MOUTH ADVENTURES

I've made mention to my family of my struggles with food here. It is improving as I become accustomed to the tastes of Tanzania, but it remains something I will deal with, as I have a small appetite and Africans want to feed us and make us plump (evidently my husband is not taking care of me well because I am small). Their neighbours look at Bob and I and say, “Oh! Sweya's are not feeding their guests! It is shame!” Therefore we are fed enormous portions of food that I struggle to swallow. Some of it is incredible, though! Take a look through the list and guess which ones I like...

1. Bananas and pineapples straight from heaven – sweet like candy

2. Chicken (called “kuku”) - pretty tough, with a rubbery skin that stretches in your teeth

3. Rice – prior to cooking, it's called “mchile” and after, “wayli.” We eat this every day.

4. Ugali. A very stiff white porridge that you use as a spoon to gather up meat, potatoes, spinach, whatever. Rather dry. At least it's not rancid, like in some areas. Gord says it is sometimes so rancid it tastes like barf.

5. Juice – fresh papaya or passionfruit or oranges squeezed into a jar. My fave: avacado-passionfruit. WOW!!!

6. Matoke – plantain (special bananas for cooking) that are boiled with tomatoes and other things and taste kind of like potatoes. Only, I like potatoes and these are...well...different.

7. Mandaz – like Timbits, only better. YUMMY!

8. Ngombe (moo) – chunks of beef (very expensive and usually served only to guests) that are excessively tasty but somewhat over-cooked.

9. Mapote (“mapotay”) - beans and peanuts in a creamy sauce. Actually incredibly tasty.

10. Greens – slimy and leafy

11. Fish. Fish. Fish. Always fish. Fried, boiled, in sauce. Sometimes extremely tasty. The tail can be quite sharp and crunchy, kind of like chips.

12. Bamia – ocra, as we know it in Canada, though you'd rarely see it there. We had it fried, thank goodness. Evidently when boiled, it looks just like a pot of snot.

13. Senene (“saynaynay”) - grasshoppers. Fried. Haven't had this delicacy yet.

14.Daaga. You want the most common food in Tanzania? Good for calcium? Eat daaga. They look like minnows (same size, too) and come from Lake Victoria. Typically, their heads are cut off and they are dried in the sun and smell HORRIFIC. We ate them boiled in tomato sauce over rice – full-bodied. Bob said they were just like fries but even he struggled to eat them, with their beady little eyes glaring up at you and then crunching in your teeth. Unbearable agony for me.

Canadian taste buds are adjusting to Tanzanian cuisine. I am truly thankful for the opportunity to experience this change – and I will be truly thankful for a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce and Caesar salad!