Feeding an American Family in Nouakchott

When I got married, I was what you'd call a novice cook.  I knew how to bake a few things, boil water, reheat leftovers.  Aaron grew up in a family who owned a catering business, so he knew a lot more, and ended up teaching me.  After a few years of trial and error and meals dumped straight in the trash ("Hello, Colucci's Pizza? I'd like to place an order..."), I became a decent cook.

When you move overseas, you have to relearn some things, like planning and preparing meals.  Food is food.  But in a foreign country, the packaging and measurements get really confusing, and it can be difficult or impossible to find the ingredients you need for your American favorites and recipes.
 
Last night, out of desperation, I made panvis, a Dutch fish casserole. I don't like fish. Aaron doesn't like casseroles. But according to Eet Smakelijk (a cookbook I got as a wedding gift), we actually had all the ingredients in the house, so that was dinner.  It was edible, but it won't be going into the rotation.

In Tunisia, I remember sort of doing without recipes for the first few months, which for me is the equivalent of driving across the country without a map.  But, it made me a better cook, throwing together a little of this and that to see what you get, trying new things, and not being afraid....because you could walk down the street and buy more ingredients, and try again. 

Here I'm a little more afraid, because shopping is chore.  You can't walk anywhere, you have to drive. Since we don't have our truck yet, and I can't drive Aaron's work vehicle, I have to wait for him, or a friend.  You have to hope the store(s) you want to go to are open, especially now that Ramadan is approaching.  To get the items on your list, you have to go to 2 or 3 different stores, plus the produce market (intimidating) or stand, the butcher and possibly the bakery too!  It's quaint and old fashioned, but it's nuts. 

The grocery stores are nicer and better-stocked than I thought they'd be, but their inventory is very random.  One might not have sour cream, but the next one will.  The store that did not have your favorite soda now has a whole wall of it.  At this one you find flour and sugar but no spices or baking powder.  At the next store you are shocked to find mozzarella and....Pringles?  Really??

So here's what we've been eating.  Breakfast, devoid of favorites like Eggo waffles and bagels, has mostly been overpriced French cereal, fruit, yogurt (full-fat, laden with sugar, so yummy), or extremely square toast from the Canary Islands with German hazelnut spread or butter.  The baby eats eggs, which have to be washed, bleached and very well cooked before I let her touch them.  A couple mornings, Aaron has made crepes, which we let the kids fill with whatever they want.

Lunch is a problem, as we have no mac-n-cheese, no chicken nuggets, no peanut butter, no hot dogs, no lunchmeat, no cheese besides emmental (blech), none of the usual kid favorites.  So it's been pasta and sauce, or sandwiches with scary Saudi Arabian jelly, or sometimes, leftovers from dinner the day before. But usually, everyone is ravenous from their meager lunch, and every bite of dinner gets eaten, so no leftovers.

What's cookin?  Shrimp, fresh veg and couscous, mmmm

It's easy to come up with dinner ideas - chicken, fish or beef with lots of fresh vegetables, rice or couscous or baguettes (lots of those here)..... but I have to really plan ahead.  There's the shopping issue, first of all. And in the absence of frozen and convenience foods, everything has to be made from scratch.  There isn't even any boneless/skinless chicken, which means we are constantly roasting whole chickens and hacking them apart.  The produce and eggs all have to be washed then soaked in bleach water.  We have to make our own ice cream, for Pete's sake. It's like living in 1890.  Next the country will run out of butter and we'll have to buy a churn!

I shouldn't complain. We're not starving. We're forced to spend time together in the kitchen, and I know we're eating healthier.  But I can't wait to get back to my familiar recipes, plus aisles and aisles of everything I need in one big grocery store. 

Nick helping with dinner