A Drop in the Ocean: Food

So, finally, I have gotten around to posting a bit about Senegalese food (sorry it took so long mom!)
These pictures are from a couple days at my homestay site in Nguekhokh. My sisters take turns cooking and they are amazing cooks. This is some of the best traditional food you will get in Senegal.

First of all, my family is wonderful about hygiene and everyone washes their hands with soap before eating, as shown in the picture (remember there are no sinks here).

Breakfast:
Fati makes coffee with three times as much sugar as nescafe instant powder, then adds powered milk. We have bread delivered to the house in the most adorable vintage bread truck.

Lunch:

I am very very lucky to have a lot of variety in my lunches. The most typical Senegalese dish is fish and rice (marro e liddi) and most people have it every day. It is good, especially if the cook is good, but can get old if you have it every day.

My family also cooks rice with a peanut butter-y sauce or a tomato-y sauce, with fish and potatoes, called maafe. This is one of my favorite dishes-

onion sauce with fish balls (maafe soble e boulettes liddi)

Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and typically the only chance to get vegetables.

Dinner:

Dinner in my house is different than other Senegalese households because as Pulaars, we are herders who drink many milk products. I love milk (another reason Senegal is perfect for me) and dinner is my favorite meal with my family.

This is an amazing soupy dinner food made from a sour type of yogurt-milk, sugar, and flour balls. Its my favorite food in Senegal.

There is also a dish called lacciri and cosum, not pictured, which is a sandy grain like tiny grape nuts served with milk and sugar (how could you have a meal without sugar, really)

This is actually one of the non-milk dinners we have. Its a sticky rice made with beans and it has a puddle of oil for dipping in the middle. This can also be a lunch dish.