Cooking at Suzana's

I am working to learn all I can about the culture of Mozambique. I particularly want to know how the women of this country live. So, one day when we were on a break from the normal language learning I asked Suzana if we could cook lunch together at her house and then eat together. It was a lot of fun and I learned many things.

Suzana is the mother to 3 year old triplets.
This is Alda (I think).

And Alicia

And Tomi

This is Bionda who is 11.
She has an older daughter, Yona,  that is 16.

All Mozambican cooking is done outside.
Very, very few people here have indoor kitchens.
This is Suzana's house worked, Marta, grading fresh coconuts.

Then, the girls scrape the inside clean.

This is the only space they have to work on.
It is a coffee table to me. :)

They take the graded coconut and soak it in water for a bit.
Then, they squeeze the water out of the pulp and set the pulp aside.
(You can see the in the orange bowl.)
Last, they strain the water so that only the milk is left.
This milk is what rice is cooked in.
And the coconut pulp is thrown out.

Meanwhile, okra was frying on her grill.
This is her only way to cook.
She cooks EVERYTHING on this little grill.

All Mozambican meals have rice or nshima (a corn mush) and a sauce of some kind.
This is the sauce for our meal.....shrimp, the okra, tomatoes and other seasonings.
I told her I was eating like a queen because shrimp like this are quite expensive here.

As an extra treat she had some big fish that she grilled.

My plate.....yummy!

Here is Suzana's house.
She calls this little area under the shelter "her kitchen".

This structure in the middle is where the dishes are washed and left out to dry.

The girls.....tearing down the shelter.
Suzana has her hands full!!!

Thanks for the great meal and the great conversation Suzana!! Love you friend!

Tracy