Learning How to Cook (8-20-08)

It has become painfully obvious to me that I’m going to have to learn to cook. My friend who lives in Kampala kept warning me about how expensive everything was but I didn’t believe her. Until I got here. Food is SUPER expensive*—particularly places catering to expats like myself. I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that Uganda is a landlocked country with a less-than-reliable rail system so everything essentially has to come in via truck from Kenya. With fuel prices what they are (you think you pay a lot for gas—Ugandans pay almost 3,000 shillings a liter, or about $7.50 per gallon!), that translates to everything being uber pricey. And while local food is not too expensive and pretty tasty, it’s loaded with starches and lacking in vegetables, so it’s not something I can eat three times a day every day. So clearly eating out is going to have to be a luxury and not the norm.

Anyway, I’ve always thought of myself as someone who can get by when it comes to cooking. I mean, I’ve never fancied myself as Martha Stewart, but when push comes to shove, I can make a delicious meal. I just don’t choose to do it that often.

Yeah, well, that was in the states. Cooking here is a completely different matter. First off, it’s hard/expensive to get things that are canned or even slightly prepared. So that means all of those nights I “cooked” a veggie burger or “made” a pizza, I wasn’t cooking at all! I was taking various prepared ingredients and putting them together to make a meal. Here when I want to have pasta I can’t just cook the pasta and open up a can of Paul Newman sauce—I have to actually MAKE the sauce. Or spend $12 on Ragu. Um, no…

Additionally I have no oven. I have a gas stove, but no way to bake anything. I think I’m going to invest in a toaster oven so that I can have toast and do some baking-lite, but it’s not an oven. So this presents an additional challenge.

The good news is I have access to some of the cheapest, freshest, organic, and delicious veggies and fruits in the world. And I can get most any spice fresh from the market. I just have to learn to use them properly. So far I’ve made a delicious veggie omelet, some AMAZING guacamole (though without tortilla chips, the guac loses some of its excitement), and the aforementioned pasta sauce. And I’ve eaten TONS of passion fruit, pineapple, mangos, and watermelon, which require no preparation at all!

Anyway, I have confidence in my abilities. I actually look forward to this challenge and think it will be good for me to be forced to learn to cook. A little bit like learning to swim by getting thrown in the deep end of the pool… But, that being said, if anyone has any simple, delicious recipes that don’t require prepared ingredients or an oven, please pass them on!

* Please note that my standards of cost have gone down a bit, so it’s nothing like living in NYC, just way more expensive than other African countries I’ve lived/traveled in, so don’t let that scare you when planning your visit! Have I mentioned I want people to visit? :)