Tastes So Good

Well I’m back in the States and extremely glad that I won’t be on a plane for at least another month. Twenty hours one way is just too much. While I was quite nervous about the trip and the food I would encounter, I was pleasantly surprised at many of the meals we were served. Some of my favorites were:

• Springbok medallions
• Ostrich meatballs
• Steak from a Bonsmara – can’t travel abroad without sampling a steak!
• A dessert called Ellis Pudding
• Snoek – a fish native to the Western Cape
• Impala jerky
• Pop – not to be confused with soda. This is ground maize boiled and then mixed with salt. They call it porridge or ‘pop’ and I call it delicious. 

There is also a great liquer there called Amarula which is very similar to Bailey’s Irish Crème. Tastes great poured over some ice!

 

While I enjoyed many of the local and traditional dishes, there are some dishes I just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy – those of you who know me well will be able to distinguish why these dishes passed the Buzzard palate test:

• Pancakes filled with mincemeat – bobotie
• Shredded fish with rice, carrots, curry and some unrecognizable things
• Mopani worm (pictured above) – the name should tip you off on why. I tried really hard to swallow that little devil but just couldn’t do it and subsequently spit it out. 

And lastly, there are the things that we have in the U.S. but have a slight twist in South Africa:

• Instead of ham and scrambled eggs – hotdogs and scrambled eggs
• Ham steaks transformed into bacon
• Tomato sauce instead of tomato ketchup  

The whole trip was thrilling but it’s really great to be back in the States – time to get back to thesis writing, research and baking those 30 angel food cakes (see “Angel Food Cake = Figi).  It's also great to get back to real ketchup, homemade gravy, marbled beef and Dr. Pepper.

 

Until next time,
~Buzzard~