Hunger for Freedom: The Story of Food in the Life of Nelson Mandela

Hunger for Freedom: The Story of Food in the Life of Nelson Mandela

by Anna Trapido
Jacana Media, 232 pp. (paper), $33

"All human beings use diet to define who they are. ... [O]n Robben Island prisoners worked hard to ensure that they could express their humanity by way of food."

Nelson Mandela is a very important figure to me. Participating in demonstrations for his freedom was among my first acts of political and social consciousness. Participating in South Africa's first democratic election process and attending his presidential inauguration celebration in 1994 are some of the happiest, proudest moments in my life. So South Africa and its people are forever etched in my mind and heart. Like me, author Anna Trapido is a trained anthropologist who did time in the kitchen trenches before becoming a food writer and broadcaster. She is co-author of To the Banqueting House: African Cuisine, and she now oversees the Pan-African cuisine program at the Prue Leith Chefs Academy, located between Johannesburg and Pretoria. I wanted to read this book the minute I found out it existed.

An engaging, moving, and rewarding read, Hunger for Freedom is as much an in-depth historical and biographical account of South Africa's and Mandela's struggle to freedom as it is a culinary window into the country known as the Rainbow Nation. From his childhood as a herd boy in his native Transkei (one of my favorite places in the world), it was clear that Mandela was indeed a foodie. Memories of roasting corn under the stars, acquiring a love for Indian curries and friends, longing for the humble Xhosa food of his childhood, and making meals out of nothing during the painful years at Robben Island: His life story is inevitably influenced by the food he loves. The author weaves a marvelous tale, aided by her scholarly and culinary background as well as her enviable closeness to the Mandela family. Intertwined with stories of the unimaginable abuses, torture, and duress imposed on Mandela and his family and colleagues during the apartheid regime are recipes that reflect crucial moments in their lives and the constant struggle for racial, social, and religious equality. The book is too wonderful to sum up in this short space, but I would suggest it be required reading for all human beings.