A Foodie's perspective of Dakar or An Ode to International Foodiness:

Inspired by the prodding of a 'secret fan of the blog' who recently asked to know what I eat for breakfast, I've decided to dedicate an entry to the variety of tastes available within the city. Traditionally Senegalese eat a lot of rice, fish and vegetables stewed in a spicy tomato and palm-oil based sauce. This national dish is called ceebu jenn and is quite literally finger-lickin' good. Ceebu jenn is best eaten in a round platter shared by all with hands (though this can get really messy). You can find it in NYC and other parts of the U.S., but nothing compares to home-made ceeb in Senegal. My other local favorites are poulet yassa (chicken with an onion sauce with mustard and green olives), maafe yaap (a heavy peanut stew with beef), and ceebu weer with bissap sauce. On days when I'd like to opt for a lunch that will not make me pass out the moment I return to my desk, I opt for one of Astou's famous sandwiches. Astou is a lady who owns a little 'buvette' or sandwich shop on campus and is famous for eclectic sandwiches featuring chicken, beef, or omelets with onion sauce, ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, and french fries all in a crispy baguette. And yes, this is the light lunch option. Now you know why I spend so much of my time at the gym. These sandwiches are really the stuff of dreams. There is also a variety of options on the drink front. My two favorite local flavors are ginger juice and Fanta Cocktail. Ginger juice is a refreshing and dangerously spicy concoction made from raw ginger that will clear your system and make you cry within seconds. Whenever I drink it people never fail to comment on its aphrodisiac powers that apparently ''make men strong in the night." Fanta Cocktail, on the other hand, is a sweet derivation of the the more familiar Fanta Orange made with a mixture of fruit flavors and actually pulp floating within the nostalgic glass bottles. For desert there is laax or thiakry, both featuring a type of millet grain mixed with sweet yogurt (sometimes with honey, rose water, or sweet cream). And to startle you back to consciousness from the comforts of your Senegalese food coma, your host will always offer you a few small espresso shots of attaya, a very powerful local tea. I won't get into the role attaya plays in terms of social interactions right now, but suffice it to say that it is an important social lubricant. In Dakar French patisseries and small Lebanese diners abound. You can always count on getting your fries in your hamburger or shwarma rather than on the side and a piece of fresh baguette smeared with hazelnut spread can be bought on any neighborhood corner for the equivalent of 30 cents. It's good being a foodie here for the most part. Two common complaints are the lack of fresh vegetables and the emphasis on heavy artery-clogging oils within the traditional Senegalese diet.
In la Maison de Jeanne-Court-Duma, we have made a routine of collaborating in the kitchen to produce elaborate salads and entrees with different cultural/geographical themes. One night there was an Indian feast of makeshift aloo gobi (using cabbage instead of cauliflower), paneer, daal and garlic pita bread instead of naan. Yesterday we had a layered salad (corn, peas, cabbage, olives, tomatoes, parsley with a mustard vinaigrette) with spiced kafta meatballs, tomato-cucumber yogurt taziki sauce and warm pita bread. Tonight Duma introduced us to the wonders of Polish cuisine (our own version of sauerkraut: sausage with cabbage marinated in white wine and a mix of herbs). These feasts are all eaten on the terrace and are usually accompanied with wine and followed by chocolate over childhood stories, daily updates, and deep discussions. We are perfectly at home, having left one city of foodies only to discover the possibilities and quirks of another. And yes, I realize that I've gone through this whole long blog about food and drink without really answering the initial question, which I know was not meant to be answered so literally, about what I eat for breakfast here in this foreign city. The answer is that, on days when I'm not rushing to catch the bus, I have fresh bread with coffee or cereal with soy milk - much like in NYC.

P.S. I am determined to master yassa, maafe and ceebu jenn by the time I leave here. But in the mean time, if you happen to have any interesting new recipes involving rice, couscous, cabbage or fresh fish, please post away!

Countdown to Korite: Korite, the celebration of the end of Ramadan in Senegal, is around the corner. Duma and I have been on a mini-mission to prepare our wardrobes so that we won't stand out within the inevitbale waves of festive 'boubou bling.' First stop was a trip to the fabric market, Marche HLM. This was on Friday and we had just missed an intense thunderstorm in the morning, so the whole market was muddy and crowded with other last minute shoppers. We waded through the mud, carefully holding our purses against our bodies out of reach of pickpockets (crime rises around the holidays) and trying to avoid completely submerging our shoes and feet into ravines of mud and dirty water. Finally we made it to a booth with a good selection of wax fabirc, the traditional printed material we'd been looking for (much if which is actually imported from Indonesia via Holland). After perusing all the different patterns we each settled on two fabrics and negotiated a pretty fair deal with the vendor: 4,000cfa ($8) per 6 meters (required for making one full taille base outfit). Once we secured the fabric we made a bee-line out of the hectic marketplace, jumped into a cab and headed for a tailor near our apartment. We had to visit a couple of tailors before finding one willing to take on yet another two orders to be finished before Korite (which is either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the moon cycle). Fortunately we were able to find a tailor closeby who sat patiently as we poured over photos of taille base models, sketched our own quirky ideas, and finally settled on mixtures of traditional and original designs. We will see how they turn out. Third stop was to Duma's former hostfamily's home today to get henna (Foodan) done on our hands. Again, all in the spirit of Korite.

We waited for the foodan artists for two hours, during which we sat in the living room and alternately read and laughed aloud from a David Sedaris book and responded to the interrogations of Duma's senegalese brother, Doudou, who is not convinced we have given Islam fair enough consideration. When the foodan artists finally arrived we had our hands drawn on and sat drying them for another hour wondering where Sunday had gone so fast. That is how time goes by here...when you are watching, it ambles slowly by, but the moment you turn your head, it disappears. Hopefully our weekend of Korite prep will not have been in vain. I know we are not at the point of being able to compete with true boubou bling, but at least we hope to not look like American students caught off guard by the glam of Senegalese fashionistas. I'll let you know how we do...

<-- Me, Jeanne and Felicia on the terrace

Last week we bid farewell to Felicia who is off to Nigeria for the next leg of her research. I already miss her Jolof rice and dinner-time fieldwork stories. Now Duma has arrived with her fresh-from-new york treats and I am very happy with the realization of the Jeanne-Courtney-Duma trio. We figure we will probably be known to locals in our area as "those racially-ambiguous girls in Ouakam." (Here, if you are not Senegalese, white, or black with dark skin, you are inevitably categorized as metisse (mixed) or cap verdian.)

Music and Politics: Senegal is often lauded as one of (if not the most) stable democracy in West Africa. In 2000 when former opposition leader and current president, Abdoulaye Wade, won against the leader of the 'socialist' party who had been in power for 20 years, it truly was a free and fair shift of power. What many people don't know is the important role artists, especially hiphop artists had in that transition. Hiphop in Senegal is still very political. The other day when I was talking to students in the program about the interesting comparison between the now extremely commercial phase of hiphop in the U.S. and the still politically relevant content of hiphop in Dakar, I felt like I was met with a room of blank stares. Hiphop as a social resource? Huh? Anyway, the apparent lack of basic knowledge about the evolution of hiphop in the U.S. just confirmed my point. In Senegal on the other hand, those labeled as 'hiphop artists,' whether in the realm of rap, graffiti, breakdance, or even traditional senegalese wrestling are known for their social commentary (interestingly enough, a famous wrestler here who named himself Tyson and is known for draping himself in the American flag has played a major role in expressing the political rebellion of Senegal's hiphop generation). When Wade ran in 2000 he had the full support of this outreach machine. When he ran again this past summer it was another story. Now, after mismanaging the country's limited funds and trampling civil liberties (sound familiar?), Wade has become the last politician on earth these artist want to mobilize popular support for (well, maybe not the last). Just a few days ago El Malick Seck, a local newspaper editor, was sentenced to three years in prison for running an article allieging that Wade and his son were involved in money laundering from Cote D'Ivoire. With the media being practically shut down by Wade and his pack, it is quite possible that hiphop is the only channel left to voice the disenchantment of the people.

Luckily we Americans don't have to worry about the depressing effects of a coopted media - we're democratic and free!! (note the sarcasm)

If you have time on your hands and happen to find this topic interesting, check out this series of short documentaries about politics and hiphop in Dakar around election times. The series, Democracy in Dakar, was produced by a former student from our program and features, Serigne Ndiaye, my colleague here in Dakar.