Our running joke is that pretty much everything we Americans cook or eat in Zim has one common ingredient: substitutions. We eat squash pie for Thanksgiving. Put sadza in our (brittle) cornbread. And make s'mores with tea biscuits.
There is almost nothing we make in our household that does not have some form of substitution. Here are some items that are very difficult to find:
Chocolate chips: You've heard of the superiority of European chocolate, and how American chocolate is sub-par and too waxy. Meet the lowest of them all: African chocolate. Most often chocolate here is inconsistent at best. Baking chocolate will sometimes melt and sometimes harden. It is extremely expensive. And there are mystery ingredients that make it often taste more like a fudge-cicle than a piece of chocolate. And actual, proper chocolate chips are still impossible to find. The one chocolaty exception? A specialty store in the Northern Suburbs of Harare that carries Belgian chocolates... One dollar per tiny piece, but sooo delicious.
Limes: Almost unknown here. Most locals I have spoken to have never tasted lime. This blows my mind, as lemons are available year-round by the truck-full, and because lime is one of my favorite flavors to put into a variety of things, from pancakes to pies. So many avocados here, but no limes? Some might call that downright torture.
Corn flower/Corn flour: Here "corn flower" means cauliflower. "Corn Flour" is what Americans call corn starch. Confusing? Yes. And want cornmeal? You're out of luck. No such thing. Buy some mealiepap and do your best!
Corn chips: Non existent. This blows my mind in a country brimming with corn. But here all corn is used for the favorite comfort dish, also known as the national dish of Zimbabwe: sadza. The closest thing we Americans have to tortilla chips/corn chips is a thing that looks like a tortilla called a "rotie." We cut them in four pieces, bake them for a little while, and they harden into flour chips. No corn chips in a country full of avocados and salsa ingredients?? Insanity!
Guacamole: Lovingly called "avos" here, avocados are so prevalent that if you buy an avocado at the grocery store, you need more friends. These trees are so prolific, one friend's good avocado tree can supply at least twelve families with avos for a year! Still, few know how to make guacomole here. My staff asked me to teach them how to make it, as most avos here are only used at breakfast, mashed on a piece of toast. The food available in this country looks so very similar to that available in Mexico... yet it is amazing how different cultures evolve and produce their own uses for food!
Sweet Potatoes: Sweet potatoes in Africa are an entirely different beast than those in North America. My child has gone from loving them to hating them. Sweet potatoes in Zim are a starchy white potato that can literally be well over a foot long and hard as a rock. Even when cooked for a long amount of time, these mushy monsters still maintain a dry, almost chalky texture. Save your butter and ketchup for something else- these sweet potatoes offer little to the palate, let alone anything sweet!
Cheese: There are three basic kinds of cheese in our country. Feta (very mild here-yum), mozarella (never fresh or very tasty, but always non-offensive), and gouda. Pronounced gow-dah, this cheese comes in every shape, size, color, and flavor. (Though none of it tastes like the gouda we eat in America.) What I wouldn't give for a little swiss cheese on a sandwich or some fresh mozarella to go with the plethora of tomatoes and basil in this country... Here is Jonas' favorite gouda, which I liken to cardboard and feet. Do take note of the description:
Stay tuned for more on food this week...