American Dinner!

I made an “American” dinner for my host family! They have asked me on multiple occasions what kind of food we eat in the United States. It’s a very frequent topic of conversation. And when I think about it, food directed many of the questions I’ve received from Americans about life in Cameroon. It makes sense- food is universal! We all need it to survive, and of course we’re curious about different cultures’ cuisines. Anyways, my host family has been quite inquisitive about what we Americans eat, and they asked me to cook American! I was trying to figure out what to make, given the availability of ingredients and the alien (to me!) cooking equipment here. So I ended up making macaroni and cheese, Grandma’s German potato salad, and cole slaw.

First of all, we must address the issue that, for some reason, cheese is nearly non-existent in this country. The only cheese one can find is “Vache qui rit.” Yes, that’s right- directly translated that is the “Cow who laughs,” or Laughing Cow cheese! So how you make macaroni and cheese Cameroonian style: cook pasta, add butter, powdered milk, water, Vache qui Rit (it kind of just dissolves into the pasta), and then as many spices as one deems necessary to make it edible (basil worked very nicely). You also need an experienced and skilled mixer, mine was in the form of Julia, my amazing friend and fellow TEFL volunteer who provided some much needed moral support during the cooking extravaganza.

Mom sent me Grandma’s German potato salad (because she’s awesome) and it turned out exactly like Grandma’s! (well, ok not exactly- I’m not sure that bacon exists here…) It was so surreal to see and smell the potato salad in Cameroon; it reminds me so much of home! It was cool to be able to recreate some little comforts of home even though I’m an ocean away. And then we made cole slaw- with carrots and cabbage!!!!!!!!! There are so many explanation points here because I (and I think most of the other volunteers) have not had any raw vegetables since being here. I’ve had cooked vegetables (I’m not that malnourished, yet!), put the Peace Corps medical officers did a pretty stellar job of terrifying us about the dangers of eating improperly cleaned/prepared fresh fruits and vegetables. But I soaked the veggies in a bleach/water combo and scrubbed them. And no one got sick! Yay!

So my family was pretty darn jazzed about this whole event. Some quotes:

Beatrice, my mom: “Oh my, it’s like we’re all in America tonight!”

Guy, my dad: “I know! Barack Obama and I are eating the same dinner tonight!”

Mimi, my five-year-old sister “Claire, the food is delicious! I’m practicing eating your food for when you take me back to the United States with you!” (she’s convinced I will take her home with me in two years…)

Vanessa, my oldest host sister: “So what are you making next week?? Le pizza?? Les hamburgers?”

Then their cousin who’s been visiting for the last two weeks (who is from the Anglophone part of the country, but for some reason only speaks Pidgin- a warped mélange of English and random Western African dialect) started impersonating “Americans.” This means he began talking in a very loud, somewhat haughty voice, saying things like, “Oh, I am American, I work all the time, all the time!” “I am busy, oh, very busy.” “I love McDonald’s! it is very nice!”

Evidently, it was quite hilarious, overall an entertaining (and cross-cultural! *read Peace Corps*) evening.