Food is Love

Before leaving for Kenya, some of my more culturally insensitive friends would joke asking “Ali, but what are you gonna eat in Africa? You're gonna starve!” Well, I can confidently say that I have done just the opposite. I've eaten a lot of great things, as well as some not so great things.

Here are some of my favorites:

- chapati – this is essentially the Kenyan equivalent to naan, except it has way more artery clogging potential. I often helped my Mama in Shirazi make it, and I'm excited to try myself back in the US. The cooking process involves mixing the dough (don't forget the lard), dividing it up into fist sized balls, and then rolling the balls out flat. The first time I made chapati, I was under the assumption that once you rolled out the dough into circles you were ready to cook it. However, I was unaware of the most critical step in which you paint the circle with oil, cut it in half, roll into a snake, then roll again into a cinnamon bun shape, but instead of cinnamon you've got cooking oil. Then, you ready to roll the now grease soaked dough out into another circle and cook it. And don't forget to add a few spoon fulls of oil as the chapati cooks to nicely brown the dough and add a few more calories.

- mandazi – add some yeast to fried dough so it puffs and instead of huge circles cut the dough in small triangles, and you've got mandazi (except there's no powdered sugar). But what's not to love?!

- mangoes – I will be seriously disappointed to return home and purchase a mango for wayyyy more than they cost in Kenya and discover that it doesn't taste nearly as delicious. I often buy a mango on the way to school for a quarter to eat with my lunch. I've tried experimenting with mango cutting techniques, but so far I've been most successful by peeling the fruit, going outside, eating it like an apple, and making a huge mess. After a long morning of kiswahili lessons, this is an immediate pick me up.

- matoke – Kenyans call these green bananas in English. I'm not quite sure if this is correct, or if they're actually plantains. Or maybe plantains are green bananas? I don't know...but regardless of what they are, they're tasty! They're cooked with garlic, onions, peppers, and tomatoes, and after adding some water, the tomatoes reduce into this nice sauce. I'm also looking forward to making these in the states if I can get my hands on some green bananas/plantains/mystery food.

- tea – the tea I've had in Kenya is some of the best I've ever tasted. My mama in Nairobi makes it for me every morning before school. It's made with both water and milk and she usually adds some cinnamon or ginger which I think is why it tastes so good (and don't forget the heaps of sugar – Kenyans love their sugary tea). Mama let me make the tea the other day and it wasn't nearly as good as hers, so I'm really hoping I figure out her secret before I head home.

This list could be a lot longer, but I won't bore you. Here are a few of the least favorite:

- rice bread – I enjoyed this the first time I had it in Shirazi. Of course I was disappointed to find out that this was all we'd be eating for dinner, but it tasted pretty good. However, the second time around I was less than pleased. Rice bread has this very porous consistency, and I think that it's supposed to be pretty light, however when you're cooking over a fire I think it's sometimes hard to control, and the bread was incredibly dense, leading it to sit like a brick in my stomach.

- sweet spaghetti – I had this for breakfast on my last day in Shirazi, and I'm really sorry but I found it to be truly vile. I didn't watch my Mama make it, but my sister said it had both coconut and sugar. I felt like I was in Elf when Will Ferrell puts maple syrup, sugar, and any other sweet he can find all over his plate of pasta, except he very much enjoyed the experience.

I'm happy to say that that's all there is on the bad list. I hope this gives you a taste (no pun intended) of some Kenyan culinary highlights. In other news, I had three more jiggers, making the grand total 5! The program record is apparently close to 30, so I'm hoping not to compete with that.

Also, I need your help! I have to choose between going to Uganda or Tanzania in a few weeks. Uganda highlights include seeing the source of the Nile and a gorgeous waterfall hike, while in Tanzania there's a Masai village homestay, hike to Camp 1 of Mt. Kili (and complementary I climbed Mt. Kili t-shirt) and trip to Ngorogoro Crater. What do you think?

Ali