi.

It was exactly during this time that my love of food led me to look for food blogs. There are….umm….a lot. Here is my analysis. Wicked good pics. Basically same recipes everyone else has (salty caramel, gluten free brownies, cake pops, etc). And….umm…basically written by white people. White women. Many of whom seem to be blonde and have several children.

Totally have nothing against white women writing food blogs. Most people would even say I am white woman with similar aspirations. But why do blogs have to be SO similar when there is so much flipping diversity in the world?

So there I was loving Zumbi, with my ever present love for food on my mind, and this new disappointment in the saturated food blog world. Zumbi, food, blog. Food, blog, zumbi.

AND…..hence this post and all future food posts from me. My blog isn’t about food and I can’t take a good pic to save my life – but I love food and would love to talk about it every now and again. But I only want to if I can contribute something unique. Here is the standard I am setting for myself when I talk about food: I am going to share recipes and techniques that I think that Zumbi would have been interested in. How can I possibly determine that? Well, I am going to take some generous liberty’s and it is completely subjective, but it is going to be simple (probably less then 10 ingredients and 2 pans) and yummy. You can always let me know if you agree or not.

All this to say I think Zumbi would eat Mark Bittman’s flat bread. Zumbi lived in a quilombo, a remote area without a lot of access to ingredients and tools. He was a fighter, constantly warding off attacks and sacrificing his life for the rights and freedom of others. He would need something quick, simple, and easy. Which is exactly Mark Bittman’s flat bread.

Add flour, water, salt and you have flatbread!

You need flour, salt, water and oil for the pan. That is it (I also throw in some onions). The only kitchen tools required are a bowl, whisk or spoon, towel, and pan for the oven. You can substitute coconut milk or coconut water, which I think Zumbi would do given the abundance of coconuts in the north of Brasil. He’d probably use coconut oil too. Maybe he’d use tapioca flour instead of whole wheat…but I’ve stuck to whole wheat. I´ve made this flatbread several times with coconut milk and water – pretty similar results and water is cheaper and has fewer calories. Just saying!

For real, I think he’d love this recipe! He’d throw the ingredients together the night before, go out on a information gathering expedition or fight off some Portugues invaders, get a goods night sleep, and the next day throw it in the oven while going over some strategy. Voila! Before the next military skirmish he’d be eating yummy flat bread.**

Crappy pic of delicous food

Let me know if you run across any Zumbi friendly recipes. Cheers!

**note – comes out of oven nice and crisp but if it sits for more then 30 minutes starts to get soggy. recommend serving immediately or toasting/reheating. also makes awesome pizza base.