Response to Challenge 1

Before I start to cook Audrey's challenge, I thought I'd better finally post my response to Lesley's challenge. It was a challenge! I had to visit three supermarkets, substitute a few items and left a couple of others out.

Cheese is available here but does not seem to be a great favourite. It’s usually pre-packed and the type of very orange looking processed cheese I usually avoid with a barge pole. One shop has a deli counter where the cheese/meat is already cut and you choose the piece you’d like.

Herbs and spices also seem to be limited and despite scrutinising the shelves very closely, mace was nowhere to be seen.

As you can see most packaged food is not made in Malawi while the fresh produce is.

The key challenges during preparation were that I do not have any weighing scales, no steamer and no food processor. All are available to buy in the bigger stores. Think I’ll invest in some scales but will try to survive without a steamer. I never use a food processor at home anyway!

There was enough for five portions so I had left overs to enjoy once my guest had left. We both agreed it was a tasty meal. 

Cooking the beans, the lentils etc meant it took a fair chunk of my Sunday to cook this but I enjoyed. It also introduced me new ingredients which I never use at home. I'll be making this, or a variation on theme again so thanks for the challenge, Lesley

Ingredients	Available or alternative used	Country of origin	Price  - per pack/total purchased
dried black-eyed beans	pack of 5 mixed beans	Canada, Holland, India, South Africa, Malawi	2.00
green split peas	Yes	South Africa	1.50
green lentils	Yes	Canada	1.50
peeled carrots	Yes	Assumed Malawi	1.00
peeled swede	Butternut squash	Assumed Malawi	0.50
peeled celeriac	Extra butternut
large onion	Yes	Assumed Malawi	0.10
small green pepper	Yes	Assumed Malawi	0.75
butter	Yes	South Africa	3.50
tomatoes	Yes - fresh	Assumed Malawi	0.25
chopped mixed fresh herbs	Dried mixed herbs	South Africa
ground mace	No idea! Left out
ground cayenne pepper	Yes	South Africa	2.00
salt and freshly milled black pepper	Not freshly milled!	South Africa
soft goats’ cheese	Cheddar	Not shown on the label	2.00
potatoes	Yes	Ireland	1.00
2 tablespoons milk	UHT	Zambia	0.25
Pecorino cheese	Mozarella	Not shown on the label	0.50

Challenge 2

Ok,so I confess I have not given you the results of Challenge 1 yet. In my usual style of procrastinating, the blog item is three quarters finished. I promise to look up the last few prices before the end of this week.

Audrey has agreed to provide us with a recipe for January so please check in later in the month to see what it is. I'm planning to cook this on Sunday 20th and will no doubt inflict my culinary skills on some colleagues! Hope you'll join me.

To misquote a famous TV programme ..... keeeeeeeep cooking!
  

Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Well, if I upload this quickly it will still be the Christmas season as today is the feast of the Epiphany.

Hope you all enjoyed the festivities and didn’t put on too many extra pounds over the holidays.

I was lucky enough to be with my family over Christmas and New Year which was an unexpected surprise for us all. The two weeks at home flew by and now I’m back in Malawi and in the throes of year end. Oh joy!

Christmas is celebrated in Malawi and usually people just have Christmas Day off work. This year, just a few days before Christmas an extra bank holiday on 26^th December was announced. Our office had a planned closure from 21^st December to 2^nd January and we are all required to hold back holiday to cover this.

All the usual Christmas goodies of cards, trees and presents are in the shops from early October although overall it felt as if Christmas was more low key. That’s hardly surprising as Christmas in the UK feels like overkill. There are very few Christmas decorations or lights in the shops, streets and we had no decorations up in the office. 

I’m not sure how colleagues in the   office will have celebrated at home. Many will enjoyed a special meal with family and friends. Those whose family live outside of Lilongwe will probably have travelled across the country to spend time together. As these journeys can be time consuming and expensive, it is not easy for people to meet up regularly and so Christmas is the ideal time to be together. Most people will have been to church to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

These photos were taken at a local hotel where there is a lovely café that I often visit on a Sunday. Interestingly, the tree is made from old water bottles. I’ve not seen much recycling of plastic, paper or anything else for that matter whilst I’ve been in Malawi so this seemed an unusual choice.

Here’s to a very happy and healthy 2013 for us all!