Madagastro: The Breakfast Edition

The things we eat....

For those looking for the more mundane, here is a sampling of the food we eat here.  It is exciting for us that we're able to make such "fancy" dishes, which should give you an idea of how terribly not fancy the food usually is...  So here we are, trying to recreate the things we crave and take advantage of our very nice kitchen.  We'll just give you our favorites.  Or the ones we've remembered to take pictures of.

                                               

*Mexican Brunch*

This is a favorite, a combination of two amazing things.  It is a weekend highlight.  Layered from the bottom up: tortilla, refried beans, French fries, cheese, over-easy egg, lettuce, tomato, sakay be, green onion, hot sauce.  So good.  Special thanks to Robin Cullen and my parents who have all sent us various Mexican necessities from cheese to seasonings to salsa!  Robin's giant box of Mexican was perhaps the best surprise and present I have ever received.  Seriously.

*Pancakes with nutella and bananas*

Again, thank you thank you thank you to Robin who sent us a huge tub of nutella.  We also use it to top some donuts we buy on the street and heat up in the oven while the coffee is brewing, though we don't actually make anything involved in that breakfast so you won't see any pictures.  It is surprisingly cold in Fianarantsoa right now, so these warm and cozy breakfasts make it much easier to wake up in the morning....  To be clear, cold means 50s to 70s, but it makes a big difference when buildings don't have any form of heating.  The cold gets in you and stays in you.  Thank goodness our house has hot water....

We'll try to post more random meals soon (the dinner version is harder to capture on camera because the lighting capabilities are worse at night...).  We'll also try to show you some pictures of our home so you can see a bit more of our life here!

Also I just realized that both meals we've posted have relied on Robin's generosity...  We'll include meals in the next post that use strictly local ingredients....

Madagastro: Sakay!

Before we go any further, I think it's important for you to understand the spices and such that we have available. We can find in the fancy store things like basil—the usual. But one very important part of food for us is hot peppers.

In Madagascar, they have a little something called sakay (emphasis on the second half of the word). I struggle to translate it into English, because it basically means a hot pepper, but it's very different from what we have. You can use the word either to describe actual peppers, or you can use it to describe a sort of hot sauce that is made with the peppers and is available anywhere you get food. Anywhere. It's at every table along with the salt.

Now the sauce itself is NOTHING like our stuff in America. A little bit goes a VERY long way. Every American will make the mistake here of piling a bunch on as if it were salsa or some kind of American hot sauce. And if you accidentally took a bite before testing—well, I'm not sure what would happen, but I really wouldn't want to be you.

It's delicious, to be clear. It's usually mashed up peppers and ginger. So so good. And definitely gives your food zip. In Mahabo, if ever I dipped some kind of street food I bought in it, all the kids would huddle around with wide eyes and see if I died after eating it. Not everyone can handle sakay. I think that's why it was created. Normally, Malagasy food isn't really seasoned. I'm not joking. They use salt. Some use pepper, but most don't. I mean, it's true that they put meat in everything, so I guess you could say that's there favorite flavoring. In any case, the point is you either eat unseasoned food or you eat it super spicey.

Okay so when I write I'll talk about the sakay and I want you to know what I'm talking about, so here is a lovely picture of the three main kinds of sakay that we use. The big green kind is called sakay-be, or big sakay. Makes sense. It is the mildest of the sakay, and I can usually handle this sliced up in small pieces in a salad or something—gives it kick but not too much as long as you don't add too much. It's nice to use when you don't just want to add spice, but you want to add vegetables or substance as well. It's also good when you can't dilute the sakay. In that salad, you couldn't really use a hotter spice because the hot wouldn't be spread throughout a sauce or dish—you'd be eating an actual piece of it. So yeah there you go.

The small sakay are the typical ones—the only kind I actually had in Mahabo. They are very spicey and usually I'll only throw like four or five into an entire dish. Depends on how much the food in the dish absorbs or dilutes the spice. The important thing to note with these guys is that they add kick but not really flavor. When you taste something with them, you feel the heat but don't necessarily notice a flavor. This is probably why ginger is also used when making the sakay sauce—it definitely adds flavor.

The orange medium one I'm not really sure of the name. Sometimes in our house Paul and I call it the orange sakay. We're very clever. Basically, these have as much kick as the little guys, but they're obviously bigger. I'll often put one—maybe two—into a sauce. Depends on whether or not I'm adding the other kinds of sakay. The great thing about these are that they are very flavorful. I love it. They're great for something like beans or a sauce. If you are shooting for a specific flavor, however, they might not be what you want to go with since they could overwhelm the dish.

So there you go—our peppers. Hopefully this makes things a bit more clear when I describe what we cook up!

Madagastro

Welcome a pilot of a potential new series in this blog: Madagastro. It was largely Paul's idea, so really you should just give him credit.

One of the things we love about our beautiful home (remind me—I'll post pictures of the place some time) is the kitchen. It's huge and well lit. We have an oven and a fridge. While living in Mahabo, my meals were largely based on what I could make and eat before the food spoiled (remember it was super hot there). It's true that I expanded my options when I got my solar oven—pizza, hummus, baba ganush, breads, etc. But still—without a fridge, you buy food from the market for that day only, and you must finish everything you eat before ants decide to help out. The ants hit before the food turns nasty.

Having a fridge allows us to invest in things like condiments. It allows us to buy kilos of food on the weekend, and use it all week. (In Mahabo I bought a small pile of each ingredient I needed.) There are also WAY more food options here in Fianar—both in the market because we're in a more productive region food-wise, and also in the fancy food department because we have a couple shops with a bunch of imported things from the Western world.

The point is, we experiment way more with food, for various reasons. Including the fact that it's easier to cook for two than one, and it's easier to be motivated to make fancy food when you know that someone else will enjoy it.

So... we decided to share our food adventures. Now, it may turn out that you think it is ridiculous. Perhaps the food looks and tastes better to us because we have lived without it since October. But then again, maybe you will like it—either because it makes you appreciate what you have more, or because it gives you ideas for your own cooking that desperation has not yet driven you to discover. We'll give it a go and decide later whether or not there will be a sequel...

I'm going to break this into chunks to make it easier for you. Maybe it's just me but when I see unending text on a blog everything gets fuzzy and I get lazy and decide not to read it. So I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen to you....

a taste of english

As English becomes more and more widespread, Madagascar has joined the parade. Back in the day, Madagascar's president declared three official languages for the island: Malagasy, French, and English. He was determined to turn his people trilingual, and in this quest he demanded buckets of English teachers from the Peace Corps. Working in the highlands it seems as if the journey has been pretty successful. But then of course, everything is more advanced in the highlands. The roads, the teachers, the health structures—it's all better on the highlands. So yes there are teachers here that speak English fluently, and I can imagine surviving here as a tourist speaking only English. But of course it is still concerning for my old village and the surrounding area. They don't even have an English teacher, much less one that is fluent. And so in a way, English has become yet another measurement of disparity between the highlands and the coasts.

But I digress...

I have brought up this subject merely as a consumer. You see, some of the products we buy are covered in the English language. One possible reason is that the island now has import/export relationships with English-speaking nations. But the more probable reason in my opinion (and I think you'll agree) is that producers are translating their products into English in an attempt to gain more business. Madagascar and others are opening up to the English-speaking world. And I love it.

To be clear, finding a product in English does not cure any feelings of homesickness. But it does provide us with a little comedy.

So I thought I'd share some examples. The first (also the first that was humorous enough for us to take note) is not a product, but a hotel. It's called Motel Violette, is located in Ambositra, and the rumor among Americans is that it has the best pizza. We accidentally stayed there when our trip home to Fianar was unexpectedly delayed. And then we accidentally sampled their famous pizza without realizing yet that it was famous—we were simply looking for some kind of vegetarian option for Paul. My opinion: not the best pizza in Madagascar. But it is one of the few places with pizza that has a thicker crust, American-style. I guess if that's what you miss, you'll love this stuff. But I make homemade pizza all the time, and my crust ends up the same, so I just don't think it's a big deal. Though perhaps I'm biased.

Okay. So without further ado, the Motel Violette advertisement brochure, word for word (and in some cases, letter for letter—when in doubt, trust that it is not a typo):

Motel Violette: Bungalows / Chambres / Restaurant / Pizzeria

Here, furnitures and boards are in good agreement with an atmospheres sweet and lights where shadows and lights paly a wonderful symphony

For those whom discovery of sites and walking under the open air have exhausted, they can now discover cultural wealth of the region:

--Local working classes (cabinet work, unlaid work, rabans with colours subjects of basket-works)

--Hairdressign and the “lamba arindrano” (the tress has a particular meaning in betsileo tradition)

--The savika (violent sport and dangerous but very popular in the region of Ambositra)

--The Zafindraony canticles

--The Betsileo rija

--The volam-be tohaka.

When you have passed the day for strollin, to rumbling many shops to inquire little souvenirs and after making a halt at the terrace, you will find again with pleasure the calm and the quietness of your hotel, the soft confort and the freshness of your room or in pleasantly, arranged bungalows, bathroom with hot water, the color television and the constant attentions of a dynamic and young servants ready to comply with your least wishes.

To the table of its restaurant, Motel violette will show you the delight of its delicate cooking. The french, malagasy and chinese gastronomy keep close harmoniously on proposed cards. You can take “La saucisse Violeta” the tradesman of our chef. The familial environment and the quality of its cooking have largely contributed to the fame of Motel Violette.

Excellent. I am sure you all now want to visit Madagascar, if for no other reason than to rumble shops in Ambositra.

Our next favorite is a body gel that came with a loofah. I think it was made in China. The brand is ROUSHUN and I'll just dive in.

Front:

Naturals

BODY WASH

Skin Care

EXPERT

SPA FRAGRANCE Ocean Energy

--Cool Moisture--

Gentle for all skin types

Back:

ROUSHUN Naturals BODY WASH

OCEAN ENERGY

*Contains various of vitamins and minerals from ocean. Smoothens and whitens your skin and also improves the dry and rough skin. Prevent the dim skin and makes the skin gentle and tender. It brings youa luxurious feeling of bathing and gives birth to your silken skin. Just enjoy the brand new feelings it brings to you.

DIRECTION

Wet your body and smear some on the whole body, and then make it with rich foams with your hand or bathing cotton. Rinse after a while.

The most chill instructions ever. I assume the bathing cotton is the loofah.

Along similar lines, we'll go ahead and finish your English lesson with shampoo.

Front:

*PLANTS FRUIT ACID*

Eggs

Moisturizing Shampoo Nutrition

Nourish & Repair

DOUBLE PROTECTION

SUPER PLIANCY & WIPE OFF

Plant extracts

NEW

Back:

Habetong

Moisturizing Shampoo Nutrition

Rich eggs contain nutrients, moisture factor, combined with nutritional supplements, deep moisturizing hair, promote hair on the absorption of nutrients, to help re-hair, hair loss protein supplement!

DOUBLE PROTECTION

SUPER PLIANCY & WIPE OFF

Usage: Wet hair, take the appropriate product on the hair, slightly to produce a rich foam, then wash with water, if necessary, Better results can be repeated. Note: if it gets, flush with fresh water.

Is anyone else really worried about that last sentence? It's as if we're being given these really important instructions or a warning, only the key part of the sentence is missing.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed.

And don't worry—I listen to public radio way more than I read shampoo. So hopefully my English skills will still be intact upon my return. Of course only time will tell...

World Malaria Day

As some of you may know, today is World Malaria Day. I was trying to decide how exactly to mark the occasion through my blog. There's a lot of pressure when your job is all about malaria... So much could be said, but where to start?

I considered writing a bit about malaria in general. Talking about how it's both preventable and treatable, yet we still haven't beat it. About how pregnant women and children under five are the most at risk. About how historically we keep developing new treatments, and the parasite keeps evolving and developing resistance. But then I decided that none of this can be summed up in a blog post—and others have already said it so much better. In fact, if you are interested, I highly recommend Sonia Shah's The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years. http://soniashah.com/books/the-fever/ Both interesting and informative.

In any case, after thinking all day I decided not to write anything. I'd rather not have anything terribly serious, since diseases are depressing already. So instead I decided to point you in the direction of a lovely little short by Disney about malaria. It was made back in the '40s (you'll notice when they show a map that we used to have malaria in the States as well). It may not make you super sad thinking about dying children, but it will at least teach you more about malaria--and understanding how malaria is transmitted and can be prevented is a big part of the fight.

So Happy World Malaria Day and enjoy the video!

The Winged Scourge (Disney '43)

a quick video about the history of malaria

For your personal enjoyment and enlightenment:

(Brought to you by Blog About Malaria Month)

Blog About Malaria Month!

It is officially April which means it is officially Blog About Malaria Month (or BAMM). What does this mean, you ask? World Malaria Day is April 25th, and for the occasion, Peace Corps Volunteers all over Africa will be building awareness for the fight against malaria by writing, blogging, and facebook statusing about malaria all month.

So a couple of things:

1. I will try to write more than usual this month about malaria. So get excited about that. We'll see how exactly it plays out. I'll do my best to go beyond statistics about malaria-related mortality, but no promises.

2. You should join the fun! Malaria is often forgotten, perhaps because it's been around forever and is neither new nor necessarily sexy. But it won't be eradicated unless people continue fighting it--and in a coordinated way. So we (me, Peace Corps's Malaria Team, Africans everywhere I assume) would love if you helped build awareness! We even have a logo (above) that you can use to keep you in sync with the BAMMers everywhere. It was created by a PCV and won a competition so you know it's cool.

Get ready for a serious focus on malaria this month!