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ethnomuseBurkina doesn't really have any haute cuisine, or really much of a cuisine that includes a variety of interesting and tasty dished like I would say are par for the course in China, Thailand, and many other places in the world. The food here is pretty much tô and sauce, tô and sauce, perhaps some rice and sauce (a change, the sauces are different, and I will admit to liking a good peanut sauce with lots of veggies), oh, and then there's breakfast which could be tea/coffee and bread (often a slightly old chunk of white bread, tea/coffee and beignes, bouille (a thin gruel/porridge) of assorted varieties. Oh, and if you are in the city, you might get an omelet to have along with your bread and coffee. Coffee being of the instant nescafe variety, and typically doctored with a lot of sugar, and milk if you have it. The rather sweet tea for breakfast (milk if available, but often not at my village hosts) is not usually called thé, as that term (as in "on va prendre du thé) seems to be reserved for the ritual tea ceremony (ritual as in repetitive and ritualized actions, rather than anything religious) and accompanying conversation. For breakfast or coffee break, tea is either called lipton for the most common brand name, or simple referred to as café as well. Chicoré is another option, which is also typically refered to as coffee, even though it has no caffeine at all.
But I don't want to spend my time discussing drinks, because there are actually quite a few. Perhaps that's where the "cuisine" is located? The actual impetus for this post is a discussion that vegetarians may want to skip, as I thought I would write about meat. Much as meat is not as common in people's diets here in the village (I'm guessing mostly due to financial issues, but I wonder about the lack of protein, as there is minimal vegetable protein eaten as well, some beans, at times peanuts. A very little bit of dairy.). Nonetheless, the village is where I think I have eaten all the odd types of meat that are not part of your typical North American diet. I'm not talking here about pork, chicken, beef, or even goat (all of which I have eaten in the village as well, except for the beef, but I've had that in the city), but the unusual, the non-domesticated animals. (Actually, I think I need to alter my statement slightly, because it was in Orodara that I tried the dried caterpillars in sauce, and after that particular experiment, decided they were not for me and declined them when given the option here in Samogohiri.)
So here's the question for you, which of the following animals has Cari eaten in Samogohiri during this current trip to Burkina Faso?
a) termites
b) locust
c) snake
d) capitaine (a kind of fish)
e) catfish
f) rat voleur (a type of rodent)
g) mouse
h) rabbit
i) monkey
j) antelope
k) hippopotamus
l) pintade (a type of guinea fowl, these are actually domesticated, but they aren't commonly N. Am domesticated)
m) pidgeon
n) owl
And the answers:
a) Nope. Not on this trip, although I did eat all of two (thus the ability to use the plural and say "I've eaten termites) toasted termites back when I was here in 2000/2001. It was at the guest house, and it was their season for flying all over the place (they had wings, at least at that point in their cycle) and the guards caught some in water traps and toasted them. They had a slightly nutty flavor, but I didn't appreciate the legs.
b) Nope. Although Biema caught a rather large one yesterday or the day before, and broke off its wings and part of its legs before giving it to Ema (still alive...I couldn't watch) so that he could cook it and eat it. I'm not sure what exactly happened to it, as I was headed off to an interview.
c) Nope. The snake was a year and a half ago. Yakou or Luki had caught it, and skinned it, roasted it a bit, and cooked it in some sauce. I had a very little taste. That snake at least had a rather fish-like white flaky meat.
d) Nope. Although I have eaten capitaine, its only been in the city.
e) Yes. Good guess. Dried catfish (or other dried fish, powdered & put in the sauce), small ones, are perhaps the most common source of animal protein here in Samogohiri. They are usually fairly small, curled around, and are rinsed & cooked in a sauce. They are eaten skin and all, although I usually spit out the fins and larger bones. I also break off the heads and either leave them in the sauce, or offer them to someone else who appreciates them more than I do – mine being slim to none.
f) Well, these aren't ROOS's, but they are strange looking critters. I think I've had them most frequently among the wild meats, both from women wandering through the village selling pre-cooked pieces (which Jeneba then reheats in a sauce of her own) as well as the times that Biema has come home from the fields with one or two that he as caught. They aren't very large, but they do have a certain charm. With the animal killed by having its throat slit after being stunned, one of the boys typically removes the fur, burns off the rest, and roasts the skin slightly before removing the innards (which may then be eaten by the chickens) and roasting it some more which keeps the flies from being overly attracted. Then when its time to prepare, the carcass is cut into pieces, and Jeneba makes a sauce. Meat is often shared around at the end of the meal, with Biema and Jeneba portioning it out to those eating.
g) Nope. Although the kids have sometimes caught them in the kitchen, and then prepared similar to the rat voleur only roasted and eaten right away.
h) Yes. After the rat voleur, rabbit pieces seem to be the most common wild meat that I've had here in the village. Typically I've purchased it pre-cooked, from women who likely bought it from a hunter.
i) Nope. No monkey for me. I'm not sure if there really are some in the area. Monkey meat always makes me think of our baby monkey, named George of course, which we bought from some hunters in the Congo. He was so small, and unweaned, but they'd been trying to feed him mashed banana and bidiya (similar to tô but make from manioc) and we felt sorry for him. I think that there was an adult monkey's tail hanging from one of the hunter's belts. They'd likely eaten the mother.
j) Nope. I think I've had some kind of antelope-like bush meat on this trip, but it was out with a missionary family in Tin.
k) Nope. I have had hippo meat (very tough, even when cooked in a pressure cooker within an inch of its life, or non-life as the case may be), but that was in Congo. There had been a hippo in the area that left the river and was messing around in people's gardens, so they ended up having to kill it. We were driving by as they were butchering the huge animal, and since they were still at it on our return trip, my parents purchased a bit of the meat so that we could try it. I don't really have a strong desire to try it again.
l) Nope. Not in the village at least. Again this is something I've had, but at restaurants in Bobo or Ouaga.
m) Nope. I was actually just looking for a placeholder for this one.
n) Yup. This past Monday, actually, and it was the impetus for this post. Biema was out in the fields on Sunday afternoon, and saw it walking along. He threw his daba (a type of hoe) and either stunned it and then broke its wing(s), or managed to break a wing with the hoe. I saw it last night when he brought it back, and I'm hoping it was already dead by the time he was waving it around at me. I was on my way to having my shower, and by the time I was done, Luki was just finishing plucking its feathers and had been grilling it over the evening fire. For your information, lacking the feathers, owls are actually rather small, with an overly large head. They then chopped off the head and feet (placing feet in the head, and tossing it all in the fire, causing Korotoum who was visiting to noticeably startle when the eyes popped from the flames) and cut it into pieces for their mother to watch and cook in a sauce for lunch today. So today we ended the meal with various children and adults sucking the last of the juices off the bones, before the chickens attacked the last little bits.
How many did you get right? Got any interesting food stories of your own?
But I don't want to spend my time discussing drinks, because there are actually quite a few. Perhaps that's where the "cuisine" is located? The actual impetus for this post is a discussion that vegetarians may want to skip, as I thought I would write about meat. Much as meat is not as common in people's diets here in the village (I'm guessing mostly due to financial issues, but I wonder about the lack of protein, as there is minimal vegetable protein eaten as well, some beans, at times peanuts. A very little bit of dairy.). Nonetheless, the village is where I think I have eaten all the odd types of meat that are not part of your typical North American diet. I'm not talking here about pork, chicken, beef, or even goat (all of which I have eaten in the village as well, except for the beef, but I've had that in the city), but the unusual, the non-domesticated animals. (Actually, I think I need to alter my statement slightly, because it was in Orodara that I tried the dried caterpillars in sauce, and after that particular experiment, decided they were not for me and declined them when given the option here in Samogohiri.)
So here's the question for you, which of the following animals has Cari eaten in Samogohiri during this current trip to Burkina Faso?
a) termites
b) locust
c) snake
d) capitaine (a kind of fish)
e) catfish
f) rat voleur (a type of rodent)
g) mouse
h) rabbit
i) monkey
j) antelope
k) hippopotamus
l) pintade (a type of guinea fowl, these are actually domesticated, but they aren't commonly N. Am domesticated)
m) pidgeon
n) owl
And the answers:
a) Nope. Not on this trip, although I did eat all of two (thus the ability to use the plural and say "I've eaten termites) toasted termites back when I was here in 2000/2001. It was at the guest house, and it was their season for flying all over the place (they had wings, at least at that point in their cycle) and the guards caught some in water traps and toasted them. They had a slightly nutty flavor, but I didn't appreciate the legs.
b) Nope. Although Biema caught a rather large one yesterday or the day before, and broke off its wings and part of its legs before giving it to Ema (still alive...I couldn't watch) so that he could cook it and eat it. I'm not sure what exactly happened to it, as I was headed off to an interview.
c) Nope. The snake was a year and a half ago. Yakou or Luki had caught it, and skinned it, roasted it a bit, and cooked it in some sauce. I had a very little taste. That snake at least had a rather fish-like white flaky meat.
d) Nope. Although I have eaten capitaine, its only been in the city.
e) Yes. Good guess. Dried catfish (or other dried fish, powdered & put in the sauce), small ones, are perhaps the most common source of animal protein here in Samogohiri. They are usually fairly small, curled around, and are rinsed & cooked in a sauce. They are eaten skin and all, although I usually spit out the fins and larger bones. I also break off the heads and either leave them in the sauce, or offer them to someone else who appreciates them more than I do – mine being slim to none.
f) Well, these aren't ROOS's, but they are strange looking critters. I think I've had them most frequently among the wild meats, both from women wandering through the village selling pre-cooked pieces (which Jeneba then reheats in a sauce of her own) as well as the times that Biema has come home from the fields with one or two that he as caught. They aren't very large, but they do have a certain charm. With the animal killed by having its throat slit after being stunned, one of the boys typically removes the fur, burns off the rest, and roasts the skin slightly before removing the innards (which may then be eaten by the chickens) and roasting it some more which keeps the flies from being overly attracted. Then when its time to prepare, the carcass is cut into pieces, and Jeneba makes a sauce. Meat is often shared around at the end of the meal, with Biema and Jeneba portioning it out to those eating.
g) Nope. Although the kids have sometimes caught them in the kitchen, and then prepared similar to the rat voleur only roasted and eaten right away.
h) Yes. After the rat voleur, rabbit pieces seem to be the most common wild meat that I've had here in the village. Typically I've purchased it pre-cooked, from women who likely bought it from a hunter.
i) Nope. No monkey for me. I'm not sure if there really are some in the area. Monkey meat always makes me think of our baby monkey, named George of course, which we bought from some hunters in the Congo. He was so small, and unweaned, but they'd been trying to feed him mashed banana and bidiya (similar to tô but make from manioc) and we felt sorry for him. I think that there was an adult monkey's tail hanging from one of the hunter's belts. They'd likely eaten the mother.
j) Nope. I think I've had some kind of antelope-like bush meat on this trip, but it was out with a missionary family in Tin.
k) Nope. I have had hippo meat (very tough, even when cooked in a pressure cooker within an inch of its life, or non-life as the case may be), but that was in Congo. There had been a hippo in the area that left the river and was messing around in people's gardens, so they ended up having to kill it. We were driving by as they were butchering the huge animal, and since they were still at it on our return trip, my parents purchased a bit of the meat so that we could try it. I don't really have a strong desire to try it again.
l) Nope. Not in the village at least. Again this is something I've had, but at restaurants in Bobo or Ouaga.
m) Nope. I was actually just looking for a placeholder for this one.
n) Yup. This past Monday, actually, and it was the impetus for this post. Biema was out in the fields on Sunday afternoon, and saw it walking along. He threw his daba (a type of hoe) and either stunned it and then broke its wing(s), or managed to break a wing with the hoe. I saw it last night when he brought it back, and I'm hoping it was already dead by the time he was waving it around at me. I was on my way to having my shower, and by the time I was done, Luki was just finishing plucking its feathers and had been grilling it over the evening fire. For your information, lacking the feathers, owls are actually rather small, with an overly large head. They then chopped off the head and feet (placing feet in the head, and tossing it all in the fire, causing Korotoum who was visiting to noticeably startle when the eyes popped from the flames) and cut it into pieces for their mother to watch and cook in a sauce for lunch today. So today we ended the meal with various children and adults sucking the last of the juices off the bones, before the chickens attacked the last little bits.
How many did you get right? Got any interesting food stories of your own?
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Date: 2014-02-11 06:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-22 11:51 pm (UTC)I can't imagine trying to catch an owl - I'd be too scared of being outsmarted!