Imfino, Morogo, Muroho: Africa's Traditional "Leafy Greens"

Imfino: Imbuya 

Morogo, as it is called in the languages Sesotho or isiPedi,  imifino in isiZulu and isiXhosa, or muroho in Tshivenda, are three terms which are fairly identical in meaning, operating as collective nouns designating "leafy greens" - which for millennia we have sought as wild harvests, foraged directly from the land. This rich diversity of imfino - 100 different edible plant species have been recorded in contemporary South Africa alone - have proved to be rich in countless micro-nutrients including iron, calcium, vitamins A and C and even omega 3s, and some even produce seeds which can be considered a complete protein.  

Although contemporary life has included newly cultivated and exotic varieties of plants into leafy greens, with swiss chard in particular becoming a great restaurant favourite, I remain fascinated by wild, indigenous imfino and am currently exploring this aspect of nature's bounty. And yet, despite the fact that we need to explore indigenous edible plants as a source of nutrients and nutraceuticals, and our understanding that in a globe that is warming, growing indigenous is simply the way to go, nonetheless, most wild imfino are still generally classified as weeds.

Without a diet rich in leafy greens, however, we humans do not thrive, and for proof of this we need go no further than the Japanese prisoner of war camps in Indonesia of the last World War, where those who supplemented their meagre daily portions of rice with weeds they cultivated and cooked, had a chance of survival, and my recall is vivid of the time a woman survivor talking to us at school told us how she witnessed that those who had no faith, or refused to eat the weeds, soon languished and died. While those who ate the weeds may not have survived, they at least had a fighting chance as malnutrition and its vitamin and other deficiencies soon began to take their toll. At the same time, however, the avidity which greets the production of imfino testifies to the fact that wild leafy greens are not only essential to life, but can also be considered a great delicacy.

While many plants are harvested for imfino, and given the rich bio-diversity of South Africa, many are regionally specific, by far the most common plant species utilised for wild imfino is that of Aramanthus, a 'difficult' genus taxonomically, with over 60 robustly different species within it, many of which are well-known throughout the world for their provision of edible leaves. Aramanthus species comprise many of what are known as Asian greens, and are eaten in Kerala, Mexico, and a species of Armanthus was greatly prized by the Aztec, as well it should have been since its grain is highly nutritious, far more so than wheat. 

Armanthus is often labelled as pigweed, sharing that derisive label with another species of plant used for imfino, Portulaca oleracea, known as purslane or porselainblaar in South Africa and which has a long culinary history in the Western Cape, initially used as a staple in bredies but also starring in recipes by C. Louis Leipoldt: 

Portulaca oleracea  or porseleinblaar

Within the Aramanthus family, wild imfino is particularly derived from Aramanthus thunbergii and Aramanthus cruentus, among others.

Aramanthus thunbergii

I hope soon to update this post with pictures of wild imfino from an upcoming field trip I am organising to visit women in the Valley of a Thousand Hills who grow and harvest wild imfino, including sun-drying some of it. 

This Aramthus species was found in Inanda, growing on the grounds of  KwaGence  Primary School, and Mrs Virginia Ngidi, who said that it is best eaten lightly fried in butter with lemon, salt and "zeal" (a delightfully old-fashioned word for spice) and served with soft pap or putu, the kind that is made with butter: 

One species found in the South-Eastern United States, Aramanthus palmer, has received particular notoriety; also known as Roundup-Resistant Pigweed, it has become the bane of farmers intent on herbicide use since this Super-Weed has proved remarkably adept at thriving in the most adverse conditions. It tolerates heat and drought, is a remarkable carbon-fixer and photosynthesizer with a corresponding prodigious growth, has proved not only resilient to herbicides, but as a prolific seeder with highly mobile pollen, has spread its resistance far and wide. 

As Charlotte the spider could have written on her web: 

SOME PIG(WEED). 

Part of our journey of eating local, is about really eating local, that is, not just about growing exotic leafy greens but also about planting and harvesting nature's bounty in our own, often overlooked, backyard. Such as this Portulaca afra or spekboom, the leaves of which new mothers in the area used to chew on to increase milk supply:

Portluca afra,  another formidable carbon-fixer : both indigenous and good for the environment and even edible too

Unfortunately, in our ignorance, we already fed our crop of purslane to the compost heap, but with newly opened eyes and checking out our newly established grassland with a more than usually maternal eye, we are hoping for forage in the future and I will certainly update on progress made with regard to our forays into truly indigenous culture. In the interim, we are making do with a cultivated, non-indigenous but nonetheless slightly exotic crop for our imfino: cooked pumpkin leaves, and if you click on the link it will take you to a recipe for what the Zulus called imfino izintanga.