Food

Since Santosh has taken on the responsibility of updating the blog with important things like our medical experiences, etc., I figured I'll take it upon myself to write about something no one really cares about except for me: food.

Things we eat a lot and like:
- mango and pineapple -- WOW is this stuff ever better than what we buy off the street in New York
- rice and beans -- simple, yes; protein, yes; cheap, wowee yes
- carrot and cabbage pizza -- this requires a bit of explanation; at the house where the visiting residents / students live there are three House Ladies who cook lunch and dinner every day; they are very sweet and have decided that we miss Foods of Home, which apparently means Bizarro Italian Food; lots of lasagna (good), pasta (good), but best of all, pizza; they toil over this home-made crust all day (or so we've told ourselves) and top it with the strangest and most available veggies imaginable: carrot and cabbage; the other day we found some lone strands of eggplant; bon appetit!
- peanut butter and bananas on toast -- breakfast of champions, especially when the milk is poison
- stoney tangawese -- ginger beer, and my drink of choice
- passion-fruit flavored fanta -- Santosh's drink of choice
- chili sauce -- this is my favorite thing here; mild-moderate spicy, but more important, has a smokey flavor to it; goes well on rice, pasta, avocado, bread, a spoon... I plan on bringing many bottles home with me in my checked luggage; Santosh only will let me do this if I promise none of his belongings is in the bag I use to transport the chili sauce, since he doesn't trust bottle caps
- TONS of Indian food, everywhere; major Indian influence in the country because of the ancient spice industry on the coast / Zanzibar

Things we try to avoid eating despite the availability:
- ugali -- this is a ball of corn meal that has zero taste; the plan is you dip it in whatever you're eating; but in the end, it is dense and flavorless and definitely has no fiber for those of us concerned (ahem: me); greatly improved with chili sauce (see above)
- mayo -- on many, many dishes; and unlike in Japan, where mayo is abundant and refrigerated, the climate here is quite warm...
- kilimanjaro instant coffee -- BLECH

Things we miss:
- real coffee
- sushi
- non-poisonous milk
- green vegetables

Am looking forward to our first meal home of sushi, spinach, and coffee-flavored ice cream.