So, as promised, I have to say a few words about the cuisine here in Senegal, especially since once I get back from out four day field trip to Toubacouta, I am going to attempt cooking à la senegalaise. For someone who is used to a lot of variety in her diet, especially seasonal variety, Senegalese food seems very standard and reliable so far in Dakar. For breakfast, I can always count on part of a baguette and tea before school, although I found out the first day with my host family it’s weird to not eat anything on your bread, so I’ve accepted the Chocoleca/Chocpain (think Nutella with a peanut base) that now comes pre-spread on the bread when I get to the table. So all you chocolate fans in the states should definitely come to Senegal!
Lunch (if with my host family) at 2:30-3:30 and dinner 8:30-9:30 are usually about the same size, and are one in a selection of dishes we eat, which are 90% of the time rice cooked in palm oil with fish with a few vegetables. Since all my host siblings prefer the fish and I prefer the vegetables, I usually get as much carrot, eggplant, and cabbage as I want. Besides worrying about my slow metabolism, the food here has not been a problem, in fact, I’m not sick of it yet. I have to add that it has been mango season, so I’ve been hitting the fruit stand at lunch for the most delicious mangos at about 50 cents USD a piece. My family also varies the sauces, etc. that we eat on the rice/fish combo. There is yaasa (onion sauce), begguch (hibiscus leaf base), maafee (peanut sauce) which are my favorites, and also some red sauce with a tomato base that goes with beef or mutton and couscous when we have that. Sometimes the rice has spices in it, and other times it’s plain, but so far, nothing has been very spicy, as long as you take care to not eat the rice directly around a pepper. I made this mistake once, and since there is no drinking during meals (only after) I learned quickly not to do that again.
I haven’t gone to many restaurants, but the ones I’ve been to usually have a combo of the Senegalese food I just mentioned and random sandwiches, salads, pizzas, etc. There isn’t really fast food, per se but there are fruit stands, boutiques that sell drinks, snacks, and sandwiches(sheep liver, egg, tuna, etc.), dibiteries which sell grilled meat, and pizza shops. Last night I went to Nice Cream with my host sister, which is awesome! She got a huge three flavor cone for about 3.5 USD, and the atmosphere and the ice cream was very chill (pun intended). Mostly, I drink water here, but every once and a while we have bissap (hibiscus) or bouye (baobab fruit/ pain de singe) juice or ataaya. Being a predominantly Muslim country, there is not a lot of alcohol, and what "drinks" there are in restaurants are generally not what you expect (like, some straight alcohol in the bottom of a [water] glass) and are very expensive.
Portion sizes here are very interesting, because they are quite large for everyone. One night last week, apparently I wasn’t eating enough at dinner, so my oldest host brother told me to get a spoon (normally, I *attempt* eating with my hands) and so I went in the cupboard and got the spoon size I would use in the US. Before even sitting down, my host sister said basically “what are you doing that for, go and get a real spoon!” (the size of the serving spoons I have at home) At every meal, when someone finishes, you will hear “lekkal” (Wolof for, eat!) or if it’s me, they prefer “Il faut bien manger.” But the good news is there is usually a remedy for that, “Suur naa” or “doyena” (spelling approx.) which both mean “I’m full.”
The fun thing about eating here, is meals are very communal, down to eating out of the same bowl. There are lots of good feelings around food. Although, it has been tough to adjust to the fact that I can’t sip water during the meal, and people don’t talk too much. Another alteration is that eating in front of people is not only rude, but basically forbidden. Whenever someone brings food in the house, they offer you a bit/sip, and refusing this is difficult culturally. It’s tough when the food is a sheep liver sandwich or half a fried egg at 10:30pm, but a really cool concept nonetheless.
Another fun food related custom is ataaya, the traditional tea. The best way to describe it is a long brewed, somewhat bittersweet tea, which you drink in the equivalent of a shot glass (not even kidding on that one). One of my host brothers makes it and he is usually off doing things, so we’ve had it twice, once on a Saturday night until 3am with all of the friends/neighbors over, which was great fun! Another treat is Thiakri, a sour yogurt with orange/vanilla flavor and millet couscous.
It will different this weekend to go into “the regions” out of Dakar, because I was told the food can be somewhat different (i.e. less rice more millet and less meat more veges).
No comments:
Post a Comment