(RM) Food (and recipe challenge!)

Food (and recipe challenge!)

OK, so before I left for the jungle, I was asked a number of times what sort of food we would be eating. I didn’t really have a good answer, but I knew it would be a combination of local foods with a few imported items. And that’s just what it is. But really, I don’t feel that there’s a whole lot of variety, especially compared with the culinary choice I’ve been accustomed to for most of my life. So, while this missive is primarily just to describe the sorts of food we’ve got here, it’s also a challenge to anyone who reads it and considers themselves somewhat creative with food.

Part of my job here is to orchestrate all of the food for our camp. This means that I place twice-weekly orders to the local village for the local stuff, and I also ration the imported stuff that has to last until at least the next plane. Planes come every month or two, and have a limited capacity, so I’ve also got to determine what needs to be shipped in on the upcoming flights – essential staples, mostly, like rice, sugar, salt, and coffee.

I’ve also got to maintain the food stocks, to ensure that they don’t go bad. With the heat, humidity, and vermin, this is a formidable task. I’ve got a storeroom of blue plastic barrels that can be shut airtight, where much of the dry stuff is stored. I take many of the things out regularly to dry in the sun so that it doesn’t get mouldy. The local food is kept in an open-air ‘pantry’ consisting of log shelves and liana loops hanging from the ceiling. The bananas and plantains hang in whole bunches from the ceiling, while the other things are lined on the shelves. Mice and insects are my enemies; they pose a challenge to storing anything for long.

We eat three meals a day at camp, and often take portable food for long days in the field. Breakfast is at 6am, lunch is at noon, and dinner is at 6pm. Our workers have a different regime that suits them better. We (the research team) always eat together. If people are still out in the field in the evening (which is frequent), we generally wait for them to return and shower before eating dinner together. It’s the first time in years that I’ve been in a living situation where we have formal meals as a group!

In the 'Food list' entry is a list of ingredients, with basic descriptions of their qualities and sometimes with comparisons to foods we know in The West. At the end are descriptions of our kitchen facilities. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with interesting recipes with these components, and send them to us here at LuiKotal camp. Cuz really, we only eat a few variations of the following things, and some interesting suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ryan.

In summary, the 'Food list' has the following foods (but in excruciating detail):

CONTENTS (foods imported from Kinshasa are marked with a *. The rest is local.)
-STARCHES
- Kwanga (the staple starch)
- Patates douces (potatoes)
- Lombardo (like potatoes)
- Benkufu (stringy potatoey things)
- Fufu (manioc flour)
- Maize
- Plantains
- Rice*
- Spaghetti*
- Couscous*
- Flour, yeast*
-GREENS
- Epinards (spinach)
- Matembele (like spinach)
- Pondu (other leafy thing)
- Nkoti (other leafy thing)
- Bitekuteku (other leafy thing)
- Spaghetti local (pith)
-VEGETABLES
- Aubergines (eggplants)
- Courgettes (squash)
- Haricots (beans)
- Peanuts
- Mbika (like pumpkin seeds)
-FRUITS
- Papayas
- Bananas
- Oranges
- Limes
- Lemons
- Pamplemousses (like grapefruits)
- Avocados
- Coconuts
- Pineapples
- Saffoo
- Cola nuts
- Glucose biscuits*
-SPICES/SEASONINGS
- Pili-pili (chili pepper)
- Lompidj
- Rock salt*
- Cane sugar*
- Honey(*)
- Onions and garlic*
- Tomato paste*
- Palm oil
- Vegetable oil*
- Imported seasonings*
-MEAT
- Fresh fish
- Smoked fish
- Sardines*
- Corned beef*
-BEVERAGES
- Water
- Coffee grounds*
- Nescafé*
- Nesquik*
- Tea*
- Milk powder*
-COOKING INFRASTRUCTURE

If you've read what we've got from the 'Food list', you're ready for the Recipe Challenge!

RECIPE CHALLENGE
Now you know all of our food supplies here, and what we’ve got at our disposition to prepare it. We have two cooks working full-time to do the work, although my role is to come up with meals. So far, I just program what’s known. I’m open to suggestions though!

So, if anyone reading this finds that these ingredients and cooking implements would enable something more interesting than what we’ve got, please send us recipes. Check the ‘Communication’ blog entries for details on how to go about sending emails here, and include a bit of news from the outside world while you’re at it!

Thanks!