I'm thankful for the kukus
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Clara
29 November 2014 | Tanzania, Shirati
There is something appealing to foreign or unfamiliar holidays. I have never experienced Thanksgiving before, but since I am sharing my house with two Americans, I was bound to celebrate it this year. My knowledge about Thanksgiving was rudimental, something with pilgrims, Indians, sharing food and turkey. Luckily I had Brian to fill me in on the history (did you know the tradition started with president Lincoln after the staggering losses in the Civil War? And that other Presidents tried to move the holiday one week earlier, to extend the Christmas buying season?)
One thing I did know however was that we would never be able to find all the ingredients for a traditional thanksgiving in Ubwere, Kabwana or Shirati. There are some turkeys roaming the village, but they are not nearly big enough yet, and very expensive. Gravy is partly made with cognac and butter and even peas would be a problem. But this is Africa, and improvising is in their blood. So I went to the market with our cook (yes I know, it’s snobby, but we have a house cook), and bought chickens, corn on the cob, potatoes for mashed potatoes, vegetables for salads and bananas for Fred’s famous banana bread.
You don’t buy pre-packaged washed chicken here. Instead we went into somebody’s backyard, pointed at the two fattest chickens, they sent their dogs loose to catch them and we walked home with one live chicken in every hand. On Thanksgiving day we got some more addition to our dinner party, so two chickens wouldn’t have been enough. That’s why I walked over to our leprosy ward at the hospital, they keep their own chickens, and asked if they had any for sale. For €4,- I got the fattest hen and walked home.
Preparing dinner proved more challenging then I though. Not because I had to kill my own chicken (I did) or we had to pluck and de-gut it ourselves (which I also did), but there was hakuna umeme again (no power). Cooking is traditionally done on charcoal, but we wanted to roast the chicken in the oven and later bake banana bread. Those plans fell flat.
Instead we bought extra candles, rearranged the dining room to fit 14 people, and started cooking at 14:00 to be done by 18:30. When all the dishes were lined up I couldn’t help but feel a little proud: charcoal roasted chicken and corn on the cob, cabbage salad, tomato salad, mashed potatoes with garlic, vegetable rice and even a garlic/chicken broth gravy.
At six all the Dutchies arrived (they are always on time) and the candles were lit. At 18:30 though, disaster struck, it started pouring rain and all of our other guests were detained at the hospital to keep the wards running. So there we sat: only 8 of 14 with all this food in the candlelight. But we were thankful for every second of it.
One thing I did know however was that we would never be able to find all the ingredients for a traditional thanksgiving in Ubwere, Kabwana or Shirati. There are some turkeys roaming the village, but they are not nearly big enough yet, and very expensive. Gravy is partly made with cognac and butter and even peas would be a problem. But this is Africa, and improvising is in their blood. So I went to the market with our cook (yes I know, it’s snobby, but we have a house cook), and bought chickens, corn on the cob, potatoes for mashed potatoes, vegetables for salads and bananas for Fred’s famous banana bread.
You don’t buy pre-packaged washed chicken here. Instead we went into somebody’s backyard, pointed at the two fattest chickens, they sent their dogs loose to catch them and we walked home with one live chicken in every hand. On Thanksgiving day we got some more addition to our dinner party, so two chickens wouldn’t have been enough. That’s why I walked over to our leprosy ward at the hospital, they keep their own chickens, and asked if they had any for sale. For €4,- I got the fattest hen and walked home.
Preparing dinner proved more challenging then I though. Not because I had to kill my own chicken (I did) or we had to pluck and de-gut it ourselves (which I also did), but there was hakuna umeme again (no power). Cooking is traditionally done on charcoal, but we wanted to roast the chicken in the oven and later bake banana bread. Those plans fell flat.
Instead we bought extra candles, rearranged the dining room to fit 14 people, and started cooking at 14:00 to be done by 18:30. When all the dishes were lined up I couldn’t help but feel a little proud: charcoal roasted chicken and corn on the cob, cabbage salad, tomato salad, mashed potatoes with garlic, vegetable rice and even a garlic/chicken broth gravy.
At six all the Dutchies arrived (they are always on time) and the candles were lit. At 18:30 though, disaster struck, it started pouring rain and all of our other guests were detained at the hospital to keep the wards running. So there we sat: only 8 of 14 with all this food in the candlelight. But we were thankful for every second of it.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
