Monday, February 9, 2009

Going bananas


Around my neck of the woods, there aren't too many lunch options. In fact, many of my lunch options begin and end with ugali. Ugali is a kind of stiff porridge made by boiling water and flour. The flour is usually made from maize, sorghum or cassava. Ugali is normally served with a beef stew or a whole fish that has been deep fried. I am not a huge fan of ugali, as it has a certain rock-like quality once it is in your stomach. It also has little nutritional content.



Around week 4, I discovered mishkaki (grilled meat cubes) and ndezi (grilled banana) and I've been hooked ever since. In Tanzania, there are the normal, slightly sweeter bananas, which can be eaten raw or grilled, and then there are plantains. Plantains are cooking bananas, which are used to make banana stew, matoke (mashed up bananas that are akin to mashed potatoes) and chips.

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