🧑🤝🧑 Xhosa
Also known as: amaXhosa, Xhosa people
A Bantu people of South Africa's Eastern Cape province; a bride is welcomed with amasi as a sign of acceptance into her new family.
The Xhosa (amaXhosa) are a people of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. As with their neighbours, cattle were historically a measure of wealth and part of marriage and family rituals, and dairy products were everyday food.
The main traditional dairy product is amasi, a thick sour milk. Raw cow’s milk is soured in a calabash or leather bag, and the whey is then drained off. Amasi is eaten with maize porridge or drunk. It is linked to a wedding custom: according to accounts, a bride arriving at her husband’s home is served amasi with a piece of meat as a sign of her acceptance into the new family. Details of the ritual may vary between communities.
Today amasi is a mass-market product throughout southern Africa, made industrially with starter cultures. Home souring is still practised, especially in rural areas.
How it connects to milk
🧑🤝🧑 Xhosa ← among ← 🥣 Amasi → made from → 🥛 Cow's milk → type of → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Where they live
- 🌍 Southern Africa
- Traditional products
- 🥣 Amasi
Frequently asked questions
What is amasi for the Xhosa?
A thick sour milk made from raw cow’s milk; it is eaten with maize porridge.
What Xhosa wedding custom involves amasi?
According to accounts, the bride is served amasi with a piece of meat as a sign of her acceptance into the new family.
Where do the Xhosa people live?
Mainly in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Similar
ℹ️ This page describes the people only through food: what they grow and make, and which foods and drinks matter in their traditions. History, language, religion and other parts of the culture are not covered here.
What it includes
- Traditional products