the food edition

Since it has been the most asked about subject since my stay in Senegal has begun, I decided to do a people's choice blog about food in Senegal. I don't have pictures of all the six or so main dishes in Senegal, in fact I don't even have a picture of the national dish, Cheb u Jen (Wolof for rice and fish). 

This is a picture of perhaps my favorite dish in Senegal- Soupekanja. Kanja is okra and I'm not sure what soup is. It's made with palm oil and okra for sure and then there are different varieties depending on the type of meat you add. This one is different fruits de la mer which is the first time I've had it that way. This picture is taken in the kitchen of my house in Mboro. 

This is a pretty common meal my sister makes in Mboro. Its a plate lined with lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes coated in a vinegar mustard dressing with fried onions and french fries in the middle layer and beef in the center and covered in onion rings, obviously. We have this pretty often for dinner. Also something about meals, we don't drink water during meals, but after everyone drinks water sharing the same glass. My parents usually have tea instead.

This is a little bit of an old picture, it's from Tabaski in Thienaba. This is a picture of the slaughtering of the sheep. What happens is they dig a hole and put the ram's neck over it for the blood to drip into. I thought it was kind of funny that my uncle wore a humane society tshirt that reads 'official dog lover.' My house in Thienaba killed six rams which is one of the higher numbers I heard. Immediately after the slaughter the whole family went to work cutting up the meat, separating the organs and muscles , and cooking. Most of the meat was put into plastic bags and stored in the fridge and eating over the coarse of the next few weeks, kind of like Thanksgiving. 

Back to Mboro this is my older sister, Maty, cooking over the coals. She usually cooks something on the gas and then continues on the coals for that smokey flavor. 

This is where we eat, it's the entrance to the house. In this picture you can see the trophies my sister has won as champion of Senegal in swimming. The upper right hand corner of the picture is the stairs to go up to the roof/living room. In Thienaba we ate on mats on the ground. In both places it is a group of people eating out of a communal bowl either with hands of a utensil depending on preference.