what’s to eat #25
Saturday’s lunch at a training for Malian doctors, by three foreign epidemiologists, put on at the Centre Aoua Keita in Bamako: Chebjen (aka Ceebu Jën, or Thiéboudienne) Red rice, fried fish, and an assortment of vegetables.
All posts tagged: expat
on miracles
How do you like your miracles? Grandiose? Sweeping? Brazen? Secret? Hushed? Hidden away? Noisy, with puffs of smoke and flashes of light? Or earthy, humble, even sensual? i’ll tell you: i prefer the latter. I prefer the miracles you can touch, taste and get inside of, over the spectacular ones you only hear about. Yesterday, I came upon a miracle-maker. He’s friendly, down to earth, and passionate about his craft. In fact, he spends most of his time in the earth, bringing life to wonderful and long-missed aromas and flavors. He makes magic happen, and the list is long: Fresh rosemary, thyme, cilantro, flat parsley, curly parsley, sage, three varieties of basil, scallions, chives, arugula (!) … and fronds of fennel silky enough to coax superlatives from your lips. He’s got lavender, citronella, three types of mint, and more and more and more. I stood in his field, jaw hanging, enjoying an olfactory adventure I hadn’t known for years as he handed me leaf after leaf to inhale. This is my kind of miracle; this is my brand of …
on perfection (and indigo)
Did you know that you’re perfect ? In case you needed to hear it … Not perfect like that. Not in the ways you wish for when no one’s looking. Not in the ways that nibble at your edges and wear them down sometimes. You’re perfect in the sense of whole. Full. Complete. Enough. You’re perfect like a stretch of indigo cloth: nobody is looking at those few ragged threads, and faded fibers have character. But the long view, the full view, the ensemble: it’s miraculous, it’s delightful, it’s perfection. And so are you. . . . Images from a Malian indigo atelier, put on by Sékou Tours. Indigo is a lesser-known Malian miracle, the little sister of Bogolan. See this beautiful article on one of Mali’s indigo stars.
on knowing a place
Last Friday marked 1.5 years since I’ve lived in Mali. Some people settle in to a new place quickly, but I like to take my time – observing, breathing it in deeply, engaging only delicately at first, slowly building a steady foundation for Living. But by now, I’ve learned a thing or two, and the arc of my life has bent in ways I didn’t know it could, to accommodate being lived out in this place. To wit, a few things I’ve picked up: – I’ve learned the neighborhood boutiques by heart, and I know which stocks flour un-infiltrated by insects, which keeps real butter, where the eggs are freshest, and where I can buy on credit if I don’t have CFA handy; -I’ve got Plans B and C vegetable stands, and I know that if one is out of cucumbers I might get lucky at the other, but if one is out of limes, there’s a high probability nobody has them; -I know the hours of the 3 fruit stands in the neighborhood, and who I can …
what’s to eat #2
Beef brochettes – some of the best in Mali! At Hotel l’Auberge in Ségou: great food, kind staff, great location– and delicious honey for sale!
on a dance
Last weekend we rose before the sun in Bamako, hopped on a bus in the darkness of the early hours, and arrived to the town of Ségou for Mali’s annual Festival sur le Niger. The Festival is comprised of four days of musicmusicmusic derived from the smorgasbord of cultures that thrive in Mali: from the Senegalese border to deep in the Sahara desert, from Kayes to Timbuktu. And to celebrate the magic, there was dancing to delight in. Around 6:00pm on a Friday, under a crafty pavilion, the musicians got the itch, and the dance troupe got to swinging. They swung, they swung! Until some couldn’t keep their feet on the ground, and others just could not get enough! The joy was palpable, the rhythms infections, and even the tiniest of onlookers showed great appreciation. The Festival Sur le Niger is greatly advertised throughout Mali, and event are easily found online. It’s truly an event not to be missed.
outerNotes 