Le Congo Gourmet

This cake is from a bakery in
Pittsburgh. It is filled with strawberries
and delicious buttercream icing.

"If you are afraid of butter, just use cream."

-Julia Childs.

I like to eat, duh. And thinking about what to eat next. And then eating again. You get the picture. I was worried about what I would have to eat when I moved to Kinshasa. I am particular about things, especially ketchup (Heinz only) and oatmeal and cereal. I sent a lot of food in my shipments, just in case. I wouldn't want to waste away. In the first month here, I was pretty impressed with the selection given I had such low standards going in. There are some great things about a tropical climate: mangoes, pineapples, papaya, watermelon are plentiful. (And Francois does an excellent job cutting them all up into fruit salad.) There are lots of vegetables too. There are, however, a lot of downsides. Yes, I am going to point out my complaints. Judge if you will...

This is a salted caramel crepe. I ate
it in Monaco, a tiny principality near
the South of France. It also includes
salted caramel ice cream. Yeah.

• I find the process of walking the five steps to the water distiller and back twice to fill up my sink with water to clean the vegetables annoying. I fill up the sink, drop a capful of Clorox in, and toss in the fruits and vegetables to disinfect. If that wasn't enough, I have to fill up the sink again to rinse the fruit and vegetables. Ugh. 
• The metric system is lame. How much butter is 227 grams? Who knows! Why hasn't the rest of the world realized that sticks of butter with tablespoon markings and a handy guide that says, 1/2 cup = 1 stick and 1/4 cup = 1/2 stick are efficient? The butter stick thing is clearly why America is still on top, despite the fact that we have like a $3 trillion deficit and just elected a bunch of old, white men that don't believe in science to senior positions in state and federal government. 
• I am totally grossed out by the weird Heinz products they sale here. There is this stuff called Andallouisse sauce (I don't even know how to spell it). It's like a creamy, pink color. I don't even know what one would use that for, but I suspect that it is mayonnaise based. Which is a whole, other issue.
• Mayonnaise comes on everything. Cheese sandwich. Ham sandwich. Steak. Toast. Sure, just slather some mayo on. I am not opposed to mayonnaise, or the tangy Miracle Whip. But it has its place, and it is not on french fries. Yes, I know, it's a European thing, and the Euros are so much more evolved and they did invent french fries. I don't care. Unless it's a fancy, gourmet garlic "white" sauce or those delicious mayos at the Good Stuff Eatery (Spike from Top Chef's burger place that was near my apt. in DC), then plain old mayo on fries is unacceptable. It's also unacceptable because it's like 95 degrees here everyday and refrigeration is not reliable. Hellloooo, food poisoning?!
• I cannot find lettuce. Oh, you can find brown, wilted leaves that resemble lettuce. And maybe this makes be a lettuce snob, but I am not eating it, I don't care what you think. There is a rumor that there is good lettuce somewhere in this country, but apparently the people that have experienced this good lettuce have their domestiques get it for them. I don't know if Francois would be able to find it. And he tends to get stressed out easily. I once asked him to buy a mop and it took 2 weeks. Woe is me, I know. 
• There are no preservatives in things. That's probably better for my overall health, but I am used to being able to keep a carrot in the fridge longer than 3 days. Chemicals are in, people!

This delicious treat is the
famous frozen hot chocolate from
Serendipity. I enjoyed this one
in Las Vegas.

In conclusion, I am learning a lot about the metric system (against my will) and alternatives for things, like sour cream (this Lebanese yogurt that smells like rotten ass on its own, but when mixed with other things is passable). I also like the brown eggs right out the chicken's butt. They are totally free range! I bought a yogurt maker on Amazon so I could get my daily dairy requirement without drinking the weird flavored boxed milk. One can buy yogurt here, but it is really expensive and the refrigeration issues has made me think twice about buying it. My yogurt maker is pretty awesome, it has these cute little glass jars. And I use powdered milk, sent from America. I am now a yogurt-making hippie. My co-worker even has perfected a yogurt base that has been passed around the office. 

I made this Bourbon Pumpkin
Cheesecake. It's awesome. It has a
pecan maple crust. And Bourbon.

I also bought an ice cream maker and have nearly perfected Oreo ice cream. I am baking things and using my fancy KitchenAid mixer and my new Cuisinart food processor. It's like all the stuff from a wedding registry without the hassle of picking up someone else's socks. Plus, if I ever do get married, I can register for a honeymoon in the Maldives and not a $30 spatula. I think I'll survive the next two years in Congo, but I won't turn down a package filled with processed crap from America.