|
Date: September 25 Written by: Susan Current Location: Kinshasa, DRC FOOD IN THE CONGO Food in the Congo has been a surprising culinary adventure. We weren’t sure quite what to expect in this department but was surprised at the variety of food options available. Unlike some European countries that are more culturally focused, the Congo had the greatest variety of international cuisine we’d seen since Paris. To preface, food in the Congo is VERY expensive. It’s on par with the major cities in the world and I would even have to say more expensive as there is limited access to mid-ranged priced food. Therefore you’re stuck with either nice restaurants and full course meals or the grocery store. The Grocery Store
The grocery store itself is for the most part very well stocked with foreign items. You can find everything from imported cheese such as Gouda and Camembert (left over from the Belgium colonial days) to Chinese noodles and 5 different varieties of canned litchis. There doesn’t really seem to be any rhyme or reason though to what’s in stock at what grocery store. At one corner grocery store you might find several shelves of 5 different kinds of mayonnaise yet no mustard. At a larger grocery store you might find only 2 brands of mayonnaise and 5 brands of mustard. I’m not sure if this is really due to the market demand of the product or the whim of the buyer. Perhaps they just got a discounted deal for cases of mayo?
Grocery store prices are exorbitant for what you get. Especially in the produce department and internationally recognized brand items. On our first night in the DRC, we stopped in at a grocery store to buy a few staple items. Juice, yogurt, some cheese. I picked up a quart of Tropicana grapefruit juice. When I got to the register, it rang up as $15. Needless to say, we put that back. A small carton of yogurt costs $2 per container. Although I must say it is incredibly creamy and delicious and truly worth the hefty price tag. Cheese is relatively affordable since prices resemble those of a Whole Foods or specialty store in the States. Cereal is another department that finds itself with lucrative margins. Brian misread the code on a box and forgot to multiply it by 2 to find out its price. It ended up being a $12 box of Kellogg’s bran flakes. The produce department is a bit of a challenge for those looking for variety and freshness. Some grocery stores do it better than others. One grocery store had great looking and a relatively good selection of produce. Other grocery stores look like Whole Foods meets your local corner grocery. There are some things that look like they have a lot of potential whereas the bin next to it may look like it’s got a vegetable that takes you ten minutes of careful examining to decipher. That’s the tough part. Not all stores may have what you’re looking for. There is no set repertoire for the produce department and I’m guessing it varies based on what was able to make it into the country pass the yellow fever inspectors. We actually found fresh, bright green lettuce being grown in local farm co-ops on our way out to see the Bonobo monkeys, which is about 45 minutes outside of Kinshasa. We were wondering how come these greens never seemed to make it to the market. The reason appeared to be due to the lack of infrastructure in the roads and any sort of distribution scheme. Instead, the Bonobos were the lucky recipients of the fresh lettuce and other greens grown near the farm. Foreign produce items that do make it into the country reflect the many airline tickets and custom agents bribed to get them here. We were so excited about seeing fresh plump plums that we dared to even look at the price. $10 per pound. Small strawberries that would tasted delicious in a fruit smoothie would set you back $8 a pound. The only produce we could manage to afford was the apples and oranges, which were still $3 a pound. So needless to say our fruit and veggie consumption while here in the Congo has been rather limited. What has not been limited though is the number of excellent restaurants we have been able to dine at. We didn’t realize that after 3 weeks our clothes might be a little snugger than usual. One of my favorite meals here is the capitaine fish (aka Nile perch). It is some of the most tender, flaky, white fish I’ve ever eaten. One of the most fantastic ways that we have eaten the fish was bbq’d shish kabob style. I really had never put chunks of fish on a skewer before and tried to grill it. It just seemed like disaster waiting to happen. On the contrary, the fish was perfectly cooked and seasoned and just melted in my mouth. It’s hard to ruin capitaine though so any way that we’ve had it has been excellent, especially when swimming in buerre blanc sauce. Another great meal we had was at this chicken place. For the longest time it was just known to us as the chicken place. When we met up with Mike’s co-workers in Nairobi, all they talked about was the chicken place. We weren’t even sure if it even had a name. Finally, 2 weeks after arriving, we got to go to the chicken place. It does actually have a name too, Chez Mama Colonel. It used to be this little hole in the wall but apparently mama was making enough chicken business to open up a very nice quaint dining establishment located in the middle of a very busy neighborhood of Kinshasa. The great thing about going to a chicken restaurant is that it’s not hard to order. Grilled BBQ chicken. I guess you can decide how many sides of plantains and fries you want but you’re pretty much there to eat tons of chicken. It did not disappoint. We had ordered 5 whole chickens for 7 of us. The chicken was some of the best chicken we’d ever eaten. Piping hot off the grill and the crunchy skin seasoned to perfection. Everybody just dug in, elbows and all. There’s nothing civilized about this eating experience. We just dipped chunks of chicken into a sauce that our friends had concocted when they first moved here. Mayonnaise and pili pili (which is a super hot chili pepper). The stuff is addicting and adds a few extra calories to the meal. Maybe that’s why we’re gaining weight? We managed to eat most of the chicken and washed it all down with some nice local beer called Tembo, which is similar to an amber beer. The other 2 popular beers they have here in Congo are called Primus and Skol. Primus is similar to a Miller light whereas Skol could be compared to Old Style or Old English. People have their allegiances. Either you’re a Primus drinker or a Skol drinker. I suppose it’s like preferring Budweiser or Miller. Skol and Primus pretty much have the market on beer and everything (buildings and walls) that could possibly be painted in either brand’s logo pretty much is. They’ve infiltrated fine dining restaurants where you’ll see the waiters decked out in Primus or Skol shirts. The National Police building is even painted in Primus colors with the primus logo all over the building. I guess everything can be bought for a price. Perhaps the policeman even get free cases of beer delivered to their precinct. The other finger licking, get down and dirty meal we’ve had here are the cosas (shrimp). Again, it was always referred to as the cosa place with no real reference to the actual restaurant name. I’m not even sure what it is. Like the chicken place, you come here specifically for the shrimp. There is no need to even look at the menu. Everybody was having Cosa Royale at $27 a person. The cosas came out steaming hot coated with seasoning and dripping in butter. Huge, succulent shrimp which to me looked bigger than anything I’d ever seen. They were at least the size of tiger shrimp. The were so hot that it was hard to pick them up at first but then we were able to get down to business after a few minutes. First you have to suck the seasoning off the shell. Then you break of the head and discard that in a bowl. After that you peel the shell off the shrimp so all you’re left with is a big piece of shrimp. You dip it in butter and pop it in your mouth. Delicious. And I suppose it better be for $27. So although the Congo may have its issues politically, they do know how to serve up some mean grub. We’ll be leaving the Congo with not only a better understanding of Microfinance and the rich history of the Congo, but also very full satisfied bellies.  Be first to comment this article |  Add as favourites (29) | Views: 7863
|
Democratic Republic of the Congo 