Living in Kinshasa has a tremendous way of boosting one's ego however. After years of cooking with my students and offering home baked sweets during our classroom author celebrations (always, always with a warning to eat at your own risk) my ego has been fluffed. It seems many of the kids come from no bake families and are therefore easily impressed by my lopsided brownies or whatever's-left-in-the-fridge fruit scones.
Baking has become a necessity in Kin as many of our favorites are just not available. It's also due to the fact that most store bought items are laughably expensive and food shopping is often the result of budgetary constraints rather than culinary delights.
But I have completely enjoyed learning how to make my own yogurt, tofu, bread from scratch, chocolate cake with coco powder and pie fillings from the real fruit or vegetable rather than the can. Cooking and baking are as satisfying as making art at times and most enjoyable when they can be done for pleasure rather than purpose (read Sunday afternoons are fun baking days, Monday nights after work and exercise class...not so much.) I haven't reached the level of preparation that has me pre-planning meals and cooking to freeze so my weeknights can filled with reheating ease. But I do enjoy the spontaneous tastiness of a scrumptious dinner or the sweetness of a surprise dessert.
Everything tastes better- either because we've made it together- Nabih tends to be the baker and cheese grater while Mohamed is the chef; it's a perfect combination, really- or because we haven't had a particular dish in so long it seems like a luxurious treat.
Kinshasa can't always be relied on have the ingredients you want and so I have developed my own list of substitutions and omissions. (I am sure the real experts and farm girls of the world have this down to a science but since it always seems like experimenting with unknown consequences, successes are pleasant and satisfying.)
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| Homemade calzone with spinach, eggplant, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese and a ricotta substitute |
Salt is one ingredient I find myself without- not sure why this is- but I generally leave it out of all baked things. I've learned to manipulate the amount of yeast- not sure if it is the humidity here or something about my baking but rising breads have always been a little shaky. It's improving, most definitely, almost to the point of being dependable, as long as I add more than the recipe calls for. Eggs are another ingredient I am often lacking- mostly due to living with a house of hungry guys. A spoonful of mayonnaise has been my standard substitute, the alternate a little extra oil. (I've recently uncovered a plethora of websites about egg substitutes including applesauce, but haven't tried many of them.) I now know the value of eggs however and in order to get those chocolate cakes fluffy and light- you need eggs. Lots of them. Other missing ingredients include shortening, ricotta cheese (cream cheese works well, cottage cheese and certain yogurts also work. Feta cheese is available here and that makes a tasty replacement.) Graham crackers aren't found so often but tons of other sweet cookies are and they all crush up nicely for an easy pie crust.
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| I'd really hoped it would make a good pumpkin substitute |
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| Super hard to cut..kept feeling like I wanted a machete |
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| Traditional squash inside, nice orange color |
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| Roasted squash seeds- taste just like pumpkin |
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| These pies were gone in days! Kinshasa Autumn in February |
