The development, standardisation and acceptability of the traditional Tsonga-Shangaan dishes, Xigugu and Xiendla hi vomu for use in ethnic restaurants

Abstract

The recent increase in the number of tourists interested in cultural and food tourism has meant that more authentic traditional foods ought to be on offer at cultural villages and ethnic restaurants. Shangana cultural village is an establishment where tourists can experience the Tsonga-Shangaan ethnic culture in South Africa. It is well known that when people visit such establishments, they primarily want to experience the cuisine of the culture or cultures of the ethnic groups presented to them. With the limited information available on the food habits of South African population groups generally it is impossible to know and explain why certain foods are chosen and accepted. One of the problems about traditional dishes is that their preparation methods have mostly been shared by word of mouth, and not as documented recipes. Yet it is important that when people visit cultural villages depicting certain population groups they receive information about the group’s eating habits. A need therefore arises for the development and standardisation of recipes for use in cultural villages and restaurants specialising in traditional cooking. The study was conducted two phases. The first goal was to develop and standardise recipes for the two traditional Tsonga-Shangaan dishes, xigugu and xiendla hi vomu for inclusion in the menu of ethnic restaurants. The second goal was to determine their acceptability, by leisure tourists visiting a cultural village where the restaurant is situated. Phase I followed the principles of action research to develop and standardise the recipes. This was done as a cyclic process in three stages, recipe verification, product evaluation and quantity adjustment, was implemented. The second phase of the study was exploratory-descriptive in nature. The overall purpose of this phase was to gain comprehensive insight into the acceptability of the two traditional dishes at the Shangana cultural village, by analysing and interpreting the results of this study. A quantitative research approach was adopted for this empirical study with a questionnaire as the main research instrument. Although quick and easy to complete and relevant to the topic, a time constraint was experienced in its completion, because most tourists were in tour groups and had to follow a set programme. However, reliability of the collected data could be attributed to the accuracy and precison of information supplied by the respondents. From the results of the survey it was clear that the tourists liked the two dishes very much. Most of the respondents who were more accepting of the two dishes were those who ate cereal and legume dishes frequently. The Tsonga and Venda ethnic groups were more accepting of the xigugu and xiendla hi vomu than the other ethnic groups. Overall, the findings confirmed that the sensory attributes, appearance, taste, flavour and texture of the food were considered very important in the acceptability and consumption of xigugu and xiendla hi vomu as did the inclusion of the two dishes as menu items. This was evident when those who had never eaten such food before, began to actually enjoy it. Copyright