Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Day 164 - African Meal



Tonight, as Navice and his family had done a month ago when the Cornerstone group was getting ready to leave, they hosted a Zambian meal at their home for us (we provided the money for the food, because it was too much for them to support). Ketty and her daughters worked for hours to prepare all the food over a fire and it was all piping hot when served it. The meal started off by the host or hostess going around washing each person's hand with water over a bowl, because no utensils are used when you eat an African meal. Then we were served nshimia, which is a corn meal mixture (a little thicker than malt o'meal with a pretty bland taste), grape leaves (like collard greens), pumpkin leaves, sweet potato leaves, sweet potatoes, roasted chicken, a mixed vegetable salad, and caterpillars (Yes, I tried a couple). This is a very elaborate meal for them, because usually Zambian families can only afford meat once a week. Their staple foods are usually nshima, greens, and little fish (which we did not have tonight. Thank goodness! It is a roasted minnow type fish that you pop in your mouth and eat whole!). All in all, I think African food is pretty good, but I do not eat it every day. We have been cooking American dishes at the office for most of our meals, but Daniel has cooked African food for us a couple nights. (L: Ketty stirring the nshima, R: Part of our Dinner Caterpillars! YUMMY!)

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