DINING IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS

We are all glad to say goodbye to the ice and snow of winter and soon we can roll out the deck chairs and picnic tables to enjoy the great outdoors. Families in the Ivory Coast have picnics every day all year and my sister, Helen, was able to enjoy outdoor dining for more than fifty years in the Ivory Coast. She has authored a book about her experiences that tells us about many wonderful people she associated with there. In yesterday’s Blog I recounted some of her experiences that included taking care of urgent dental needs that for years had been unavailable in many of the outback areas. Houses are close together in the villages that featured mud huts with no walls to separate one family from another.

Helen joined some of their outdoor evening meals and all members of the families dine together. The food in the earthen cooking pot simmered in the “three stone” outdoor stove. Before dinner the mother goes to the water hole for a large bowl of water she carries on her head that she heats up to wash the children after a dusty day of working or playing outside. The older children stay with the grandmother as guardians for the small children while she is away to be sure they do not get too close to the fire. Young girls carry their corn cob “dolls” on their backs leaving their hands free for dining and will sit together with the mother. When the food is ready the mother serves a large bowl of rice and meat (or fish) and brings it to her husband, often placing it just on the ground as he sits on a small stool. The boys sit with the father, using the one hand they washed before dinner to eat with. No one speaks while eating lest their share of food be eaten while they talk. All varieties of meat are acceptable except hyena because they eat decaying meat in the bush. This evening the mother has cooked a 20 foot long boa constrictor (it tastes like white fish) and there is plenty for all. The father divides up the meat left in the bottom of the gravy bowl to be sure each one gets his share of this good protein source. In chapter 12 of her book Helen recounts, “Once when given gravy and rice in a village, I found a little monkey head in the gravy bowl. The hollow eye sockets and teeth bothered me and I placed it back in the bowl for someone else to enjoy.” Chickens scratch around at dinner to snatch a fallen rice grain and dogs hover near hoping to get a bone. Helen adds “The full moon is the favourite time of the month to run and play until midnight. Drums are played and the children dance. The African moon is special and we love to sit outside and watch the moon rise against the silhouette of the tall palm trees.”