Food Stories

It's dinner time, and we're starving. But what to make? I've found I can only eat so many meals of beans and rice a week... and lately I've not even been doing a lot of that. So, it's back to the basics. But what is that, exactly? We’ve pretty much given up on making food here in Tanzania. Well, that’s totally not true. But it IS true that we never expect a beloved recipe from the States to turn out the way we remember! Here are a few of the perks to cooking in Dar, with a hot and humid kitchen currently in the dark to boot. (Our lights aren’t working, so we’re viewing our cooking through kerosene lamps – one of the best inventions EVER!!!)

When you make Christmas cookies in the States, you have to melt the butter in the microwave. Here, you can throw the correct amount in the bowl and it will be melted before you add the next ingredient! Are you jealous yet? Just wait!

We’ve found that we can get eggs for way cheaper – and cleaner (no feathers still attached) – from the bicycle boys with egg carts that pass by our house. We give 5,600Tsh to our guard the night before with a basket, and the next day they deliver 30 eggs to our door! We used to try to put them in the fridge, but discovered they froze more often than not. (Sometimes our freezer and fridge get their identities mixed up – they are usually better equipped to do the other’s job!) We’ve since learned that you don’t actually need to put Tanzanian eggs in the fridge at all… Wah la!

Salt, garlic powder, and basically any powdery substance is a lost cause here. We often get more rice out of our salt shaker than actual salt. And even with a sealed top, our garlic powder comes out in hard stone-like pieces within a few days of introducing it into our kitchen. Any ideas, anyone?

We are growing more and more proficient at making our own: taco seasoning, burger seasoning, spaghetti sauce (starting with whole tomatoes, of course!), caramel apple dip, cookie frosting (including colors AND flavors!), salad dressing (if we can find lettuce!), pancakes (no Bisquick here!), rolls, cinnamon bread, and soon, JUICE! from scratch. And I am now a pro at cutting up a pineapple in five minutes flat (a skill that I’m sure will be less useful when I get over my pineapple addiction… but for now is serving Tembo House very well!) Maybe one day I’ll learn how to make Mac and Cheese sauce mix… but for now, I’m enjoying the packets from my parents in the States!

One of our favorite foods here is chapatti. Ok, maybe it’s not our favorite, but this flatbread of sorts is definitely a great fallback, and it tastes pretty great. The best thing about chapatti is that we can get it frozen for cheap from Shoppers. In a land where a bowl of dry, raw green beans turns into a bowl of white mold overnight, and where keeping fresh food of ANY kind good for a few days is a challenge, we LOVE anything that freezes and keeps long-term! Chapatti don’t sit in our freezer for very long in general, but we appreciate the versatility it offers – and the quick and easy way it provides us an abundant number of snacks!