Food

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(wrote this awhile ago and meant to publish it but never had great internet connection to upload all the pics)

Several people have asked about food, so I thought I'd write a little and post some pictures of all the delicious (and not so delicious) things I've eaten in Uganda and Ghana.

UGANDA: I don't think there was ever anything that tasted really bad. However, it was ALL very unhealthy. We ate pretty much the same thing every day for lunch and dinner -- matoke (mashed and heated plantains), spaghetti, rice, beans, fish or goat (which I only tried once. The goat's very fatty), potatoes (sometimes fried like french fries), and pineapple or watermelon. It was good but just about everything was fried in some way or another. There were lots of delicious snacks that I will post pictures of.
We didn't really eat breakfast. Sometimes we had bread or bananas and there was always tea.
What I missed: healthy food and vegetables.

GHANA: Advantages - there is variety and it is a bit healthier. Disadvantages - I don't like the taste of a lot of it. It's really not that bad, it's just not what I would choose to eat if I had the choice. And, to be fair, some of it has been quite tasty. There's 3 main staples of local food that they eat a lot - fufu, banku, and t.z. They all look the same to me (kind of like dough but not so sticky and dry). Some are made from yams and others from maiz, some are pounded and others are heated and stirred until it solidifies. I can't tell the difference between the 3. Then we also have rice and spaghetti sometimes. The sauces for the 3 local things and the rice and spaghetti vary - groundnut sauce, this red fishy sauce, okra and other stuff sauce, etc. I made the mistake of telling my host mom how much I loved the vegetables the first time she served it and now I get cabbage and carrots just about every day.
Breakfast: My host mom used to make me an omelette, oatmeal, bread, and tea every morning. (Note: The oatmeal alone was 3 times more than I eat at home when I just eat oatmeal for breakfast). I started making my own breakfast when she takes the kids to school partly because I was tired of eating so much (and I mentioned a couple times that it was too much food) and partly so that I could feel like I was helping out and not being waited on all the time.
What I miss: Knowing that I will like the food every meal even if there's no variety. (I don't think I'm a very picky eater, but my taste buds just didn't enjoy themselves that much.)

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Photos

Uganda - my first African food
The first thing I ate upon arrival. Picked it up on the side of the road. Toasted banana = yummy. They don't usually eat these large bananas (like what we have), but typically have smaller bananas which are very sweet.

Uganda - Cookies and Chipati
Two of the most delicious (and unhealthy) foods.
The cookies - or pies as the Ugandans say - taste like banana bread, but they're fried in oil.
Chipati - like a deep fried tortilla. So greasy, but sooo good.

Uganda - Typical Dinner
Unfortunately, I didn't get matoke that night. It's bright yellow and mushy (like mashed potatoes I guess). But we always had rice (and usually beans) and spaghetti. And the fried cassava (like french fries) were always a treat.

Uganda - N. American Food
All the volunteers made food for the family and teachers. This was Kayla and I attempting to make "french fries." Made from cassava and not potatoes but we cut them as skinny as possible so they weren't chunky like we usually had them.
Immy (who lived with us) was there to help us with the fire since we were incompetent.

Uganda - N. American food
Club sandwiches! So delicious. The Ugandans seemed to like it though, at first, they weren't sure how to eat them since they were so huge. We had to tell them to squish it and then just stuff it in your mouth. Some of them ate it in layers :)

Uganda - Rolex
Heaven on earth. Also a heartache waiting to happen. Fried egg with tomato and salt on top of a chipati and all rolled together. Costs less than $0.50. Let's just say it was bad when we discovered the nearby town had them at night.

Uganda - Roasted Corn
Delish! And I like to think a little bit healthy since it's a vegetable. It tasted a lot like popcorn and you can see one of the kernels on this one did pop like popcorn. I think this cost about the equivalent of $0.12

Ghana - Pizza in Accra
So good! Mamma Mia's in Osu if you ever go to Accra

Ghana - I am not cut out to be an African.
Grinding tomatoes and peppers for the funky red fishy sauce. Let's just say I didn't do the work for very long cuz otherwise it would've taken ages.

Ghana - one of the 3 "doughy" things
Either banku, fufu, or tizit. I think it's pounded yam. Kind of strange texture in your mouth (maybe like a thick jello?).

Ghana - Special breakfast
The kids get this every Sat morning. Special local porridge and donuts.

Ghana - one of many "soups" and fried "dippers"
Fried plantains and yam to dip in the beany soup. The beans looked good but were a little difficult to eat. Fried plantains are good tho I was always served a HUGE amount. Prefer fried cassava in Uganda to the fried yam.

Ghana - red fishy sauce
Very spicy sauce and quite difficult for me to swallow.

Ghana - Rice balls with groundnut sauce
Typical food. Pretty good.

Ghana - Vanilla ice cream
Heaven! I started stopping at a little food shop on the way to the CRS office every day to get one of these when my stomach wasn't doing too well. Cost about $0.30. It was marvelous :)

Comments

[sarah]

Taste for it
Off to uganda tom and you've def got me in the mood for some nsima/ugali/fufu.... Great photos and enjoyed the blog.

[Bruce Bancroft]

Pizza
it sure looks good and i know a good Pizza when i see it