Blog 4. Food

I have tried so many different types of food (or as the locals call it “chop”), already on my short stay in Sierra Leone it is hard to judge what has been my favourite so far.

At first I struggled with some of the African dishes such as Cassava Leaf with rice, Ponkey Ponkey with rice, Groundnut Stew with rice and spicy chicken with can you guess………. Plantain.

But with feeling so hungry at the end of the day I have made sure to keep eating regularly and along with 4 packets of water I have been able to enjoy the food.

When we stayed at TribeWanted we had fresh fish every day, caught by the local fishermen and that was beautiful, along with oisters, chips and a variety of sauces, there were so many delicious new tastes to enjoy.

At the house we have a cook named Fatmata who lives next door to us, she cooks for us 6 days and week, usually with all of her extended family helping her. I have never known anyone who can make so many different types of rice!

Breakfast is lovely. Fresh bread brought to the house every morning, we tend to fill it with ‘laughing cow’ cheese (main source of calcium here) and rinse it down with a cup of tea and sometimes a selection of local fruit like mango’s, pineapple or banana’s.

As a special treat Fatmata sometimes makes us omelettes, which are delicious!

Through the day I tend not to eat as much or if I do, I eat at the ClubHouse (Street Child’s restaurant) where they do a selection of Western dishes like a Full English brekkie or we go to a place called Global, summed up as cheap and cheerful.

If I am really daring I visit some of the local stalls selling ‘meat? Shawarma’ (I use a question mark as I am unsure of what kind of meat) chicken skewers, bread, fruit or their version of sweets/ cakes. All very good but I am missing two of my best friends, Ben and Jerry’s!