This is my favourite meal of the day. And mainly because I get to eat at the various
local ‘restaurants’ where the food is just fantastic! I can probably eat ful masri fi jibna* every
day- and to be honest, I almost do.
(Ful masri is (Egyptian) fava beans, boiled, chop onions and
tomatoes- and sometimes mint – onto it, add jibna- which is a local cheese
–well, from the North- and a lot of oil – supposed to be olive oil, but what I
have is usually any cooking oil- eaten with bread. It’s supposed to be a
breakfast meal- I never get tired of eating it.
I see cholesterol problems in my future, lol.) Salata Asuat (eggplant salad)- is another
favourite that I eat with bread. I usually have it as a side dish.
I also enjoy the local greens, for example Malakwang
(hibiscus leaves) cooked with peanut butter paste, or Nyete (soya bean leaves)-
also cooked with peanut butter, kudhra (how do I describe kudhra?) and bhamia
(okra) - something else I can eat every day. These veggies I eat with kisra. (which
looks like Ethiopian anjeera.) I tried a hand at making kisra the other day and
its harder than it looks- at least getting it as flat as possible. Oh, in the
South, we layer the cooking pan with cow brain- to prevent it from sticking to
the pan. Now that is some nasty looking ish, but its all about the end
result, I guess!
The best part, though? Being able to get fresh fish at any
and all restaurants-I tend to eat whole(deep fried) fish even though I still
can’t bring myself to eat the head. (Some things are not meant to be eaten,
dammit). But ialso like to eat smoked fish (yes cooked with peanut butter - or
as they say here ‘pasted’)
I need to start taking pictures of my food. And also I need
to start rating these restaurants, though the ones that are nothing but
rakuba’s (little shacks) usually don’t have names.
Thus far, there’s Mama
Zahra- which a friend calls the McDonald’s of Juba- since there are 3 Mama
Zahras in Juba- our first franchise!
(I go to the one in Juba town- which was the first and remains the most popular. Whenever discussions of moving the capital to Ramciel come up, someone inevitably mentions that we’ll have to make sure Mama Zahra is given a stake there since she feeds most of us ‘government’ workers- otherwise there’s no way some of us will leave Juba.)
I also go to Sisters- run by a catholic missionary -bringing up bad memories of high school- but fantastic food nonetheless. I have malakwang here- and the fried fish competes with Zahra's for the spot of 'best in Juba!'. They also run a kindergarten beside the restaurant which has been here since… at least the 70s, I think. One of my colleagues was in kindergarten here.
And today I went to Suzan’s- which is opposite Juba Teaching Hospital. I hadn’t been there in over a year and as soon as a I walked in a few weeks ago- the lady behind the counter recognized me and was like, ‘where have you been??. Nothing like good customer service!
(I go to the one in Juba town- which was the first and remains the most popular. Whenever discussions of moving the capital to Ramciel come up, someone inevitably mentions that we’ll have to make sure Mama Zahra is given a stake there since she feeds most of us ‘government’ workers- otherwise there’s no way some of us will leave Juba.)
I also go to Sisters- run by a catholic missionary -bringing up bad memories of high school- but fantastic food nonetheless. I have malakwang here- and the fried fish competes with Zahra's for the spot of 'best in Juba!'. They also run a kindergarten beside the restaurant which has been here since… at least the 70s, I think. One of my colleagues was in kindergarten here.
And today I went to Suzan’s- which is opposite Juba Teaching Hospital. I hadn’t been there in over a year and as soon as a I walked in a few weeks ago- the lady behind the counter recognized me and was like, ‘where have you been??. Nothing like good customer service!
You can probably tell that the food in Juba is heavily
influenced by the North. Otherwise our food is rather plain in most places,
e.g ... what I vividly remember – from
the 3 months I spent in Rumbek -is the cuddled milk- which takes some getting used
to- and once they told me its sterilized by adding a bit of cow urine… well. The food? not so much.
More soon! And I need
to start taking pictures.
Mama Zahra article
Ful masri – fava beans
Jibna – ‘local’ cheese –i.e. from Khartoum
Malakwang- hibiscus leaves
Kudra- a green vegetable that has a kind of slimy texture
but tastes great
Nyete – soy leaves
Bhamia- okra/ ladies fingers
