Fuelling the belly...

One of the pleasures of crossing a continent that has such a variety in history, ethnicity and culture is the enormous variety of food we have been able to taste. Whilst moving on South often leaves us disappointed that a particular favourite dish will no longer be available, or a certain fruit is no longer in season, sometimes it leaves us happy that the local delicacy will no longer be foisted on us.

At times the food has reflected the geographic features of the countries we have passed through. For example in Egypt and Sudan, we frequently had Nile Perch, but then no fish until we got to Malawi, where there were bucketfuls of the stuff from the eponymous lake that runs the length of the country. In Kenya and Tanzania, the food heavily reflected the Asian influence, born originally from the trading routes that sprouted up across the Indian Ocean, and reinforced by the large Indian contingent that now live there. This meant that amazing samosas and chapattis were available everywhere (and often provided a much needed boost when the cycling was feeling desperate), as well as some excellent curries.

Malawian perch being prepared

The two staples that have been ever-present have been beans and chicken, in slightly varying, but mostly enjoyable, forms. In Egypt and Sudan, the beans were made into ful, a sort of mushed bean mix that went very well with the local round bread. Further south, the beans retained their identity a little better, and served with rice made an excellent and filling snack (note: we have never regarded rice & beans as a meal on this trip, but something to keep hunger locked up ‘till lunch/dinner/the next gargantuan meal). The chicken has similarly varied, the highlight being in Sudan, where it was whole or half, grilled on charcoal with some wonderful spices, and served with lime and bread, splayed on your plate (and it cost next to nothing).

Sudanese chicken

The local stodges have all been, unsurprisingly, bland and uninspiring. Whether it be maize (in the form of ugali, or, as in Malawi, looking encouragingly like mashed potato but disappointingly tasting nothing like it) or mashed cassava, none of these will be missed. Sweets have been largely absent since the Arab countries, but boy, did they know how to rot your teeth.

Marvelling at the Egyptian sweets

As we have headed down, the food has generally changed subtly, and often imperceptibly, changing as much with tribes and cultures, as with man-made borders. The one exception to this was Ethiopia. We talked about the food there in our blog post on the country, but injera and the lentil & goat mixes they serve with it are pretty unique. The injera we could probably happily go without in the future, but the food they served with it was wonderful. Even better than this was the layered fruit juices they would provide – pineapple, topped with avocado, topped with mango being a favourite.

Giving Tropicana a run for its money!

Sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse, fast-food has yet to invade most of the places we have been. Slightly sadly, in the shiny new mall in Khartoum, well-dressed Sudanese seemed to be treating their ability to buy & eat deep fried chicken as a sign of wealth. It has seemed that the ability to live more like Westerners is often seen as a sign of wealth, but hopefully junk food won’t be a part of this. However, at times, we have thoroughly enjoyed a good burger or pizza (and some terrible attempts at them as well).

Whilst we have travelled, we have been trying to sample the local cuisine as much as possible, usually on rest days when we have more time to look around. The TDA chefs, whilst sourcing local ingredients, have tended to make more Western type food, largely focusing on providing a good nutritional balance. This has generally been a carb (mashed sweet potato, pasta, rice etc.), a meat (slow-cooked beef short ribs being the highlight so far), local veg and even occasionally pudding (they make a mean bread & butter pudding). As the group is quite large, when providing a meat-based meal, the chefs have to source 40kg of meat to feed us. We have often heard the sounds of a pig squealing, as it is led away, only to be dished up pork that evening. Breakfasts have been, to a tee, porridge and bread (we are imposing a year’s ban on porridge when we return so the sight of it doesn’t send us running), whilst lunch often reflects the areas we are in (avocado countries have been our favourite so far).

Fish served TDA-style

The remaining country that Ali is most excited by is South Africa, where he is aiming to do for an entire cow during his three weeks there.