Sunday, August 3, 2008

Villageois Gourmet

Cooking like a Peace Corps Volunteer

It probably doesn't need to be said that not all the same foods are available here in Benin. While globalization is very real and it is true that each month one can find a new “Western” product off one kind or another, day to day life in Benin requires countless changes. One of the areas of greatest areas of adjustment one goes through while living abroad in the developing world. Changing eating habits are unavoidable, but sometimes the lure of familiar dishes is enough inspiration to overcome any challenges.

I thought it might be interesting to post a recipe now and then to share some off my favorite dishes. Since Mexican food is what I miss most, I thought it would be a good starting point. Its vegetarian, but not vegan because of the Maggi (see below), the cube you find there may or may not be.

Fake Meat Tacos

Tortillas: Makes 12 tortillas, or 8 with chip/churos.

ingredients:
2 cu flour
2 Tbs oil
salt (pinch)
½ tsp baking soda
½ cu water
directions:
1.mix dry ingredients
2.fold in water and oil
3.roll dough into balls about the size of a ping-pong ball.
4.let sit covered 20 minutes
5.use a bottle (I like empty wine bottles) as a rolling pin and flatten tortillas as much as possible
6.sprinkle them with a little extra flour to keep them from sticking when stacked
7.fry in a dry frying pan

Refried Black Beans:

ingredients:
beans
salt
onion
garlic
chili peppers
oil
directions:
1.sort out rocks, bugs, bad beans
2.soak beans over night
3.boil till very soft
4.drain off some excess, leaving a bit
5.mash beans
6.heat oil in pan and fry garlic, onion, and peppers
7.add beans and fry and mix to your liking
note: As far as I know can only be found in one marche in all of Benin, but they are grown here.

Salsa:
ingredients:
20 small marche tomatoes
½ tiny limes
3 cloves of imported Chinese garlic
2 Tbs oil
salt
chili peppers
directions:
1.blacken tomatoes in a hot dry pan or over flame
2.submerge tomatoes in a ziplock to cool
3.chop/mince other veggies according to taste
4.juice and add limes
5.salt to taste
6.when cool, chunk tomatoes and mash
7.mix ingredients and return to ziplock and water to keep cool

note: I'm currently growing cilantro which should make my salsa and guac , and thus my life, 3 or 4X better.

Fake Chicken:
ingredients:
soy mince
onion
green bell pepper
garlic
Maggi cube (its a little like bullion cube, we can buy chicken or shrimp in Benin)
Oil
taco seasoning (not found in country, time to call in a favor)
directions:
1.boil soy mince until thoroughly tender
2.strain and press as much water out as possible
3.mince the onion and garlic
4.mix a little water and cube
5.heat oil, fry the onion and garlic
6.add bell pepper, soy and mixture of cube and water
7.mix in taco seasoning
8.fry until water is evaporated and soy begins to brown like ground meat

notes: Soy mince is a little like Textured Vegetable Protien but I've never seen it in the states, its dried bits a touch more dense then tofu. This can't be found in village, so I have to buy this in bulk in the cities when I travel.

I've got the bad luck of having no meat for sale in my village, and no refrigeration, so I use soy/Maggi combinations quite a bit. The longer I'm here the more this really starts to taste like chicken, sad I know. I may buy a few chickens of my own this year and try to raise my own if I have time.

Chips/Churros:
ingredients:
tortilla batter
oil
salt
cinnamon/sugar
directions:
1.roll out and cut up dough into triangles
2.heat oil in pan
3.for churros: dip in cinnamon and sugar then roll into tubes
4.fry until crisp
5.for chips: right after frying, toss in salt

THATS IT!
Get your salsa out of the bag and slice up some cabbage really thin and you're ready to go.
Everything here takes me a few hours or so, not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

One Year Deep

I realized many of my entries thus far have said little of my work. Well the school year is over, the grades have been calculated for more than a month now, and I have had a chance to relax. A couple of weeks a go I got to thinking about the little time I have left here in Benin and what I wanted to accomplish before setting out on a new course. While it doesn't always feel like it, two years pass far too quickly. In the coming year I have 4 projects I hope to complete other than teaching:

1: Art Club
Art in Benin is something largely left to the professionals. The Beninese are not given many opportunities to manifest their world view through artistic expression. Children simply do not have access to supplemental resources, but when given the opportunity they jump at it. So in the coming school year I am hoping to put together a group that meets a couple of times each month to create little projects. Resources are scarce in village but I am hoping to use largely found objects and cheap supplies so that they can continue once I'm gone. I would also like to give the students the opportunity to work with some media that they haven't encountered before. I am looking to get tempera paints black construction paper, and anything else I can sent over from the states for a few projects I have in mind. If you have any interest in supporting this project, I could really use the help.

2: Toothbrushing Club
Most children here come from very poor families who have difficulty covering school fees each year, so dental hygiene is not a high priority. It is rare to see an elder person with all of their teeth, and often those they do have a have been ravaged by cavities and tooth decay. In an effort to instill good habits in some kids I have devised a program that will teach children the importance of good dental care.

Traditionally, Beninese people chew small pieces of wood every morning to clean their teeth, this is a practice pattern that continues to this day.  When there is a tooth problem children and adults alike are given a strong alcohol infused with roots as a traditional cure.  Due to these practices, dental problems are nearly guaranteed to the young people off my village.  Behavioral change is the most difficult part of development/aid work, by starting young I am hoping to instill the importance and acceptance of dental hygiene at an early age so these children will avoid some of the pitfalls of their parents.

In the coming school year I am hoping to organize a dental hygiene club with some of the students at the school.  To help share the responsibility for their own dental health, I am requiring that the students themselves purchase the tooth brushes which can be found in our market for about $0.25.  The project will supply the students with toothpaste every morning, five days a week for one school year.  Each morning we will brush together before class.  The students will also be taught the signs of tooth decay and what to do in the case of a cavity or other malady.  This will also help to ensure the students arrive on time to class every morning.

To supply the toothpaste I am hoping to find donors in America to materialize 200 tubes of toothpaste for 300 kids, that should cover the entire school year.  If you know anyone with connections that could help, I would really appreciate a hand.

3: An Introductory Computer Classification
I have arranged cheap access to the computers at a local cyber for a group of 10 teachers and professionals. I will give rudimentary computer literacy lessons for 4 days in things such as typing and mouse use. Hopefully this will become a monthly get together. These skills are becoming increasingly important in Benin, especially for teachers who have little resources to work with in the classroom. I'll write updates on how things go.

4: Moringa Powder

What is the largest and most serious of my new projects is a field I am planting with an NGO in my village to plant an orchard of trees known as Moringa Oleifera. Malnutrition is a huge problem in Benin, specifically for mothers and young children. Malnutrition, and low birthweight lead to numerous health problems, diseases, and exacerbate the effects of diseases like malaria all over Africa. It also contributes to a staggering rate of infant mortality (13% here in Benin).

What we are hoping to do is manufacture a powder from the dried leaves of the tree which we will sell to local health centers. We will also give information sessions on the dangers of malnutrition and how to avoid it through cooking with Moringa.

I am currently writing a grant proposal to fund our project. We have started with 50 plants and they are doing extremely well. If everything goes well we should have 800 trees planted soon and a fence built to protect them. One of my favorite parts of this project is that it is economically and environmentally sustainable. The trees are excellent for inter-cropping and the profits from the sale will ensure that the NGO doesn't have to come looking for aid money every year.

I'm hoping I can get all of these organized before the school year starts so that I'm not scrambling once things heat up. If you can help with the toothpaste or the art supplies, just write me a quick note.