Not Really a Foodie in Muheza Part 1

Not Really a Foodie in Muheza

I love food.I love traveling and trying new food as part of the cultural enjoyment and discovery. I am fairly convinced that I am not a foodie .Food loving is not food obsessed.I am not limited by my need for rare and expensive ingredients and there are few things I wont eat ( OK I have never had a Tim Horton’s coffee and I don’t eat KD)
A few recent pieces of information have further convinced me that there is another level of foodie out there( extreme foodiism) that I don’t fit into.

A recent Saturday New York Times food section Brought by Leah after her trip to Toronto , included pages about drinking ‘Cocktails”( except for the occasional marguerita and one Manhattan many years ago to celebrate the life at the death bed of a patients of mine’s manhatten loving mother , I don’t drink cocktails). Seems as if it is a generation X, Y or Z pastime.
In the same section there was a wine auction announcement ( I thought there was a terrible economic recession out there) including a case of 1982 Chateau Ausonne MAGNUMS( and although I do love big red Bordeaux and have actually had a bottle of Chateau Ausonne - bought at the vineyard- the thought of a case of magnums is a bit much).
And most recently at the Red Monkey Lodge ( Zanzibar) where we passed our recent Christmas and dined Christmas Eve with Germans and Scandinavians ( their seasonal meal) on Barracuda, octopus,lobster squid,and goat I found a Penguin Book of Food and Drink ( 1996) to add literature to my salivation ( not salvation).

But I thought sharing some of our food experiences with you might be fun.

Although I have a very few cravings ( NOT Fantastico lattes-see below) occasionally cured meat even though there is good bacon here (see later) .If anything , fresh salad greens- very few available and safely washing them without wilting them to death is basically impossible. ( oh ya I forgot English Micro Brew Bitter but I will get that in 2 months)

So I will start today with fluids and will follow with meals and treats at some later point.

Liquids

Water ( Leah would start with coffee), not safe out of the tap, we filter and refrigerate and it tastes fine. Better tasting, cheaper and less polluting than the local bottled water that is everywhere ( as are the plastic bottles).the biggest problem is drinking enough especially if your pre-trip eGFR ( doctor talk) was 52

Coffee , except for a treat in Zanzibar last week no Lattes. Instant coffee from Tanzania available, Different than the few instant coffees I have had ( those of you might remember that I came late to coffee well past the Maxwell House Days)
Coffee is grown in Tanzania and the raw beans are available here in Muheza . bulk can be a bit of a mélange of beans, husks,other plant material and stones but a packaged ‘export quality’ is also available – still needs some going through- less stones-1500 Sh./kilo
( $1.50)
We then roast it in our oven which makes the house like a sauna and watch it closely ( try to) and make some variable blend of dark and medium roast ( with the very occasional hint of burnt). Our neighbours Sally and Ben have a hand grinder and Jay and Sylvia gave us a very intriguing large syringe like filtering system ( they forgot it at our house and kindly turned into a gift) that works perfectly ( if you do not over grind the beans) and tastes wonderfully. 1-2 cups daily

Tea also a Tanzanian crop. Local tea harder to find. A roibus-like Tanzanian tea ( drank with tons of sugar “sukari” or milk “raingi”(coloured) is available .English tea bags abound and we got gifts of these from visiting English guests so we are fine and just to be sure Sally and Rose sent us some Murchie’s #10 Blend for Christmas

Fresh squeezed juices and smoothies- overpriced are rarely bought.
We should squeeze our own more.

Ceres juices (from S. Africa) not really from the 100 mile diet and expensive.

Sodas – mainstream, Coke,Sprite, Fanta orange plus a variety others- fanta passion ,pineapple, black current( don’t see these back home)
Bitter lemon, tonic, sparletta, ginger beer called tanga-wizi and a brand Mirinda ( a pepsi prouct) orange,fruity,lemon-lime. Cold they help break the monotony but the sugar quantity is not insignificant. 40-50 cents for 350 ml bottle. Fortunately a deposit is mandatory , in fact without a return it often is hard to get a bottle,so glass bottles are not part of the litter (same with beer see below)

Milk, local cooperative pasteurized and packaged in plastic for 25 cents for 250 mls. We just today bought some raw, boiled it ( pasteurized) and will drink it and try and make yogurt. I am finishing this entry the next day and am glad to report that milk and yogurt are delish and this will be our new routine

Finally alcohol
Beer is the staple at 70 cents for a 500ml bottle ( again No bottle return No beer to take away) all lagers, but very tasty cold. Most from Tanzania but a few S African ( Castle) and Kenyan ( Tusker ) available.
There is distilled alcohol available and except for a bottle of gin that I think Sally and I split early on we have had none ( I even passed on duty free scotch) and the wine is S.African and expensive and not their best and I am not knowledgeable about them ,so for now cold beer.


Next Week Breakfasts and Lunches