Chakula-Food
One of the many questions I was asked before coming here is what will you eat. So I thought I would like to share a little about what I have been eating here, but please understand this is what I am eating at William and Martha's house and around town in Arusha, it may change some later and I will let you in on that if it happens.
For Breakfast I have a variety of meals that include scrambled eggs, breakfast sausages, a piece of bread with jam, or porridge. Scrambled eggs and the bread with jam is pretty much what you expect. But the breakfast sausage is actually just a hot dog wiener and the porridge is difficult to explain. It is somewhat like cream of wheat but just a little. It is much more fine ground and I believe it is made of corn or maize flour. It is normally served very runny and allowed to thicken as you eat it. There is very little actual taste or texture to the meal itself and it is dark in color unlike cream of wheat. Like oatmeal or cream of wheat you normally add things to give sweetness or flavor however since I don't have any more artificial sweetener (did find out where to buy it today so I should be solving that problem) I get to eat it plain.
Lunch and dinners seem to be much the same so far. I have had roasted goat, roasted beef, Ugali, local chicken, rice, fried bananas and a meal made of bananas cooked and covered with mashed potatoes and recently was cooked bananas with chunks of meat. The three soups I have had are basically the same type with some kale looking leafs, meat (fish, chicken or ground beef) and a broth. The roasted goat is very tasty and normally purchased as a roadside cookery normally set up near a bar and you can eat it there or get it to go. It often comes with a couple of pieces of bone in addition to the cut pieces or is cooked on a stick. The roast beef is normally only on a plate with some bone in pieces or loose meat. The local chicken has the rare reputation of being close to one of the toughest pieces of meat I have ever tried to chew. The only thing
tougher is the monkey in Central America. I was ready for a nap after eating the local chicken. I found out later that most of the chicken that I am used to actually comes from Singida and will not be as tough.
Ugali is a stiff porridge made from corn or maize flour. It is white and is also normally very tasteless itself. You normally eat this by taking a chunk in your right hand (right hand only) and rolling it into a ball while you eat the main part of the meal. If you are eating a soup with it you can press it into the broth to soak up the juice and the flavor of the broth. If you are eating it with a meat meal you use it to fill yourself up and between the bites of meat where it helps cut the grease from the meal.
Rice is ubiquitous here like in South and Central America and the main two types are white and brown. In Martha's house we normally do brown rice because that is healthier. I have not run into long grain rice which would be the healthiest of all the rice types. Of course they don't have Uncle Ben's Minute microwave type here.
The banana meals are tasty but difficult for me to make a meal of bananas considering my being a diabetic. However I would not let that stop me from eating as much as I can because I would never want to insult my host by not eating.
I have normally run into beans a lot on previous trips but the only bean we have had is one I cannot correlate to anything in the states. I actually thought it was corn cooked into a soup mix but she tells me it is a yellow bean but does not know the name herself. It is normally served over rice. It also does not taste like a bean or at least the red or kidney beans.
When eating somewhere in town I can get a hamburger. They are fixed similar to the states except the sin of hamburger land: They put mayonnaise on it. Mayonnaise is for cold cut sandwiches not hamburgers. And of course there are the British chips which are like steak fries back home. I admit I have occasionally eaten some in town as a snack with my cold soda.
On the topic of sodas I would like to say I am surprised (happily) to discover Coke Zero has invaded. It is normally about 500 shillings more because it comes in a plastic container instead of the glass. However Coke light is normally smaller than regular Coke for the same cost. Pepsi and diet Pepsi are normally the same size and same price but normally slightly cheaper than Coke except at restaurants. Coke zero is not available everywhere yet and I am afraid it will not be in Singida yet. I have controlled my tendencies and limited myself to two a week unless we eat at a restaurant because it normally takes two small coke lights to get me through.
There is also tea and coffee. I don't drink coffee but for those that do I have only seen the instant type here in all my trips. I am positive they have the other kind but it has never been around where I have been. They do grow coffee on Mount Mero which is visible from William's house. Chai or tea is available in a variety of types and most in teabags but some is available for use in loose form. Unfortunately for me I have been limited in enjoying tea so far because I don't have the artificial sweetener available yet. ( did pick some up before I published this blog-cost more than a meal in town and look on the box and it has a small actually very small amount of sugar in it)
Fruits are very abundant here and so far have not seemed expensive. I have been buying apples and bananas from the local mart I walk to for my water along with peanut butter and jam so I can have sandwiches when I am left to my own devices. For those wondering I can actually live on PBJ sandwiches because I have done it in college. But I enjoy trying the various different meals and enjoying eating what my hosts provide me with.
Water is readily available bottled and costs less than a dollar for 1.5 liters and I normally do a bottle and half to two bottles a day.
My only problem with the diet here is the same I have most places is that is not diabetic friendly. Rice's which are so common here are horrible for diabetics as they are converted to sugar so easily. Same thing with breads and so far I have not found sugar free jelly or jam but hope they are available at the same place as the artificial sweetener. (found low sugar jam but it was in fig only so might as well not have it as I am not doing fig jelly on a regular basis) Ugali as much as I enjoy eating it will only be slightly better because it is from corn maize but is still white and will most likely be easily converted to sugar as well. So portion control on starches and fruits are key to my controlling my numbers here. I hope not to have to use medicine to control my numbers because that was what I was doing stateside.
You may notice I did not mention many vegetables because when they are cooked in the rice or soup or other meal like the bananas covered in mashed potatoes it is very difficult to determine what they have been. There have been some but so far have not been a separate side dish as we would do in the states.
The last major thing to mention are peanuts as a snack or side dish. They sometimes accompany a meal. I am assuming these are good in portion control sizes(as they are stateside) but they do motivate the digestive system very quickly here as opposed to those I eat stateside.
With all this said, I am very thankful I have food that is prepared for me and have definitely not gone hungry by any means. I know so many who have less than I that I am ashamed to think about all the foods I ate at home and the quantities I ate them in.
As the Lord taught us to pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil Matthew 6:9-13
It is hard to remember that we only need so much to survive. I want to strive to take only what I need.
My prayer concerns you can help me with:
I leave for Singida on Wednesday the 12th-safe travels
For my first meeting of the people currently working at FDM in Yulansoni as their full time friend and not just as a visitor.
Finding a place to rent in Singida-so far no one has responded to William with things for us to look at
My blood sugar to stay in a good range with all these starches
Swahili lesson:
Chakula=food
Ndizi=banana
tufa=apple
kiazi ulaya-white potato
nyama=meat
kahawa=coffee
chai=tea
maji=water
samaki=fish
kula=eat
mkate=bread
wali=white rice
pilau=colored rice
For Breakfast I have a variety of meals that include scrambled eggs, breakfast sausages, a piece of bread with jam, or porridge. Scrambled eggs and the bread with jam is pretty much what you expect. But the breakfast sausage is actually just a hot dog wiener and the porridge is difficult to explain. It is somewhat like cream of wheat but just a little. It is much more fine ground and I believe it is made of corn or maize flour. It is normally served very runny and allowed to thicken as you eat it. There is very little actual taste or texture to the meal itself and it is dark in color unlike cream of wheat. Like oatmeal or cream of wheat you normally add things to give sweetness or flavor however since I don't have any more artificial sweetener (did find out where to buy it today so I should be solving that problem) I get to eat it plain.
 |
| Fried Bananas with dipping sauce |
 |
| Cooked Bananas with Meat |
Ugali is a stiff porridge made from corn or maize flour. It is white and is also normally very tasteless itself. You normally eat this by taking a chunk in your right hand (right hand only) and rolling it into a ball while you eat the main part of the meal. If you are eating a soup with it you can press it into the broth to soak up the juice and the flavor of the broth. If you are eating it with a meat meal you use it to fill yourself up and between the bites of meat where it helps cut the grease from the meal.
Rice is ubiquitous here like in South and Central America and the main two types are white and brown. In Martha's house we normally do brown rice because that is healthier. I have not run into long grain rice which would be the healthiest of all the rice types. Of course they don't have Uncle Ben's Minute microwave type here.
The banana meals are tasty but difficult for me to make a meal of bananas considering my being a diabetic. However I would not let that stop me from eating as much as I can because I would never want to insult my host by not eating.
I have normally run into beans a lot on previous trips but the only bean we have had is one I cannot correlate to anything in the states. I actually thought it was corn cooked into a soup mix but she tells me it is a yellow bean but does not know the name herself. It is normally served over rice. It also does not taste like a bean or at least the red or kidney beans.
When eating somewhere in town I can get a hamburger. They are fixed similar to the states except the sin of hamburger land: They put mayonnaise on it. Mayonnaise is for cold cut sandwiches not hamburgers. And of course there are the British chips which are like steak fries back home. I admit I have occasionally eaten some in town as a snack with my cold soda.
On the topic of sodas I would like to say I am surprised (happily) to discover Coke Zero has invaded. It is normally about 500 shillings more because it comes in a plastic container instead of the glass. However Coke light is normally smaller than regular Coke for the same cost. Pepsi and diet Pepsi are normally the same size and same price but normally slightly cheaper than Coke except at restaurants. Coke zero is not available everywhere yet and I am afraid it will not be in Singida yet. I have controlled my tendencies and limited myself to two a week unless we eat at a restaurant because it normally takes two small coke lights to get me through.
There is also tea and coffee. I don't drink coffee but for those that do I have only seen the instant type here in all my trips. I am positive they have the other kind but it has never been around where I have been. They do grow coffee on Mount Mero which is visible from William's house. Chai or tea is available in a variety of types and most in teabags but some is available for use in loose form. Unfortunately for me I have been limited in enjoying tea so far because I don't have the artificial sweetener available yet. ( did pick some up before I published this blog-cost more than a meal in town and look on the box and it has a small actually very small amount of sugar in it)
Fruits are very abundant here and so far have not seemed expensive. I have been buying apples and bananas from the local mart I walk to for my water along with peanut butter and jam so I can have sandwiches when I am left to my own devices. For those wondering I can actually live on PBJ sandwiches because I have done it in college. But I enjoy trying the various different meals and enjoying eating what my hosts provide me with.
Water is readily available bottled and costs less than a dollar for 1.5 liters and I normally do a bottle and half to two bottles a day.
My only problem with the diet here is the same I have most places is that is not diabetic friendly. Rice's which are so common here are horrible for diabetics as they are converted to sugar so easily. Same thing with breads and so far I have not found sugar free jelly or jam but hope they are available at the same place as the artificial sweetener. (found low sugar jam but it was in fig only so might as well not have it as I am not doing fig jelly on a regular basis) Ugali as much as I enjoy eating it will only be slightly better because it is from corn maize but is still white and will most likely be easily converted to sugar as well. So portion control on starches and fruits are key to my controlling my numbers here. I hope not to have to use medicine to control my numbers because that was what I was doing stateside.
You may notice I did not mention many vegetables because when they are cooked in the rice or soup or other meal like the bananas covered in mashed potatoes it is very difficult to determine what they have been. There have been some but so far have not been a separate side dish as we would do in the states.
With all this said, I am very thankful I have food that is prepared for me and have definitely not gone hungry by any means. I know so many who have less than I that I am ashamed to think about all the foods I ate at home and the quantities I ate them in.
As the Lord taught us to pray:
It is hard to remember that we only need so much to survive. I want to strive to take only what I need.
My prayer concerns you can help me with:
I leave for Singida on Wednesday the 12th-safe travels
For my first meeting of the people currently working at FDM in Yulansoni as their full time friend and not just as a visitor.
Finding a place to rent in Singida-so far no one has responded to William with things for us to look at
My blood sugar to stay in a good range with all these starches
Swahili lesson:
Chakula=food
Ndizi=banana
tufa=apple
kiazi ulaya-white potato
nyama=meat
kahawa=coffee
chai=tea
maji=water
samaki=fish
kula=eat
mkate=bread
wali=white rice
pilau=colored rice
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