Cooking Dinner
Staying with the headmaster's family means that I have the benefit of his wife's wonderful cooking. Last Saturday I finally had time to watch as Mama Shaka (women here are called by their oldest child's name) prepared the evening meal.
First let me describe the work area. The kitchen is a separate building from the house. This is a good thing since wood and charcoal fires are used and there's not much ventilation besides the door. There are two places in the back for wood fires with three stones around each one to put pots on. Above this area is a rack to dry wood to be used in the future. There are also several charcoal burners. During the preparation of this evening meal one wood fire was used and two charcoal burners. There are no tables or other raised surfaces -- all preparation is done on the ground, either in the kitchen or outside, while sitting on a mat or a low bench.
Dinner preparations began around 5:30 p.m. On the menu was meat in a meat sauce, fried sweet potatoes, peas and local greens (called dodo), rice, and chai (hot tea with milk).
Mama Shaka and one of her sister-in-laws began by peeling the sweet potatoes while the house worker started the chai by boiling fresh milk with water on one of the charcoal burners. The other charcoal burner was heating up and on the wood fire the peas were being cooked.
Next Mama Shaka got a tray of rice. She picked through it removing rocks. After washing it she put it on the second charcoal burner to cook. At this point the peas were removed from the wood fire and the meat was put on to boil. More wood was added and my eyes started to water from the smoke. Next she added the tea to the milk and water mixture and set it aside to be strained by the house worker into a large thermos. Charcoal was added to the burner and Mama Shaka put oil in a pot to heat up so that she could fry the sweet potatoes. While those were cooking she peeled and cut four large tomatoes and four small onions for the meat sauce, checked the rice, removed some of the coals from that burner and added some more water to the rice to cook a bit longer. She also had time to feed the baby while she waited for everything to cook.
(In the meantime the house worker cleaned the yard and took down the laundry and the sister-in-law washed the dishes from earlier in the day.)
After around 20 minutes the sweet potatoes were removed from the oil and the oil saved for future cooking. The meat was removed from the wood fire, the broth saved in a pot and the meat cut into small pieces. The meat was then cooked in a pot with some oil on one of the charcoal burners. The rice was removed from the other burner and the dodo was put on to boil. After the meat had been cooked for a while, the oil was drained off and the tomatoes and onions were added with some salt. Slowly the broth was added until it had cooked down into a nice meat sauce.
Once the dodo had boiled, the water was drained off and the house worker squeezed out the rest of the water by hand. Then the dodo was cooked with four skinned and sliced tomatoes, two small onions and some salt. The peas were added and it cooked for a little longer before being put in serving dish.
At 8:00 p.m. after two and a half hours of cooking we sat down to a delicious dinner, well worth the time and effort.
First let me describe the work area. The kitchen is a separate building from the house. This is a good thing since wood and charcoal fires are used and there's not much ventilation besides the door. There are two places in the back for wood fires with three stones around each one to put pots on. Above this area is a rack to dry wood to be used in the future. There are also several charcoal burners. During the preparation of this evening meal one wood fire was used and two charcoal burners. There are no tables or other raised surfaces -- all preparation is done on the ground, either in the kitchen or outside, while sitting on a mat or a low bench.
Dinner preparations began around 5:30 p.m. On the menu was meat in a meat sauce, fried sweet potatoes, peas and local greens (called dodo), rice, and chai (hot tea with milk).
Mama Shaka and one of her sister-in-laws began by peeling the sweet potatoes while the house worker started the chai by boiling fresh milk with water on one of the charcoal burners. The other charcoal burner was heating up and on the wood fire the peas were being cooked.
Next Mama Shaka got a tray of rice. She picked through it removing rocks. After washing it she put it on the second charcoal burner to cook. At this point the peas were removed from the wood fire and the meat was put on to boil. More wood was added and my eyes started to water from the smoke. Next she added the tea to the milk and water mixture and set it aside to be strained by the house worker into a large thermos. Charcoal was added to the burner and Mama Shaka put oil in a pot to heat up so that she could fry the sweet potatoes. While those were cooking she peeled and cut four large tomatoes and four small onions for the meat sauce, checked the rice, removed some of the coals from that burner and added some more water to the rice to cook a bit longer. She also had time to feed the baby while she waited for everything to cook.
(In the meantime the house worker cleaned the yard and took down the laundry and the sister-in-law washed the dishes from earlier in the day.)
After around 20 minutes the sweet potatoes were removed from the oil and the oil saved for future cooking. The meat was removed from the wood fire, the broth saved in a pot and the meat cut into small pieces. The meat was then cooked in a pot with some oil on one of the charcoal burners. The rice was removed from the other burner and the dodo was put on to boil. After the meat had been cooked for a while, the oil was drained off and the tomatoes and onions were added with some salt. Slowly the broth was added until it had cooked down into a nice meat sauce.
Once the dodo had boiled, the water was drained off and the house worker squeezed out the rest of the water by hand. Then the dodo was cooked with four skinned and sliced tomatoes, two small onions and some salt. The peas were added and it cooked for a little longer before being put in serving dish.
At 8:00 p.m. after two and a half hours of cooking we sat down to a delicious dinner, well worth the time and effort.
posted by Chrissy at 10:33 AM
1 Comments:
Everything one does is a lot more work, isnt it! No microwave stuff! Ha! Glad that you are having such a wonderful experience!
Phil
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