Coffee, Chocolate & Cheese

“These are a few of my favorite things.”

(Thanks Julie Andrews for making that song stick in my head for like 30 years.)

Unfortunately, living abroad can challenge a person’s access to their most-loved foods. In Japan, the coffee that many people drink – out of cans (hot or cold!) purchased from vending machines – leaves much to be desired. And although I had fantastic coffee in Costa Rica, I could not get good cheese; all the local cheeses tasted bland and similar, no matter the type. And here in Malawi, both the coffee and cheese are nothing special. Neither one is dismal, but neither is more than mediocre either. Thankfully, in all the places I’ve lived, I’ve had access to imported chocolate which has, at times, probably kept me from killing someone.

One of the biggest questions of my life is: Why have I not made my way to living in France or Italy? Clearly that is where I need to be. I mean, add fresh baguettes and fantastic wine to the title list, and I’m in my own epicurean paradise. Just thinking about this makes me want to crawl into bed and dream about food.

However, thinking about this also makes me feel brutally greedy, considering I’m living in a country where I see abject poverty daily, where people comb through my trash for anything salvageable, and where children are malnourished.

But, I didn’t want this post to be about the poverty of Malawi, nor did I want it to be about my favorite foods (imagine how boring that would have been for those lactose-intolerant, diabetic, uncaffeinated folks). What I want this to be about is the food of Malawi.

The first noticeable difference between Malawian food and the food of other places I’ve been is: SALT. Malawian food is extremely salty, even for me who likes food a bit salty to begin with. Now that I have hired someone to cook and clean for me (I know, I know, totally pampered…and absolutely loving it) I don’t cook much anymore. What have I noticed from this?  (Besides how much more time I have to procrastinate and not grade papers or study math for the GRE or work on my book but instead write blog posts like this one.) I am thirsty. A lot.

The staple of Malawian food is nsima, which is like a thick, gelatinous porridge usually made from maize flour. To me, it looks like a blob of white dough and is tasteless. However (and this is a big however), I’ve actually only tried it once. Pieces are separated from the large blob, rolled into small balls, pressed with a small indentation, and dipped into ‘relishes’ (these are other dishes, like stewed meats and cooked vegetables), using your hands.  I have been told that I need to try nsima again, properly done and with the right relish.  Thankfully for me, the alternative is rice. And local Malawian rice is really good, although not as flavorful as Japanese rice. But Japanese rice, to me, is the apogee of all rice everywhere.

 nsima

One of my all time favorite dishes (or 'relishes') here is greens with ground nut sauce. The nut sauce is made from a powder of pounded peanuts, so this dish is a great source protein (that is, if the College of Medicine sign hasn't already enticed you to eat slabs of beef instead).

Next source of protein: beans. Why would I want to go from living in one country that serves rice and beans to another country that serves rice and beans? One answer: I really like beans. And, no offense Pacific side of Costa Rica (because I do really love gallo pinto), but Malawian style beans are better. They are richer and more flavorful, but who knows, maybe it's just all the salt that I like. (For the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, your beans are the absolute best.)

 rice, beans, & greens

One place where there isn't salt? The lake! Lake Malawi, what I consider the most incredible geographical aspect of Malawi, is a freshwater lake. It's also one of the largest and deepest lakes in the world, and for a really small country, that's quite a lot of lake! The lake is home to a variety of fish; in fact, people tell me that it has the most species of fish than any other freshwater lake in the world. Whether or not that is true, the fish is delicious.

So there you have it: a little slice of Malawian food (minus the roasted mice and fried ants), which is quite healthy, delicious, and cheap by U.S. standards. Now if I could just find a place that serves big chunks of brie and fresh baguettes...