Rwandan Cooking

Long time no blog! I have started a few, but I've failed at completing them. I hope to back to them soon, but for now here is a quick photo tour of cooking in Rwanda.

The title of this blog my be a bit misleading. This is not a blog about Rwandan food (which deserves its own blog), but rather a blog about the food I cook in Rwanda. I have never been more challenged in my cooking than I have been here in Rwanda. The main challenges come in two forms; the first is in the limited variety of food available and the second is in the cost.

I'm fortunate to have come from a family that really enjoys food. Both my Mother and Father are great cooks and they both have totally different styles. My Father is an Asian loving soup maker and my Mother is a bit more traditional. I began baking at an early age and by the age of 8 I was baking chocolate chip cookies on my own.

Living aboard has taught me to be flexible and creative. Some people pack a first aid kit, I pack a spice kit. I never know what herbs and spices I will find and not find so it's better to be safe than sorry. My basic kit contains, Mexican chili, cumin, basil, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, curry, dill, thyme and lots of stock. If it is a longer trip I will pack just about whatever I have and use up the last ounce in my suitcase. I used to pack hair products, but really isn't what ponytails are for?

The basic fresh ingredients in Rwanda include potatoes, green bananas, green beans, carrots, onions, garlic, eggplant, green peas, zucchini, green peppers, and cabbage. As for fruit you're looking at passion fruit, bananas (both the big and small variety), mango and pineapple. When it comes to meat you can easily find goat and beef. Pork is a bit harder to find and you don't want to eat the chicken here. The fish is mostly fishy tilapia from local fish farms. As for dairy, it easy to come across milk, yogurt, Rwandan Gouda and buttermilk. Not bad you say? Well really that's it anything not on this list is exotic and can be difficult to find. We get very excited about broccoli.

Our first meals came in the form of lots and lots of soups. One of our more infamous soups was the result of ordering 3 whole chickens instead of the pieces of chicken at our local pub. It was also the last time we have ordered chicken.


Swedish ice cream buckets make great spice kits.







The purchase of our grill has greatly advanced the food items we are able to cook. Our favorites include grilled veggies and pizza. The tricky part of making the pizza is to get the cheese nice and melty. Our grill was purchased at the local metal works shop. They turn old barrels into grills, fish fryers, coal shovels and dinning room tables.

Some of the most exciting discoveries I've made include how to make sour cream, how easy it is to make pickles (using cumbers from our garden), yogurt makes a great substitute for many things, flat bread is fantastic and easy to make, green beans can go in anything!


Joss precooks one side of the pizza.

Note the grilled eggplant a pizza topping staple.


















The finished product here is a beef fajita pizza. With some feta brought in from Ireland.















Our flavors have greatly improved since the planting of a few herbs and spices. The fresh lettuce has been a great addition to our meals. This is the start of our city garden. We have grown corn, tomatoes, herbs, cucumber, zucchini, bell pepper and lettuce. It will be sad to say goodbye, but we hope the next tenants will be appreciative.