[imagesource: Jo Munnik for CNN]

On 76 Lower Main Road in Observatory, a little cafe is serving up some fascinating African-inspired ice cream flavours.

At Tapi Tapi, you’re encouraged to extend your tongue to taste the cold dessert made from African fish, insects, seeds, and spices.

While none of that sounds particularly tantalising, you would be better off not to yuck another culture’s yum.

​Or, rather, don’t trash the Tapi.

The name of the cafe is derived from a Bantu ideophone (nyaudzosingwi) that means ‘sweet sweet’, which is akin to ‘yum yum’ – a playful and nostalgic phrase that appears in several Zimbabwean pop cultural contexts including music.

The brainchild behind this “handcrafted, authentic African ice cream” is Tapiwa Guzha, a student from Zimbabwe who came to Cape Town to study further:

He was doing his post-doctoral research in plant biotechnology before he segued into creating about 900 flavours through Tapi Tapi, which he came up with in 2018 and manifested in 2020.

The Guardian picked up on his creative endeavour, and so did CNN, both obviously intrigued by Tapiwa’s amazing innovations:

Guzha had been making ice cream for 10 years with dry ice that was delivered to his research labs, after seeing how it was done on a cookery show. One day, it dawned on him that he had never made a specifically African icecream. “I realised there was something faulty in the system. The moment you taste a flavour that connects you to home, your culture, your land – it’s a different experience.”

Some of the ice cream options at the time CNN wrote about Tapi Tapi in August included salty kapenta dried fish (blitzed) with toffee and scotch bonnet chile, sun-dried blackjack greens and caramel, and malted millet.

There was also a hibiscus, cloves and anise option.

Guzha uses ingredients and flavors to represent all regions of the continent, going beyond the better-known cuisines like Ethiopian or Nigerian, he says. He draws inspiration from everywhere — a conversation, a scent, a meal, a longing for the ocean. Foraging and even Googling play a part in this process.

“You have to search and search and search until you find some kind of truth,” he says.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by T ∆ P I 🍦 T ∆ P I (@_tapi_tapi)

Tapiwa has also played around with dried Mopane caterpillars, which if you have not tasted them before, are “chewy, crunchy and nutty”.

At Tapi Tapi, you can experience this staple caterpillar in ice cream form, as well as a part of a brownie called the Masonja:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by T ∆ P I 🍦 T ∆ P I (@_tapi_tapi)

He also enjoys using Mphepho, a herb used in traditional medicine believed to channel the spirit world. By creating ice cream from it, he hopes to expand people’s understanding of this most sacred of plants:

There has been backlash, says Guzha: “Something like that really shakes people to the core … questioning exactly what you’re trying to do with their culture. I’m not asking for permission. You don’t have to be an observer of your culture; you can be a participant in it. And people often forget that they actually have permission to contribute to their culture, and the journey, and the knowledge systems.”

While Tapi Tapi exists as “a unique way to share African folklore, rituals and cultural practices through frozen morsels and crunchy cones” per the website, Tapiwa explained that he opened shop predominantly for black people to “transport people home; to offer something magical and nostalgic”, and feel proud:

“(If I’m talking to) another Black person, it’s, ‘Hey, I didn’t know I could do this with my culture or my identity.’ They leave knowing a bit more about themselves,” he says, “and maybe keen to explore their identity again and go back home and reconnect with some part of their tribal beginnings.”

The shop aims to “nurture the collective self-esteem of the continent through food and the rituals around food”.

What started as an ice cream shop is now more of an educational initiative focused on sharing food culture from the African continent.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by T ∆ P I 🍦 T ∆ P I (@_tapi_tapi)

There’s a deep story here, there’s a rich culture and enriching flavours, and there’s food that can educate the world about Africa’s worth.

At this stage, I am just wondering where the producers of the Emmy-nominated Chef’s Table are.

[sources:cnn&guardian]