Cooking

Cuccinano i Conghesi in terra. sopra 3. pietre1  in pignatte a modo di catine p.^a di mangiare (che fanno una volta il giorno dopo vespera, ò sera) si lavano piú volti, mani e bracci. cibo ordinario radiche. Legumi. Pochissime carni pochi piati di legno. le piantí delle mani gli servono.  [. . .] in circolo al mãgiare. Li dà à chi si trova prñte. senza pagare. Zucchi servono per vazi d’acqua. mangiano de ser-penti. Sorici. se à caso hanno pesce lo alleste con le specie cõ herbe. é poi ogni cosa pistata ben ben’ se condisce e mangia.

The Kongolese cook on the ground. over 3. stones in cooking pots in the manner of a basin. When it is time to eat (which they do once a day after vespers, or evening) they wash their hands and arms many times. Ordinary meal: roots, legumes, very little meat, few wooden plates, they use the palm of their hands. [. . .] in circle to eat. It is given to whoever is present. Without paying. Gourds serve as cups for water. They eat snakes, mice. If they happen to have fish they prepare it with spices and with herbs, and after everything [is] crushed very well, it is seasoned and eaten. 

• 1
  About the proverbial use of the reference to cooking on three stones see John Kelly Thornton, “Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women’s Political Power,” Journal of African History 47, no. 3 (2006): 446.