Before covid, Greta Thunberg was making headlines pretty regularly. Once the pandemic took over, all thoughts of climate change and what we could do to save ourselves dissolved into the more immediate concern of how we could save the Western world from suffering.
I think of Greta a lot these days. I've recently displaced myself to Gemena, a little village town in northern Congo, and am having to learn all new things. The most pressing: cooking on charcoal. I've compiled a list of secret tips for cooking with charcoal, although I am not sure who else will need them. I don't mean the fancy backyard grills lighting up American holidays or summer weekends. I mean the kind of charcoal that comes directly from burnt wood.
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| A Google search turned up these images |
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| But my new stove looked like this |
My first weeks in Gemena were filled with challenge- a list so long I filled two notebook pages with the many ways Gemena was winning. She really beat me up the first two months. It didn't help that, between navigating water access- both drinking and washing, which don't come from the same source- and food foraging, I was also trying to secure electricity and internet connection to keep my doctorate studies going (under the haze of malaria.) Way too much to handle, especially since I could not figure out how to light the charcoal.
My goal was one match, one bag and I can definitively say, after weeks of practice and perseverance, I have achieved that goal with consistency. But I still think of Greta often. Because the secret to lighting charcoal in Africa begins with a plastic bag. Before moving here, I was very energy conscious. Very plastic conscious. I had cloth grocery bags even for produce. I stuffed multiple fruits and vegetables into one bag, confusing and annoying the store clerks. I selected my purchases according to packaging and tried to do all the minor things that now seem very insignificant in the face of millions of women lighting thousands of plastic bags every day across the continent.
While Greta is jetting around the globe in eco-friendly travel, I'm busy releasing dioxins into the air every night to prepare my evening meal. The small black bags are the most common, but I don't fare well with them. They burn too quickly. Lighting charcoal with black bags is pro-level. I am still at intermediate. The (plastic) water bottles I purchase by the 6-pack come wrapped in the most desirable plastic for burning. It is heavy and thick. It sustains the flame long enough to ignite even the largest pieces of charcoal. The medium sized plastic bags are usually yellow (those seem to disintegrate in seconds) or blue. I have occasional success with the blue bags. The blue plastic burns a bright green and melts into thin rivulets that streak the sides of the charcoal. Once a piece of charcoal has some melted plastic adhered to it, it will burn for awhile. The green of the flame is mesmerizing.
The thing about lighting charcoal, like most activities of village life, is that it takes total attention. There is no quick turning on the stove and heating up some water while you type a few last sentences of your term paper or tidy up the living room. No, with charcoal, you must sit and be attentive. You must be present.
Initially, I was able to view this as meditative- a necessary and potentially healing moment in my day- a complete pause to do nothing but....well, burn toxic plastic, which did take away from the truly peaceful aspect. But flames are seductive. And blue bags have the most seductive burn.
In order to achieve the one match, one bag goal there are a few preliminary steps. You have to choose the right charcoal. A mix of large and small pieces works best. Hollow out a little center area in the middle of your pile, creating a volcano-like dome. Prepare the plastic by holding the bottom, cupping your other hand around the bag and pulling it through. This creates a funnel like shape. It is important for the bag to be condensed enough to hold the flame but not so tight that it smothers out. Everything about fire is like this- a delicate balance between not enough and too much.
Once the bag has a good shape, tuck it into the volcano. Nestle the charcoal in closer and light the bag. This part seems easy enough, but if you are using matches made in Congo, you can expect that several won't light, or the tips will spark and die out, the wooden stick might splinter, or the scratchy side of the box won't have enough phosphorus. Once you do get flame to bag, the trick is to make sure it catches with a living, growing fire. If the angle is not just right, the plastic will melt rather than catch fire. Melting plastic does not heat up the charcoal. You need the plastic to achieve a long burn with a steady flame. Once this happens, choose small, thin pieces of charcoal to gently place atop the fire . This is similar to a game of Jenga, removing pieces from the bottom to build up around the top. You want the flame to have direct contact with charcoal. It is completely possible to have a slow steady burn that never actually gets the charcoal going. This is the attentive part. You cannot leave the charcoal to do it's own thing unless you gingerly, lovingly arrange all the pieces. You cannot achieve one match, one bag without proper set-up.
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| A strong steady burn |
After the flame is going, whether green or orange or red, you then have the task of helping it spread. I think the next steps are optional. I imported these techniques from Kinshasa, where everyone is in a hurry. In the village, I don't really see anyone fanning their flames, but it's a tried and true from the city. A good fan will be made of cardboard or a stack of flat paper grouped together. Fanning your charcoal will help the heat spread faster and get you closer to the actual cooking part. It can take awhile to get the hang of fanning, as a technique, because too much oxygen kills the fire. Strong fanning motions can revive a flame that has gone out. It is very satisfying to bring back dying embers.
After the charcoal is securely burning, you are ready to cook. It is helpful to have all your ingredients and meal plan prepared in advance. You have to think ahead. If you want warm water for bathing, or hot water for drinking tea later, or if you plan to make a two part meal- sauce and rice, for example- you should have everything measured and stirred and ready to go. In the beginning I experimented with two stoves, but that quickly evolved into the two pot method, since there are only two of us eating and we don't need to cook that much. Traditionally, people are preparing large pots of food for big families so they can't fit two pots on one flame. I think I can get a patent on the two-pot method.
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| One stove, two pots |
