One of these sharing moments occurred a few weeks ago, when I decided I would bring American food to Kizito’s kids. Kizito, his wife – Agnes, and their baby daughter – Gloria, were all gone to Norway for a conference, so it was just the other four kids, Lillian, and me in the house for about a week. I got the idea to try cooking for the kids as a fun way to show them a little bit about America.
My meal of choice: grilled cheese. I picked this because (1) it is difficult to mess up, (2) it is a food that basically every American eats and enjoys, and (3) the supplies would be relatively easy to find. I would have rather grilled for the kids, but as you can imagine, the choice of meat is a little limited over here (Ugandan pork just really doesn’t compare with a good Iowa chop) and no one really grills (at least, not like we're used to) in the first place.
After deciding on the meal, I accompanied Charity and Lillian to the open-air market. Cheese, however, is not a popular item for Ugandans, so it was nowhere to be found at the market. Next stop: Uchumi Supermarket (picture a smaller version of Super Target with a full grocery selection). They had a big block of cheddar in their deli, so I ordered 20 thin slices without paying attention to the price. Big mistake. Since cheese is a rarity over here, it costs much more. The wrapped package of cheese they handed me came with a price tag of nearly 20,000 Ugandan schillings – about $12.50!
When we got home after shopping I made sure Lillian knew I was planning on cooking a little bit for dinner that night. She still was going to make the traditional Ugandan meal for the night since I didn’t have enough for a full meal for everyone. About 4 hours before our meal was going to occur, Lillian started preparing her food. As crazy as it sounds to us, this is common in Uganda. The food that Lillian and Agnes make each night takes 4-5 hours to prepare. Although the family has a stove and burners, the vast majority of cooking is actually done outside of the kitchen. I think part of this is because it reflects the traditional means of cooking, but the main reason is because charcoal is so much cheaper than gas. They have several small cooking “pits” outside of the house where they boil water for rice, potatoes, beans, pasta, and whatever else is going to be eaten that night. Knowing that, I was not surprised at Lillian’s surprised (and slightly worried) reaction after she asked me how long I would need to prepare my food and I replied with “15 minutes.”
When the time came, I found all the necessary supplies, fired up the propane (I used a propane tank with an attached burner), and started the “cooking.” The bread that I had to use was a little different, but it worked. Overall, the meal turned out well (see the pictures below), and all of the kids seemed to really enjoy the meal. Well, except Charity, who informed me (after I had made the sandwiches) that she couldn’t eat anything that included butter. Oops! And, believe it or not, these kids had never seen or heard of grilled cheese sandwiches!
For those who know me, they will attest that my cooking skills are limited at best (which is why I chose to prepare grilled cheese). I apologize to all of you talented cooks out there, because there are probably 5 Ugandans who now think that Americans have no idea how to cook! :)
Another fun cultural sharing experience came when I was riding on the bus to Nairobi. I was going through the usual small-talk subjects with the person sitting next to me (What do you do? Where are you from? etc.), and we eventually got to the subject of music. He informed me that he enjoyed American country music. Side note: although it definitely is not the most popular American music in Uganda (sadly, that is probably a toss up between rap and hip-hop/R&B), country music has many more fans than I expected. Also being a fan of country music, I got out my iPod and gave him one of the earphones. I then played through the songs that I had with me. His favorite: “Whiskey for my Men” by Toby Keith.
Among other things, I have introduced Africans to grilled cheese and Toby Keith. I would say that makes me a successful ambassador of American culture, right? :)
Cheers!
Chris
Pic: One plate took 4 hours of preparation, the other: 15 minutes. Can you guess which is which?
Pic: 'Is this what all Americans eat?'
1 comment:
hurry up and blog again... GOSH!
actually... I'm currently fighting the urge to not explain the biochemistry and genetics that explains the lack of cheese as part of the Ugandan diet....
Neil C
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