Aug 9. 2014. New Six Senses: 3. Taste_The Beauty of Food in Africa

I think I am lucky to eat rice everyday in Africa, no matter where I am; both West Africans and East Africans seem to consider rice as their staple food. So do I! People ask me what kinds of food Koreans normally eat, and I answered, “Rice!” Then, people ask me how often Koreans eat rice, and I pause upon what to answer, and say, “Every day! Breakfast, lunch and dinner!”

Well, that is not perfectly true, so I add on explanation that Koreans nowadays have been busy and westernized, so they skip breakfast and eat different type of food, but rice is still their staple food. My answer is right? I suddenly wonder what is the staple food for American. When I took the class “Cultural Aspect of Food” during my undergraduate, I wrote a food report that Americans always eat hamburger and pizza. My instructor left a comment that was not true, but did not tell me what is American’s staple food.

Let's explore food menu! 

The interesting thing is that both Korean and Swahili language have two ways to say about rice. English only have one word, rice, but Korean says “쌀” for before cooking, and “밥” for after cooking. Likewise, Swahili says “mchele (쌀)” and “wali (밥)” With the help of additional words, we may also say in English “raw rice (쌀)” and “cooked rice (밥)” I have a question. So then, what is “쌀밥”? Raw rice + cooked rice?

Anywhere you go, food is always ready for you that is edible. Maybe, I have not seen extreme case of traditional or indigenous food yet that some tribes are enjoying to eat. However, at least African countries where I have been – Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania – have wonderful food that I am always longing for. There is nothing to be scared about unnamed food in the opposite side of the earth.  

Tanzanians usually choose wali or ugali, and add side dishes:

Kuku (chicken),

Samaki (fish),

Nyama (meat),

Maini (liver),

Maharage (bean),

Mboga (vegetable)

Daga (anchovy),

and anything else that I do not even remember how to say.

My favorite food: Crain Crain in Sierra Leone

Denice, Lidya and I used to go to Wimpy restaurant, and I always had problem with reading a menu and ordering what I want to eat. Before thinking what I am eagerly looking forward to eating something, I needed to know what food is available in the restaurant, but only Swahili was welcoming me. It is still hard for me to decide what to add side dish. Why don’t we just have completed menu that I can simply point out “I want this one!” When I was in Sierra Leone, all I need is one dish included rice and soup. That is my style! Warm soup above warm rice! I miss Sierra Leone food, especially Crain Crain and Cassava Leaves, so much… Crain Crain with 2 pieces of cow kanda (skin) is the best African food that I have ever tasted. 1 piece of cow kanda is 1000 leone (23 cents), so Crain Crain with rice (3000 leone) + 2 cow kanda (2000 leone) is 5000 leone ($1.15) for breakfast! Of course, when I first tried those food, I felt so weird, and I did not even know what I was eating. However, Sierra Leonean food had so much attraction once I got used to its taste. Eating food in Tanzania has so many difficult steps; I am still struggling with ordering food, and every time, I do not know what is going on until I see actual food what I ordered.

I went to the new restaurant with Edwin and Joseph for lunch. I was surprised to see that staff come to the office and spend their time for self-improvement during holiday. IT staff Edwin was preparing for CCNA and ITIL computer certificate, and Joseph was writing his dissertation about bee project. We sat outside and ordered food. I wanted some kinds of soup with rice.

Wali + Chicken Soup + Meat + Bean + Vegetable
+ Some Other Unknown Soup (?) Combination 

“Uh… Rice with Nyama…? And… Ah.. Do you have some soup? Oh… You have chicken soup? And also vegetable!”

Whew! I barely ordered food. I would have two main dishes; meat and chicken. I did not know how much would it be, but I excited to see our table was filled with food. Let’s eat them first! The good thing was that a server brought soap water and clean water, so we could wash hands before and after having food. Eating ugali with hands was not that dirty because people always keep their hygiene. I added some more rice (it’s free!) and vegetable and ate a lot.

Edwin said I only needed to pay 3,000 TZS ($1.8). Really…? Was that really cheap? Getting out of the restaurant, I asked Joseph how much my food was. It was actually 8,000 TZS ($4.8)! Edwin paid 5,000 TZS for me without telling me. Oh, my friend. Asante! Enjoying new taste is always fun.