Fahdila's Fabulous Feast

Fahdila is as John has said "a force of nature," so when she gets an idea the rest of us just stand aside and watch the action.  This time for John's birthday, she decided to prepare a huge dinner in the manner that one here would eat for Eid at the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.  She invited all of our students to come for the evening, which meant that the whole day Thursday was a huge bustle of food preparation and cooking.  Fahdila had not only herself and the three regular dadas hard at work but also the "chef" who will be cooking at her new cafe near the airport.

My major task was to watch all the action and count the number of chipatis, croquettes, etc. that were made.  Almost everything was prepared and cooked in the dadas' kitchen, as Fahdila did not want to heat up her own house.  Fahdila had said she wanted to have 20 different things to serve, but John counted the final total as 25.  Almost every dish was incredibly labor intensive, for example, mashed potatoes made with a large stick/pestle, and garlic crushed in a big wooden mortar.  The croquettes (I don't know how to spell the Swahili word) went through so many steps of preparation that I decided that was something I probably would never make myself.  And, the humble chipatis are not at all a simple to make as one would think.  The real "secret" to all the main dishes lies in the spices, some which I recognized and some which I did not, and all the amounts were added without any exact measurement, of course.

In the dadas' kitchen

Mashing potatoes for the croquettes

Forming the croquettes

Rolling the croquettes in fine bread crumbs.

Rolling out the chipati

Frying chipati

Grating coconut

Fahdila cutting up manioc

The ubiquitous fish

So, from early morning until about 5:30, all hands were working in the kitchen, and by the time the students arrived at 7:00, this is what awaited them.

Some of the food

John had gone into town to meet the students and get them onto daladalas that would come past Fahdila's house.  This way, the transportation cost per person was less than 20 cents.  By the time the students arrived, mats had been laid in the compound for them to sit on and most of the food was laid out.  To begin the meal, Fahdila handed out dates, since according to tradition, the Prophet broke his fast by eating three dates.  Then, everyone was invited to serve themselves and eat.

The students enjoying the feast

The little girls all dressed up for the occasion and Megan applauding the food.

Even the dadas dressed up and joined in.

Since this affair was to be part of John's birthday celebration, the dadas had pushed their culinary limits and baked a cake for him.  The little children presented it with one special candle on top: a "0" for his unknown age, I guess.

Birthday boy

It was a wonderful evening for everyone, though I still can't understand why the students preferred to take photos of themselves with Amin's monkey and puppy instead of the food, people and setting. It's as if they insulate themselves from anything unfamiliar in order to keep the universe safely focused individual reality.  One can only hope that bit by bit something cracks through their self-imposed "Me, Me, Me" bubble.  If 2012 provides a forecast on expanded cultural awareness, it may only be as the students return to the States that they will begin to assess their experiences here more wisely.

Day is done