Baku Kitchen! An independent reference of traditional food

Mabisi

Spontaneously soured milk, thick and tangy, eaten with nshima

Zambia Cheese & dairy Vegetarian

Your guide, Chef Baku
Drawn, not photographed Updated September 2026
RATE

A full recipe for this dish has not been written yet.

History

Milk is left to ferment in a gourd for days without a starter; Tonga and Ila cattle-keeping households have kept it this way for generations.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mabisi?

Mabisi is a cheese & dairy from Zambia: spontaneously soured milk, thick and tangy, eaten with nshima. Milk is left to ferment in a gourd for days without a starter; Tonga and Ila cattle-keeping households have kept it this way for generations.

Made with

milkyoghurt

Cooked

fermented

Nutrition facts

Nutrition has not been calculated for this dish yet.

The atlas would have to match every ingredient to a food-composition database before it could publish a figure, and an estimate is not worth having if someone is counting on it.

Reviews

No reviews yet.

Cooked this? Say how it went — yours will be the first.

Leave a review

No account needed. Only the fields marked * are required, and an address is never published.

Your rating

More from Zambia

salad & sideChibwabwapumpkin leaves stewed with groundnuts or tomatomainIfisashigreens or meat cooked in rich groundnut sauce, Bemba classicmainKapentasmall dried Tanganyika sardines fried with tomato and onionsalad & sideDeleleslippery okra relish cooked with traditional soda ash

You'll also love

SerbiaPirotski kačkavaljstretched-curd sheep cheese from Stara Planina, firm and sharpBrazilCatupirySoft spreadable cream cheese used in coxinhas, pizza and chicken piesIranMast-e chekideYoghurt drained to a dense curd, salted and sometimes rolled into oil-packed balls.LebanonAckawimild brined white cheese, soaked to desalt then melted into pastries