The One about Food

It’s been requested that I talk about some of the food here in Lesotho and about what I’ve been eating. I’m more than happy to oblige.

Two of the main traditional dishes are papa and moroho. Papa is maize meal and water cooked over the stove (or fire) until it gets puffy and sticky. It’s all starch and next to nothing in nutrition (but it fills the belly and is cheap, and it’s easy to eat with your hands). Moroho consists of cabbage that is finely chopped and cooked over the stove with oil and, sometimes, a bullion cube. I never thought I’d like cooked cabbage but it’s actually pretty tasty.

The Basotho also seem to like their side dish salads—potato salad, coleslaw (salad), tomato and bean (salad). Everything mixed with mayo seems to be called salad. Again, I was surprised to find that how tasty they could be! Nama (meat) is somewhat expensive, but easy enough to find. Chicken is boiled or barbequed and beef is put in a stew, stir fry or barbequed. For dessert, a fruit cup or a mixture of jello and pudding seems to be the norm. These dishes are what we were served in training or what you might be served if you ordered a “plate” somewhere (you don’t go out to a restaurant to get lunch or dinner, you get a “plate”).

The high school where I teach provides the students and teachers with a lunch every day. Generally (and by that I mean every day since I’ve been there), it’s papa and a vegetable. We’ve had moroho, peas, eggs with tomato and onion, potatoes in some kind of soup-like broth, and samp, which is some kind of bland corn dish. The veg dish changes from day to day and it usually isn’t too bad. They probably cook it in a lot of oil, but I try to ignore that. I usually pack something small and have a small bit of the veggie dish (I can’t help it, it’s free food!).

As for things I can get in my village—we have four small shops that sell a variety of things. I’m lucky enough to have a Fraiser’s, which is a small chain store found all over the country. I say I’m “lucky” enough because they generally have more than the other small shops (for instance, they sell tuna, which can be hard to find at the little guys’). I shop around a bit amongst the four to find the freshest fruits and veggies. Right now I can usually find apples, tomatoes and onions and depending on the day: peppers, peaches, potatoes and plums (wow, p-city). That’s pretty much been the selection, oh and occasionally I can get carrots, so I’m trying to be creative with the concoctions I come up with. I’ve made a lot of soup. I have the feeling I’ll probably eat a lot of soup in the next two years (it’s warm, you can throw pretty much anything in there, and it tastes different every time). I haven’t eaten meat at all at site yet (unless you count tuna). I’m a little nervous to buy chicken or beef from the local stores, but I may try it eventually. I try to keep up the protein with beans, nuts, grains and eggs. There’s a lentil burger recipe in the Peace Corps Lesotho cookbook that I might try next week; it sounds pretty good!

I’ve planted some herbs in a pot outside of my house and I can not wait until they’re big enough to use; they’ve only just sprouted. I can already taste the fresh basil! I’m just hoping the cows and chickens that roam free in the neighborhood don’t get to them. My M’e said I could have a little plot in her garden so I’m planning to pick up some seeds this weekend and get to work! The garden is barb-wired in and the animals seem to stay out of it. My plan is to get some good stuff growing so I’ll have more of a variety to cook with (and also it’ll keep my food budget down and I can save up for traveling!).

South Africa is so close that Lesotho imports a lot of their packaged food (like peanut butter, cereal, pasta, tuna, chocolate, even Heinz ketcup!) and a lot of stuff is similar to what is in the US. My diet is definitely different here, but not drastically now that I’m at site and cooking for myself.

A few differences: They don’t have fresh milk here, only powdered or “long life” which is literally named for its long shelf-life. That’s been just fine because I don’t have electricity, let alone a refrigerator, so I wouldn’t be buying it anyway. One thing that I’ve been craving, oddly enough because I didn’t drink it too often at home (besides cheese, but that’s just a given), is real coffee and expresso. They only have instant here and, though it’s coffee-like, it’s definitely not the same. I’ve heard I can get a French press in Maseru and real coffee in South Africa, so I’ll have to just wait it out.

Holy cow, that’s a lot on food.