Everyone has forgotten the actual name of this small fish and just calls it Kapenta but its actual name is Inshembe.
By Dr. Chitalu Chilufya | WD Columnist.
Lusaka, July 30 – Kapenta is a very healthy food with rich protein, low levels of saturated fats and high levels of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. This tiny little fish is also a rich source for micronutrients.
These particularly include vitamin B12, calcium, iron and zinc. Research has established that iron deficiency and vitamin A deficiency can be assisted by Kapenta consumption as it has a high concentration of these minerals.
Overall, you can get 8.5mg of iron from dry Kapenta as opposed to 2.1mg from fresh Kapenta. In general, Kapenta is good for your health as it is very rich in protein with low saturated fat levels and high omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.
This little fish is a powerhouse of nutrition, particularly for low income families to add to their menus. But today my focus is not on nutrition but social life. The little fish we now call Kapenta was actually called Inshembe in the olden days.
The name changed to Kapenta on the Copperbelt when some loose married women commonly referred to as bakapenta milimo because of the red lipstick they would apply to indicate that they were ready for business, started preparing Inshembe for their husbands as it was a quick relish to prepare.
Whenever the mines sounded the alarms announcing the knocking off of the miners, these loose housewives, called bakapenta milimo, would not have prepared relish for their husbands because of their indulgence in bar prostitution.
Also Read: Kalembula is not food for the poor! – Dr. Chitalu Chilufya.
They would then rush to buy Inshembe and prepare them for their husbands. So people started calling Inshembe as the relish for bakapenta milomo and eventually started calling Inshembe Kapenta.
And today everyone has forgotten the actual name of this small fish and just calls it Kapenta instead of its actual name, Inshembe.
About The Author: Dr. Chilufya, a PF presidential candidate, is a public health physician, Mansa Central Member of Parliament and former Minister of Health who led a transformational agenda of the national health system, focused on creating a resilient health approach to achieve Universal Health Coverage.
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