Cuisine Crusade

We eat lunch together everyday at HOPE Africa. Sometimes people will bring food from home and sometimes we pitch in to purchase something from the bakery down the street. There is usually a mix-matched buffet of delicacies to partake of. A couple of weeks ago at one such meal my co-workers asked me if I had tired a number of certain local delicacies yet. After confessing that I had not tried any of the fare they mentioned, we decided that I should make a list of South African cuisine to taste during my tenure in the Rainbow Nation.

The list contains a plethora of items including fruit, desserts, meats, and beverages. It includes everything from “Amarula,” a cream liqueur made from fruit of the African Marula tree to “smilies,” a roasted sheep’s head that appears to smile up at its diner. As you can see, the list is extensive!

To get me started on this expansive project, Richenda, one of my co-workers, took me to a pizza joint called Panarotti’s last week to feast on pizza with South African toppings. Panarotti’s produced your typical toppings such as ham and pineapple and four cheese and it boasted some less mainstream (for me) ingredients as well. To my surprise I found myself thoroughly enjoying slices of avocado, banana, and bacon pizza. Lip-smackingly sweet and savory!

Yummy avo pizza!

This week my horizons were broadened even more… Monday morning I was sitting at my desk in the HOPE Africa offices when Pury, one of my co-workers, arrived to begin the workday. She entered my office to greet me and told me she had something for me. She unstrapped her bag and reached inside to extract a tupperware container. She removed the opaque lid to reveal a number of chicken feet! In the early stages of my South African delicacies list, Pury had enthusiastically affirmed that chicken feet should be added; she then volunteered to make the dish for me. I stared at the heaped pile of chicken talons complete with hooked nails with mixed feelings of astonishment, apprehension and adventurousness!

Nervous smile...

When lunchtime rolled around at HOPE Africa I selected one of the chicken feet and observed the intricacies of the avian talon. Thin dark veins traced their way down each toe. Tiny nails capped each of the four toes. The bottom of the claw had minute rounded pads used in life to help the chicken grip the ground. Examining the small foot’s details was a mistake as it racked my mind with tenuous thoughts… but I told myself, mind over matter. I licked my dry lips and raised the foot to my mouth. Grease dribbled down my fingers as I took an exploratory nibble. My teeth ripped through skin and gristle and I tasted the salt and onion the foot was boiled in. I rotated the meager meat in my mouth and swallowed it down with gulps of water. Despite endless teasing from my co-workers I could not finish the foot but chose rather to top my small taste of chicken foot off with an avocado sandwich!

I think the next fare I’ll try from my list might be something a bit less adventurous. Perhaps a nice chocolaty dessert!