Rockin' Pizza
Second night we went to the Mellow Mushroom on Broadway Street. The pizza is more deep pan, but the toppings and sauce are delicious, I went for the Kosmic Karma pizza which had spinach, feta and pesto - really wonderful. Unfortunately it was raining when we went so couldn't sit out on the terrace, this would've been preferable as we found it a bit too loud inside.
Food with a View
For a dinner with oodles of atmosphere you can't beat the Grove Park Inn. Nestled in the mountains just outside of Asheville the views are truly spectacular. We ate on the Sunset Terrace which has an a la carte menu of steaks, duck, seafood and more. We opted for their 3 course for $30 with mussels to start followed by steak diane and cheesecake for dessert. Everything was perfectly cooked and with perfect seasoning, and considering the views, this is an excellent bargain.
Breakfast
We ate breakfast at 3 different places, all great.
Over Easy Cafe on Walnut Street
West End Bakery on Haywood, West Asheville
Chorizo on Page Avenue - by far our favourite, service was a little 'relaxed' but food well worth the wait. Tortillas with eggs, thick pieces of bacon, chutney, guacamole, cilantro-fragrant salsa. Heaven.
On to the charming and quirky city of Wilmington and a lunch of catfish, grits and collard greens. I love all green vegetables and so collards are a great find. I was surprised at how much I loved the grits too which were creamy and mellow and soaked up the sauce of the fish beautifully.
Moving back to Zambia has had many challenges (failing to find decent cheese being one of my biggest). Due to the vicious visa circle of not having a work permit and not having a job to sponsor because I don't have a work permit, I am 'enjoying' an extended break. I have found it difficult not to feel lazy because my husband is the only one earning, but have to accept that many people would kill for the opportunity to take some time off.
Instead of moping, I am using the time to develop my cooking and crafting skills. So far I have been decorating our house (see my blog: For the Love of) and working on new recipes so that my breadwinning husband is well fed – and myself too of course!
I have become addicted to the food programs that are on all day on TV and I have been researching and trying pick up new tips and ideas for using local ingredients. After some exploring I have found fresh herbs, great vegetables and fruit, spices and meat all plentiful and nearby. My search for cheese that is good and not hideously expensive continues.
My first project is to develop a method for making delicious ice-cream using local ingredients. So stay tuned for the results.
Although maize is the staple in Zambia, rice is also cultivated here in places like Chama and Mongu, where they get more rain. I love the local rice, it is very fragrant and quite sticky. I know I should eat brown, and I do quite often, but white is still my favourite.
The rice here is packaged and shipped in less time so still is full of taste and fragrance when it's cooked.
By simply salting the water when it comes to the boil the rice becomes wonderfully fragrant and tasty, but here's another way of serving rice, especially if you find your rice is lacking in deptrh. Luckily, most lemons bought here are not waxed – thank goodness, but if you're buying from a supermarket, make sure they are unwaxed. If you're not sure run your nail firmly along the skin without piercing it to see if you can gather any of the wax or not.
This makes enough for about 3 – 4 people and is really good with fajitas or chili con carne
To cook the rice, either rinse the grains first if you don't like your rice too sticky – until the water is clear
Add the rice to the pan with twice the amount of water.
Bring to the boil. Add salt – half a teaspoon or thereabouts as well as the coriander and lemon rind.
Stir once with a fork then cover and turn off the heat
Wait for rice to absorb all the water.
Check for seasoning and serve.
*Try also adding dried rosemary to the water when cooking, about 2 teaspoons*
It's funny the things you find in supermarkets here. You cannot imagine how excited I was to find orecchiette. For those of you unfamiliar, this is a type of pasta native to the Puglia region of southern Italy and means 'little ears'. It's quite a dense and creamy pasta when cooked and is traditionally served with broccoli sprouts or 'cime di rapa'.
Cime di rapa isn't available here, but another, similar green vegetable 'rape' is. As you can see, it's a lot like spring greens or kale. It has an irony, mustardy taste and is a common dish here. You can use in salads as well, though I doubt many Zambians ever eat it raw.
For this quick pasta dish, simply cook the orecchiette in lots of well-salted water while you fry a little garlic in oil (preferably olive). Add to this a finely sliced tomato (I use a cheese grater) which you fry until it starts to soften, then add a good handful of slice rape – it shrinks like spinach so add quite a bit, season with salt. Wilt in the pan, conserve some of the water from the pasta to add when draining and add to the rape, you can spritz with some lemon juice for a bit of a kick, but it isn't essential. Return the pasta to the pan and add the vegetables, add pecorino or parmesan if you have it, but it's good without too. Enjoy!
Vegetables are plentiful and cheap here and I am happy to finally buy aubergines again. I didn't in the UK very often because they were expensive. Aubergines are so versatile and because of the porous flesh, are great to marinate. I marinated these slices in a store bought marinade, which was really a waste of time and should have kept to my own concoctions.
Try:
White miso paste, dashi, rice vinegar and spring onions.
Ketchup, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, honey , sesame oil and five spice powder.
Lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and parsley.
I haven't given measurements as I usually just keep adding until I get the taste I want. You can slice the aubergines lengthways and marinate them in larger slices, or cut them small like I did here. Then, either grill, roast or fry.
Mykitchen, for the moment.Coming back to Zambia has required a re-awakening of my culinary memory. A trip through the main supermarket here revealed what I had forgotten: if you want Western food, be prepared to pay Western prices. Tinned goods, which in the UK are seen as basics are luxuries here, a tin of tomatoes costs over £1 as opposed to as little as 9p back home. So we need to reassess our eating habits a little, pasta, rice and potatoes are fine so that's a good base to start from.
Another problem is that we are in temporary accommodation, so as you can see from the picture, my cooking area is rather basic. I have two cooking rings but no surfaces to speak of or an oven and not cooking utensils, those soufflés and roast dinners are on hold for the moment!
My next aim is to start frequenting the 'Tuesday' market where fruits and vegetables are cheap and plentiful – so I hear. There is a large Indian-Zambian community throughout Zambia and therefore spices are plentiful and cheap as they come from neighbouring Tanzania.
When I lived here before we were not in the capital so my diet was much more traditionally Zambian, meaning – nshima, staple starch eaten here made from maize. It has little nutritional value but fills you up quite efficiently. Ironically now we are in capital, nshima is harder to come by as Lusaka is more cosmopolitan. If you do want nshima, it is quite expensive because many restaurants cater to tourists.
There is however an array of restaurants serving Western style food and also Indian and Chinese restaurants. Again though, prices are about the same as in the UK, fine if you're on an ex-pat wage, but the average Zambian wage is ...
