Great Food. Interesting Places. Mali

Lunch simple but elegant. Sometimes stewed chicken is added. One lunch (right corner image) using chicken, egg and cucumbers was especially delightful. The seeds and centers of the cucumbers were removed prior to sauteing  with tomatoes and onions. The meat was browned and stewed with a spicy sauce and placed on the prepared vegetables. The chicken revealed an egg—hard cooked. No shell. The unlaid egg complemented the dish perfectly. One egg for the group of 5.

Sometimes a vegetarian dish was presented from local foods such as ocra, field peas, sweet potato greens on rice or millet. This meal was served on the concrete floor of the classroom used for our trainings.

On other days, a bit of meat protein was added such as fish fresh from the river though, except for the head, the meat is difficult to find in the sauce and adds mainly flavor. Notice the head floating in the red sauce.

In the villages goat or lamb meat must be slaughtered for the occasion as there is no refrigeration. In the city daily meals that include goat and lamb is more common.

Quick food, hot off the grill, purchased alongside the road. The meat, garlic and onions will be wrapped in brown paper for easy eating.

Open door restaurant and caterer. Bamako, Mali. Visit when in Bamako. Bamako Barbeque Chicken.

Catered lunch for the child herders 10 km from the village. This meal for the children is plain. White rice with no vegetables or sauce delivered in the container on the child’s head. Plain rice or maize is often the daily meal for women and children.

We spent day after day learning and eating together in one room schoolrooms, classes under the trees, and while traveling on the road. Sharing group meals is an important part of the day.