Skinny chickens and raw vegetables

Ugandan food is good. On most days during the work week, I’d walk to the back of the building next door, where a woman named Angela sells local food by the plate. For less than $1, I can get rice, potato, sweet potato, matooke (cooked banana) with ground nut sauce, posho (maize meal), beans, cooked cabbage and my choice of beef or fish. After attempting to eat some of everything in one sitting, I learned to limit myself to 3-4 items per meal. (For those of you who predicted that I would lose weight here: not bloody likely!)

The other day, Angela was serving chicken. I hadn’t had any chicken in a while, so I went for it. The chicken turned out to be very tough and sinewy, skinny, with little meat. When the bill came due, it cost more than the usual price for beef or fish! (Only about 30 cents more, but still!) A colleague later told me that Ugandans prefer “local” chickens that run free; they cost more because it takes longer for these chickens to mature to edibility. Also, chicken is considered tasty when it’s tough and chewy; that’s how the locals like it. She correctly guessed that I prefer my chicken factory-raised, hormone-injected and soft and fluffy.

Other staples in my diet: juicy tomatoes, avocados the size of my foot, eggs (does anyone know why the yolks here are more pale?), minced meat, sweet pineapples and, once in a while, pizza and ice cream.

I do miss green, leafy vegetables, especially spinach. The other day, I attempted to cook “greens,” the only type of leafy vegetable I’ve seen around town. I had been warned against washing vegetables with tap water, so I proceeded with a special rinse method that I vaguely remembered. I mixed a little bit of bleach with tap water and soaked the greens for 20 minutes (to clean the tap water). Then I soaked the greens in regular water for 20 minutes (to rinse off the bleach). 40 minutes later, I remembered that I should’ve used previously boiled water for the second soak. Another 15 minutes later, I remembered that all this soaking and bleaching only applies if you plan to eat raw vegetables (ie. salads); I was planning to stir-fry. Over an hour after I had started, I was finally munching on greens. It was chewier than spinach and a little bitter. But I’ve yet to keel over from the tap water or the bleach, so it's a keeper.