Well, I'm here today to announce that I'm turning over a new leaf: I'm learning how to cook. Not by my own free will, mind you, but by force...and significant force at that. No more mommy cooking for me, or college cafeteria...or moving back in with the folks after college and having mommy cook for me some more, or living on takeout in grad. school, or most recently, convincing my husband to cook for me after 2-a-day wrestling practices then jiu-jitsu coaching each day.
No. No. Here, I must cook for myself if I want to eat. This could, quite possibly, be the hardest adjustment for me during my stay in Madagascar. To make matters worse, it's "developing world" cooking, aka, there is no microwave. WTF?!? No "ready-to-eat" meals. Nope. Everything here must be prepared from scratch, and I mean scratch.
Our fruits and veggies, after bartering for them at the local market, must go through a rigorous process of bleaching prior to consumption. Yummy! You want milk with those cornflakes, you better boil the milk the night before to kill the bacteria. Want some Malagasy rice with your meal, pick out as many stones from the rice as possible prior to cooking it or else you might just crack a tooth (sidenote: Ben totally bit down on a rock in the rice during our meal at lunch today and Gil and I could hear it from across the table...I noticed he seemed to be swallowing his bites whole the rest of the meal, lolol!)
But the best is preparing homemade bread from scratch. Tonight it was my turn to prepare and bake the bread. No fancy bread mixing machines or measuring cups, just a plastic bucket thing, flour, and a few other ingredients. To prove that I am refining my culinary skills to absolute perfection, Gil took pics of me making the house bread... :D
I color-coordinated my top with the bread basin and the tile in preparation for this pic...
Look Ma!!!!
So there you have it, proof positive that I can do something right in the kitchen. Dad, make sure mom sees these pics!
Wow, and I was just complaining the other day about Oz supermarkets (in general) being smaller and with less variety than the US...I guess it's all relative, and when your point of reference is the US and all it's (wasteful) glory, everything is skewed. Unless you live in Madagascar.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie! I just showed Mom the pictures and she passed out on the floor!!! After I revived her she said she knew this would be a "life changing experience"!!! Love, Daddiyo
ReplyDeleteWell, I am still here cleaning your mess you left me in the garage. At least you are cooking for yourself now. The bread looks great and you will improve in no time. It is better to learn with the bare essentials anyway.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there certainly is very little selection here in Madagascar outside the capital. I was told you can only get Coke Zero in the capital, so imagine my JOY when I found the only Coke Zero in all of Ambositra the other day!!! I bought all 7 bottles they had. Now the town is out again. Hopefully someone will be coming from Tana down to Ambositra again in the next few weeks, we need Coke Zero, wheat flour, and TP :D
ReplyDeleteAnd Matt!!! Boo hoo about the garage! I will sell most of that at our yard sale when I get back.
the trick will be to keep up the cooking when you get back. or just completely revert and live on take-out. whichever.
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