Having tasted today the results of yesterday's grouper groping, I think I will detail my excursion. Fudia and I headed out around 2 p.m., on foot. We wandered through people's "yards" (which really aren't b/c they're just sort of rocks and dirt) and picked up her assistant. Fudia was tasked with feeding 20 people for lunch so she wanted some help. She gets annoyed at this girl because the girl doesn't want to spend money on her phone so Fudia has to go to her house to fetch her or communicate with her. Anyway, with said assistant trailing dutifully behind, we made our way into town. Along the road are little stands with things for sale - everything from top-up minutes for one's cell phone (most Sierra Leonians have at least two so they can communicate w/friends that use different carriers - yeah, I don't really get how that works either) to squares of some substance that looks like peanut butter; I couldn't really get a straight answer on what it is. Suddenly we veered off and from that point I was lost. Fudia has her favorite vendors and so we were just on a hunt for what she wanted. She sent assistant girl (it would be nice if I could remember her name - she'll be AG from now on) on various errands but then kept getting annoyed with her. She thinks AG is a "fool."
First stop, pineapple off someone's head basket. (very delicious - had for dinner last night, breakfast & lunch today, some left for dessert tonight...). Next, we looked at textiles and I bought a length of fabric for pants for my brother David. We zipped around back somewhere to Joseph, the tailor, who had me pay about $5 and told me to come back "tomorrow evening." Okay.
With my only personal errand done, we were on the lookout for Fudia's ingredients. Her plan was to make potato leaf soup for the group. I requested spaghetti, chicken and salad. Our habit is for Fudia to make enough for 2 days or so (3 if we think there will be power or I pay for the generator which I've only done once but which I am seriously considering right now) and I have some things like granola bars and peanut butter if I want to supplement or I get bored. I can also go over to the CRC for lunch (which I did yesterday) but, frankly, Fudia's food tastes better and I got a bit light-headed from the heady mixture of smoke, fishy smell, palm oil fumes, slightly chewy unknown fish in relatively oily cassava leaf sauce, 91 degree weather and the slinky skinny kitties who were messing about with the fish bones scattered around my feet. HOWEVER, I enjoyed hanging out with staff - we were all out back in the kitchen which is just a covered concrete hut-like structure with open fires in the middle and a couple of store rooms off to the side. Although I'm all for the open fire/serve in gigantic pots thing, I think I'll stick with using a fork (I haven't seen kids or staff eating with forks - it's the right hand - although, oddly enough, the Sierra Leonians whom Fudia has fed have all used forks. Maybe it's more of a formal thing? i.e. these folks were being served as part of a conference/meeting they were attending. I'll have to ask her about that).
Glory be. The power just came on. My day is complete and I am lifting my hands in joyful thanksgiving. Done. Psyched for cold water in a few hours! And this also means that my leftovers can be leftover. I have to say my mother would be all about "expiration dates" at this point.
Okay. Back. Took a quick break for dinner during which time some guy delivered David's pants. Outstanding! They even have pockets! I'm definitely having a pair made for myself. I also asked about the fork thing. My hypothesis as stated above is, indeed, correct.
I digress. Back to potato leaf soup....so, we first needed to find the fish. Dried grouper (see picture) is 1. gigantic 2. smelly 3. very dried 4. a favorite of flies. Do not let any of that deter you - instead, pick the best of the lot and stuff it into your shopping bag. Next: potato leaf. Again, go to your favorite sellers of such veggies and purchase a bunch of bunches. At the same time, pick up some lettuce for Miss Mary and some good looking (but small) tomatoes (quite expensive here). Next is the favorite "cow meat seller". He wields a wicked looking machete and simply removes cow from a hook, chops it up and stuffs it in a bag. Now that I think of it, I don't know where that ended up; maybe Fudia ate it. I think we hit the spice area next. People walk around with little bags of spices on their heads, or you can just go to any one of a number of tables where there is garlic, onions, oils, peppers (which is the "hot" that characterizes this food), bouillon cubes, etc. etc. Again, Fudia has her favorite haunts - she pointed out to me that she doesn't purchase from one particular woman because her goods have been "exposed." Since every good is being "exposed" I fail to see any distinction, but after wandering around with her, let me say it's a miracle anyone she feeds isn't dying of some horrific food-borne illness. But, back to spices. She got a bunch of little bags of things and ordered up a lot of vegetable oil which got poured into plastic bags. AG was sent to fetch it and watch over the process. Fudia can be quite bossy and commanding! She really doesn't put up with any nonsense.
After a lengthy stay in the spice area, where I watched people and tried to figure out what, exactly, people were selling or what they were doing (some people were sleeping under tables, for example) we meandered through the shoe section, jewelry section, underwear section and finally out to the street. Ah! Fresh air! (granted, it's all relative). Next: Bo Supermarket - LOVE this place. It's my 3rd time there and I love it b/c there's a giant air conditioner. There is where I get Diet Cokes and Digestives. This is where Fudia gets chicken, pasta and Laughing Cow cheese. She also purchases little treats for herself if she's so inclined...After we had been in there for about 5 minutes, she declared that she was getting cold (seriously?!) and went outside. How crazy is that? I, on the other hand, was thinking about asking the owner if I could rent out some space in one of the aisles and just hang out. Alas, before the question could be posed, Tommy (caretaker at the MTC)arrived with the van (since we had too much to carry on a motorbike taxi) and we returned home.
As a follow up, you have to know that the potato leaf/grouper stew thing on rice was superbly tasty (had a bit today at lunch time). Here's how the transformation took place: yesterday afternoon, the grouper came out of the bag, was ripped up into chunks, was rinsed and swished around about 3 times and was then put in a pot to boil. A few eggs went in with it (I'm not sure if those eggs made it into the stew or became my fried/scrambled egg/onion/pepper breakfast sandwich of this morning). In any case see picture for how big, flat, smelly, hard fish turned into very tender potato leaf stew (granted, it took all night). Fudia likes it made with the dried fish because she says the flavor is more piquant (okay, she didn't really use that word, but that's most definitely the point she was making).
And for my end, I have enjoyed 3 meals in a row of chicken, spicy pasta/tomato dish, pineapple and salad (consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and onion).
Even as I type, the refrigerator freezer is chilling, the fan is on overhead, and I'm hoping to do some reading without a flashlight. Life is good! Welbodi (or good health) to all!
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