Zambian food is built around one thing: nshima. This thick porridge made from ground maize is eaten at lunch and dinner by virtually every Zambian, every day. It is torn into small balls with the right hand, pressed with the thumb to form a scoop, and used to pick up relish -- the sauce or stew that accompanies it. Eating nshima with your hands is the proper way; asking for a fork marks you as a tourist, though nobody will mind.
The relish is where the variety lives. Ifisashi is a rich, nutty stew of greens cooked in pounded groundnuts -- comfort food at its best. Kapenta are tiny dried sardines from Lake Tanganyika, fried with tomato and onion until crisp and salty. Village chicken is exactly what it sounds like: a free-range bird stewed or grilled over charcoal, leaner and tougher than what you are used to but full of flavor. Bream (tilapia) from Zambia's lakes and rivers is grilled whole and served with nshima -- you will find it at every roadside market.
Chikanda, sometimes called African polony, is a Bemba specialty made from ground orchid tubers mixed with peanuts and chili, pressed into a firm cake. The texture is meaty and the taste is earthy and spiced. It is an acquired taste, but worth trying. Vitumbuwa are deep-fried dough balls -- Zambia's answer to doughnuts -- found at every bus station and market for a few kwacha.
For drinks, Mosi Lager is the national beer, light and easy-drinking, named after the spray of Victoria Falls ("Mosi-oa-Tunya" -- the smoke that thunders). Chibuku is the local opaque beer made from maize, sold in cartons and poured thick -- it is very much an acquired taste. Munkoyo is a traditional fermented drink made from maize and wild roots, slightly sour and mildly alcoholic, sold by women at markets. On the soft drink side, Zambia has its own version of ginger beer that is sharper and more refreshing than the imported stuff.
At safari lodges, the food is typically excellent and internationally styled. In cities, you will find decent Indian, Chinese, and South African chain restaurants alongside local spots. But the real Zambian food experience is a plate of nshima with relish at a local restaurant or market stall, eaten with your hands, for a few kwacha.