Discover Espaço Wema, a project that delivers typical African food in SP

The knowledge and history of a people can be transmitted in many ways, and one of them is through cooking. It was through her that Hortense Mbuyi, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, chose to promote the cultures of the African continent, creating the Wema Space.

Mbuyi is a lawyer and has practiced in her country for 15 years. Six years ago, when he arrived in Brazil, he faced a huge bureaucracy to revalidate his diploma and advocate. That’s when, to support her family, she thought of her other vocation: cooking.

More than serving food, the Congolese wanted to serve knowledge and tradition in her dishes at Espaço Wema, a word that means goodness in Swahili, a language spoken in the eastern part of Africa. “I thought of working on promoting African culture, which I felt was almost unknown here,” he said.

His wish was that the typical dishes of the continent where he was born and that influenced the formation of Brazilian society would become commonplace in the daily lives of people here. But opening a restaurant was not a viable possibility, as she believed she would have difficulty keeping a steady clientele and dealing with expenses.

One way out that Mbuyi found was to display his food at events and accept orders. With the pandemic and the stoppage of activities, it became difficult to publicize her work, while she managed to find a place to structure the project.

Mbuyi and his family had to move to Ocupação 9 de Julho, in the central region of São Paulo, where there is a communal kitchen. There, she managed to structure the Wema Space, preparing dishes for delivery. The team is made up of two more people and assistants, depending on the amount of work. Dinners are sporadic, but always take place on Wednesdays — the next one is scheduled for December 8th. The schedule is available on the project’s Instagram (@espacowema).

The promotion of African culture, proposed by Mbuyi, is not homogeneous. She even claims that there really isn’t a single culture. “Africa, in addition to being a continent, it is made up of ethnic groups, kingdoms and tribes. And each one of these has its cultural peculiarities,” she says. That’s why she makes a round of dishes and cooks at every dinner. Other immigrants and refugees from the continent join her in the kitchen.

An active militant, she is currently president of the Municipal Council of Immigrants in São Paulo, which allows her to have contact with immigrant organizations and communities. People from Senegal, South Africa, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire and Morocco have already cooked at Espaço Wema, and each one of them, using typical dishes, brings the history of their country.

The choice of recipe varies according to that week’s schedule and also the ingredients most easily found here. For example, dishes from the Luba ethnic group, present in the Democratic Republic of Congo, have already been presented with chicken with a leaf from the basil family, an aromatic ingredient. The preparation is served in rituals or in ceremonies such as weddings.

The Bembe ethnic group in eastern Congo was represented with a recipe that combines cassava leaves with cabbage, green corn and peanut flour. The Mangala ethnic group, in turn, appeared on the menu with a dish that combines white beans with smoked catfish, accompanied by rice or plantain. The loso ya muamba, which goes with sauteed vegetables, rice and peanut cream, is often served. It is worth mentioning all recipes have vegan variations. Each dish costs R$35 plus delivery fee.

Some ingredients, despite existing here, are not widely consumed by Brazilians. One example is sweet potato leaves, which are not available on the market, but which Mbuyi uses in recipes. As well as smoked catfish or tilapia cod, which will soon appear at Wema.

She also plans to offer gastronomy courses and workshops at Espaço Wema. “I want not only to deliver, but also for Brazilians to learn to diversify their dishes,” he says.

In addition to gastronomy, dance and fashion should also gain space in the project soon. “I hope that within this space, not only African culture will be represented, but Africanity in all areas”, he says.