- Amadou’s new wife, Jainabou, is now doing all the cooking; perhaps she favors different recipes?
- None of the crops are ready for harvesting yet, so the family is short on money
- Peanuts, in particular, are unripe, with the result that the local peanut butter is very expensive, with the result that we have rarely been eating the peanut butter and onion sauce that in a typical week would be eaten quite frequently.
Note: Portions this week were particularly small, so I supplemented the following meals with snacks of popcorn, Maria crackers, or oatmeal, and once, a full can of HEINZ BEANZ “Baked beans in a deliciously rich tomato sauce.”
1.
- Breakfast: None, Neene tells me later this was because we are completely out of rice. I bike to the market and buy some more.
- Lunch: Rice with sauce of peanut butter, onion, tomato paste, dried fish, Maggi cubes
- Dinner: Leftover lunch, but with the addition of fresh chili to nibble on
2.
- Breakfast: Rice porridge (gossi) sweetened with sugar
- Lunch: Rice with sauce of red palm oil, macaroni, dried fish, and potato (!)
- Dinner: Leftover lunch
3.
- Breakfast: Gossi
- Lunch: None, out of rice. But when I go visit my husband’s compound, Sinni’s mother invites me to share her bowl of rice with sauce of red palm oil, macaroni and fresh fish
- Dinner: Rice with baobab leaf sauce
4.
- Breakfast: Gossi
- Lunch: Rice with sauce of red oil, onions, macaroni, and fish balls
- Dinner: Leftover lunch
5.
- Breakfast: Sour milk poured over millet that had been cooked so it became a solid blob
- Lunch: Leftover breakfast and some of my husband’s food bowl (rice with sauce of red palm oil and okra)
- Dinner: Rice with sauce of red palm oil and a ridiculous quantity of onions topped with bitter tomatoes boiled so as to be unrecognizable. Seriously. At first I thought they were large pale fish balls, then I thought maybe biscuits, but they were too moist looking. Seafood of some sort? But scallops would be impossible. Oh…bitter tomatoes. Topped with crushed dried chili pepper to taste.
6.
- Breakfast: Gossi sweetened with sour milk
- Lunch: Bread torn into bite-sized pieces and soaked in sour milk
- Dinner: Rice with sauce of red palm oil, peanut butter and chili pepper
7.
- Breakfast: Gossi, unsweetened
- Lunch: Leftover breakfast, I thought, then the actual lunch was brought out: rice cooked with red oil and okra topped with bitter tomato and crushed dried chili pepper
- Dinner: Fatou Bobo’s mystery meal (I couldn’t see what I was eating but briefly). Rice cooked with red oil topped with bits of fresh fish (?) macaroni and leaves (??).
Then I felt like torturing myself, so I looked through the list of meals I’d eaten in Sweden. Here’s one week:
1.
- Breakfast: Fil with cornflakes, muesli, and sliced banana; orange juice
- Lunch: Open faced sandwich of shrimp, mayonaisse, hard-boiled eggs, tomato and cucumber; coffee
- Dinner: Sauce of ground beef, tomato, onion and other vegetables; rice; salad of lettuce, watermelon and corn; cider
- Dessert: Strawberries with chocolate ice cream; tea
2.
- Breakfast: Fil with cornflakes, muesli, and sliced banana; orange juice
- Lunch: Open faced sandwiches of caviar, liverwurst, ham, cheese, cucumber and soft-boiled egg; cider
- Dinner: Pork fillet baked with tomato and cheese; potatoes; salad of lettuce, kiwi, watermelon and corn
- Dessert: Princess tort; tea
3.
- Breakfast: Fil with cornflakes, muesli, and sliced banana; orange juice
- Lunch: Open faced sandwiches of caviar, liverwurst, ham, cheese, cucumber and sausage
- Dinner: Curry chicken with apricots; rice; lettuce and tomato salad; red wine
- Dessert: Princess tort; tea
4.
- Breakfast: Fil with cornflakes, muesli, and sliced banana; orange juice
- Lunch: Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream; milk
- Dinner: Fried egg; sausage; pickled beets; pickles; potatoes; crispbread with cheese; cider
- Dessert: Chocolate cake with whipped cream and strawberries
5.
- Breakfast: Fil with cornflakes, muesli, and sliced banana; orange juice
- Lunch: Open faced sandwiches of lax; tomato soup
- Dinner: Meatballs; potatoes; lingonberry jam; cider
- Dessert: Chocolate and vanilla ice cream; strawberries; tea
6.
- Breakfast: Fil with cornflakes, muesli, and sliced banana; orange juice
- Lunch: Open faced sandwiches of lax, liverwurst; hallonkräm; milk
- Dinner: Blood pudding; bacon; lingonberry jam; cider
- Dessert: Cookies; bun; tea
7.
- Breakfast: Fil with cornflakes, muesli, and sliced banana; orange juice
- Lunch: Open faced sandwich of egg and anchovy; pear juice; coffee
- Dinner: Salmon baked with crayfish and cheese; spinach sauce; potatoes; pear cider
- Dessert: Chocolate cake; tea
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