Food

Food Last Thursday, at the dinner table, my host Mama was in a playful mood and told me that I was a Beninois. I asked her why and she said it was because I always finished my food, with frenzy. Food is a important aspect of my integration in Benin at this moment in particular because it is nonverbal. In a visceral way, it is my most direct engagement with the way of life. But Dinner is also an opportunity to engage with the verbal world. The table is a good place for conversation. I want to take some space and describe some of the food here in Benin.
 Breakfast At 4hrs, the venduse begin selling their bread, door to door. The Beninese like their bread fresh. Colonization has left its mark in the taste of the Beninese. The bread of choice is the baguette. And because there is limited resources for food preservation and subsequently transportation every neighborhood has their own bakery. And all the bread is still warm and soft when the venduse walks into your concession for your breakfast. Breakfast is much the same. I eat bread with eggs and coffee. Sometimes the eggs have vegetables, pimentos and tomatoes and onions. Sometimes the eggs are scrambled and others boiled. The coffee is instant but good. A small cultural difference: in our house we drink coffee and tea out of bowls, wine out of glasses Last week, I had to go to my language class early. My host mama had not yet got up because she was sick.( another cultural note: in Benin it is okay to wake someone up whenever. There is some deep cultural programing within me that has yet allowed me to do this.) Instead, on my way to class, I bought six baignets from a bonne mama. Mamas are informal entrepreneurs who sell goods on the side of the road and corners. Mama Baignet fries small balls of sweet dough in a giant iron skillet full of oil over fire. They are delightful.
 Lunch If I am at Songhai, I go to the same bonne mama every time. I like to get beans and rice or attasi with a hard boiled egg or a piece of fish. She also has the classic Beninese sauce rouge which is made with tomatoes, piments, garlic, onions, palm oil and fish. My plate is always sprinkled with gari. Gari is made from the akasa root. It is a savory, crunchy, versatile flour. Imagine parmesan cheese except made from potato chips. I go there every time for a couple reasons. I know what I am getting, and a little bit of predictability is nice. Also, the mama smiles and knows what I like. I want to support her and it is an opportunity to build a relationship. Commerce in Benin is still a mixture of different modes of life. Benin has not divided the day into "work first, socialization later''. Unlike the west, the agora has not been reduced to mere consumption. But rather there is a robust social exchange. I have learned a lot of French and met a lot of my neighbours just by buying a pineapple and chatting with mama florent.
 Dinner My first dinner with my host family was with my brother. We had fried chicken in plain pasta with soda. This is the same thing any 20 something would make. I was worried at first that this would be the standard fare. Thankfully, I have had many more meals. The most distinctly Beninese meal that comes to mind is pâte with sauce rouge and fish. Pâte is a congealed starch made with various flours, mill, maize, riz, soja. It is boiled and then whipped vigorously with a wooden spatula. The sauce rouge is the same as the mama. One eats with their hands. My host mama told me that it is the only way to ingest the essence of the food, by bringing your fingers to your lips. One grabs a little piece of pate, dip it in the sauce, and enjoy. Other meals of note: beans with fried plantains, fried fish + pineapples and red wine for dessert ,A lot of rice ,Pasta with tomatoes and hardboiled egg, goat stew with potatoes and carrots, Boiled yams with bean sauce
 Bonne cuisine from Benin!