Cooking in Africa

It has been brought to my attention that we have not been such good bloggers lately. Maybe because we are heading towards the end of our trip, maybe because we have become seriously tired of slow internet cafes and have been trying  to get out of them as quickly as possible, or maybe we have gotten lazy. I don’t know, but we apologize. Just because you haven’t heard from us does not mean that we haven’t been having amazing experiences and making huge accomplishments for hope school, kamba, and having fun times with our friends here in Uganda.

Cooking here in Uganda has been one of the harder adjustments for me to make.  Charcoal and kerosene stoves, no refrigerator, no cutting boards, only the bare essentials of cutlery, I’m telling you, fixing a meal here is not so easy.  But somehow I have managed to figure it out and I have actually come to enjoy the challenge of making new dishes and creating new meals for our menu.  

So last Sunday, our very good friend Annett invited us over for an African dinner cooking lesson.  Jimbo and I shopped and bargained for foods we wanted to learn how to cook in the crazy Owino market in Kampala, and headed over to Annett’s around 3pm. 

The stoves were already warming up when we arrived and we were greeted by annet’s fiancé, niece, cousin, and sister.  Annet has become a very close friend to both jimbo and myself and we have fallen in love with her fiancé, family, and friends so it was a wonderful surprise to have them join the party.  That is just the way it is in Africa, people just show up to your house for a visit and it is something that people look forward to everyday. Really, everyday they hope that someone may just stop by.  I don’t think it works like that in the u.s.  But here it is even rude not to drop by your friends homes for visits at least once a week.

So grace, annet’s fiancé, taught jimbo how to make juice. Jimbo diligently squeezed oranges, passion fruits, and another fruit similar to tangerines, while I sat outside with the girls and learned how to use banana leaves to cook.  We sat on a mat outside and cut and peeled vegetables. We told stories of our childhoods and they laughed at how differently we grew up.  They laughed at me when I went to fill the jerry can, saying ‘do you ever fill jerry cans in the u.s.’ and I explained that half of Americans probably don’t even know what jerry cans are. Africans know how to fetch water as soon as they are old enough to walk. For hours we cooked and simply enjoyed each other’s company. 

(Millet)

The menu consisted of – pumpkin, sweet potatoes, nakate greens, rice, cow peas, millet, g’nut sauce, avocados, and juice. It was the absolute best meal that we have had since we have been here, probably because of the company, but we actually really enjoyed the food.  And millet has become my new favorite.  I think it is because you get to eat it with your hands…no you HAVE to eat it with your hands.  And I love that I am allowed to eat with my hands…..sorry mom.  Anyway, it was a perfect day and we wanted to share the pics with you so you could get a better understanding of the normal parts of life, like cooking, are over here.