Recipe Serves 8

Photo:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.

Recipes usually advise us that the tomato quiche will serve 8, but is it a science?  Appetites are not born equal therefore, it is difficult to predict that the quiche will be shared equally among the eight members at the kitchen table.

Some family members take three slices because of their jobs, which make them as hungry as a
horse.  That leaves five slices on the serving
plate.  Two family members might share a piece because they are on diet.  If push comes to shove, the mother will forfeit her piece.  It’s called maternal instinct.


What book publishers don’t know is that servings are irrelevant to people who still eat from the same round plate.  It is round because it represents equality, like the sun and the moon, G7 countries are still trying to ‘civilise’ for dollars.

A lot happens around that round plate.  Kids learn manners of sharing, the language, how to feed younger brothers and sisters, learn about the land that sustains them and what to do in emergencies.  Sharing one plate has no food waste thus preserving the environment for future generations. 

The family shares one water container using cups that don’t break. It is not like in countries where, four-year-old kids have their own cans of soda, which they cannot finish drinking.  More cans for over-filled garbage dumps.

Eating from the same platter might be regarded as one of the signs of ‘underdevelopment’ but it is kind to the environment, not like individual servings, that end up in the thrash can under the kitchen sink.
By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.