Yeah, I’d Eat That.

Post by Lara

12 March 2013

We’ve had a lot of conversations lately with fellow ex-pats about how our tastes have changed quite a bit since we moved to Africa. Some of the reasons behind these changes are cultural differences—in Salone, just about any meal consists of complex carbs topped with a sauce of vegetables, protein, pepper, and oil.  After several months of eating this way, you stop hankering for a cut of meat with veggies and potatoes on the side and start yearning for a big old plate of rice and a generous helping of sauce to heap on top.  Beyond this, a lot of the things we were used to eating in the states needed to be kept cold or dry, neither of which can really be guaranteed here, and many things we like to eat cannot grow in a tropical climate (hello potatoes, button mushrooms, lettuce, and peas!), so they either aren’t sold here or are imported and thus more expensive.  Finally, the fact that food is not as plentiful here and doesn't keep as long means that we are willing to overlook a few flaws that would have us throwing food out in the states.  Recently Kevin and I have had a running joke that our lives right now can be characterized by the simple phrase, “Yeah, I’d eat that.”

Some examples of things we wouldn’t mind (or actively enjoy) chowing down on here: 

Fresh crab? Of course we'd eat that!

Dried fish-- bones, skin, and all

Fish bones—unavoidable in most meals. Yeah, I’d eat that.

Sardine salad sandwich made of sardines with all the oil they were packed in, raw onions, chili pepper, and mayo? Yeah, I’d eat that (and I have!)

Chocolate bars that have been melted and re-solidified so many times that they now have a somewhat sandy/grainy texture? I will eat ten, thank you.

“Meat pie” that is actually about a teaspoon of crushed up fish [mostly fish bones] and chili pepper spread onto a puff pastry and then fried? Yeah, that’s actually pretty tasty.

Oysta kek: Fried donuts with dried oysters mixed in, served with a generous dusting of chili pepper and raw onions? Yeah, I’d eat that, as long as there’s a whole lot of water to wash it down, on account of the copious amounts of pepper and onion.

Mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and barbecue sauce that have been sitting opened and un-refrigerated on a shelf for several months?  As long as it still tastes somewhat like it did when we opened it, yeah, I’d eat that.

Beef jerky topped with a dollop of Easy Cheese? Delicious.

Termites! Roasted in oil with a bit of salt.  Apparently they taste somewhat reminiscent of Cracker Jacks.  Yeah, I’d eat that.

Spaghetti noodles, hot dogs, pepper, onions, and tomato sauce on a sandwich? Kevin says that it’s pretty yummy.

Binch Salad: lettuce, hard-boiled egg, spaghetti, and cooked beans topped with ketchup, mayonnaise, and pepper. So good, we went back for it a second day in a row. 

Acheke: gari [pounded dried cassava root], spaghetti, lettuce, hard boiled egg, fish or chicken, and raw onion topped with ketchup, mayonnaise, and pepper.  Pretty good, but not as good as binch salad. 

It's "pizza"!

Velveeta/Easy Cheese/Laughing Cow/any processed cheese product: I might eat them in the states, but not when there’s a less processed alternative available. Here? Keep it coming! Processed cheese is one of my favorite inventions.

Manpo: pounded rice and sugar sealed in a plastic bag and then boiled to make a doughy, pudding-y substance.  Not the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten, but one of the most hygienic street foods you can buy since they boil the whole thing. Yeah, I’d eat that.

Honeybees/beeswax/chunks of tree: I wouldn’t normally be happy knowingly swallowing a bee or a splinter, but since honey harvesting here is a bit ad hoc and involves hacking into the tree housing the bees, throwing everything into a bucket and then kinda sorta skimming the top before selling it as honey, we’ve found all of the above in the local raw honey we buy, and we deal with it because hey, it’s local raw honey.

Foo Foo: fermented cassava root shaped into balls and then boiled, served with fish or chicken “soup” poured on top.  The foo foo is kind of sour, very sticky, and otherwise unremarkable. The soup is sometimes very good. This is a favorite lunch for a lot of teachers at my school, and sometimes they buy me a serving also.  Most days I politely accept and gulp down as much as I can before offering the rest to the nearest child who gladly takes it. Once or twice I was hungry enough to scarf it down.  Yeah, I’d eat that.

Monkey/cat/squirrel/bush rat/mystery meat: pretty much if it swims, it’s fish, if it has wings, it’s chicken, and if it’s anything else it’s beef.  We don’t think we’ve eaten cat, dog, or monkey yet but I doubt we would refuse if it were served to us, and it’s not unlikely that we wouldn’t know. So…I may have already eaten that.