So you know what we have for breakfast in Canada, right? Eggs, toast, bacon, waffles, pancakes… Pancakes. That’s what we made on our first morning in Mwanza. Or at least, that’s what Kenzie tried to make. I mean, we were hungry, and the boys weren’t up yet, so of course, we were going to cook. In our heads: pancakes were filling, pancakes were great – but most importantly, pancakes were easy to make. All we needed was water, eggs and flour. And what we found was water, eggs and… something that looked and smelled like flour. If I remember correctly, I actually smelled it, and I was 90% sure it was flour from the smell. So we made them – after all, why not try something?
The next challenge was turning on the stove. We didn’t know how to turn on a gas stove. But good thing Thomas, the Tanzanian exchange student who went to Ivey the past semester, came to our rescue by arriving at our house just in time. Now we could finish making all of the pancakes – and we were actually pretty excited to eat them. Then, the real challenge came upon us: actually eating the pancakes. They weren’t made of wheat flour, no, instead, we had confused wheat flour with corn flour and the results were very dry and floury pancakes that had no taste. But they were still okay with the jam and peanut butter we found in the fridge. Lesson learned, no kidding!!
But that day did include a great meal on campus at Café Mama Rey. We had rice, beef, cabbage and celery stirfry, and the star of the meal: chips mayai. How should I describe chips mayai? I think it’s a pre-folded omelet, without as much salt and pepper than we would add on a western omelet. This omelet has nothing except grilled potatoes and eggs (of course). Very simple. Almost amazingly simple. It was served with hot sauce and tomato sauce – but I just ate it on its own (I like to taste natural flavours of food anyway – and they weren’t too bland – and I don’t believe in Ketchup with eggs; that’s just gross).
What I’ve discovered since then is that food here in Mwanza is very simple. And simple is good but I mean, simple is hard. As my mom always says, simple is hard to pull off. There are fewer ingredients to hide behind than in a complicated dish served at a high-class French restaurant. Not that those dishes don’t have their challenges – it’s definitely hard to balance different spices and ingredients, but there is undoubtedly a simpleness to Tanzanian cooking that I like. And it just shows exactly how stripping down to the basics does not necessarily mean bland and tasteless food as most people think. But at the same time, basics doesn’t have to be as over-complicated as a raw or vegan diet.
I think these raw or vegan diets are great (and I definitely like the cuisine innovations that have happened from both of these diets – like raw zucchini noodles), but they separate us. They distinguish who is who and further group us into our own niches. Are we pesci-vegetarian? Full-on vegetarian? Vegan? Raw? How are we supposed to all eat at one table when everyone has these different self-chosen diets? And as we come up with more peculiar diets, will we become even more separated into our own groups?
Food can bring us together. I mean, for me, for the Chinese culture, sitting together and sharing a meal is important. Food is meant to be shared. But how can we share when everyone needs to eat something different? There are no restrictions here. Everyone eats the same food, and so there are no restrictions on who can join the table, because everyone can eat the things that are on the table. I respect those who have strict diets and adhere to them, and I understand that gluten-free is for health reasons, and most of these diets are for health reasons, but I fail to see how they will maintain our society, because something as simple as the food we eat everyday might just slowly drive us apart.