This Global Kitchen | Day 29: Tanzania
Connect with Courtney:
Hi, my name is Courtney and I’m an expat living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I’m married and have four children. My kitchen is far from spectacular. It’s the hottest room in the house (we live on the coast of the Indian Ocean), water leaks all over the floor each day from a seemingly unrepairable sink pipe, and yet, somehow, it’s the space we all prefer to spend our time in together.
Welcome to my kitchen!
A typical evening consists of purposefully long, drawn out food preparation with music in the background and a lit candle or two (yes, in the kitchen! If you don’t have a candle in your kitchen, try it, it makes the experience more relaxed and fun). It’s not as romantic as it sounds though, with the upper lip sweat-stache and droplets running down your back, but we do try to make the most of it. I remember a woman once discussing cooking for her family and saying “Why would anyone spend a lot of time cooking when the family scarfs the food in just under ten minutes? It’s just not worth it.” I couldn’t disagree more.
So many conversations in our home happen over a hot cup of coffee or tea. At our house, we are coffee drinkers in the morning and tea comes in the afternoon and/or evenings. If you are ever in Dar, we’d love to have you over for a cup!
The simplest of things can give such great joy, like white dishes and mason jar glasses.
There’s a little piece of Turkey right in our Tanzanian kitchen. On the stove is a Turkish tea pot that was gifted to us by some of our friends. It’s one of my favorite items in my kitchen. Anyone else here love Turkish tea?
I’ve always loved experimenting in the kitchen and making things homemade. When we lived in the U.S., I used to buy wheat grains from a farm and would grind them at home. Of the fourteen suitcases that we moved here with, almost an entire one was filled with my wheat grinder and it’s accessories. I loved the process of grinding wheat and turning it into fresh bread. Just a couple of years after moving here, my bread making came to abrupt end. My son and I were diagnosed with Celiac Disease and everything in our kitchen changed. New ingredients, different recipes and life without bread filled us with grief, but only for a while. Thankfully, life without bread isn’t the end of the world after all, and, as I’m sure you may know, there are many other gluten free alternatives out there.
Thanks for stopping by! I can’t wait to have a peek into your global kitchen too.
My Must Haves for My Expat Kitchen:
My must haves for my kitchen include my kitchen thermometer for making yogurt. Also, I need my food processor which is used almost every day for things like hummus, salsa, cashew date balls, etc; and, of course, plenty of coffee and tea.
My Favorite Expat friendly Recipe:
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread
by Courtney | TakingRoute.net
Since I’m over here pretending it’s Autumn, here is a link to my favourite, ingredient friendly, gluten free pumpkin bread. I usually add a half cup or so of plain yogurt to help moisten it up a bit. Also, we don’t have xanthan gum here so I just omit that and it works fine. Recipe from glutenfreebaking.com.
- 2 1/2 cups finely ground white rice flour (10 ounces; 283 grams)
- 1/2 cup cornstarch (2 ounces; 57 grams)
- 5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 4 large eggs (7 ounces; 198 grams)
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil (5 1/4 ounces; 148 grams)
- 1/2 cup orange juice (4 ounces; 113 grams)
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (12 1/2 ounces; 347 grams)
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
- Gluten-free non-stick cooking spray
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum. In separate bowl, mix together eggs, oil and orange juice. Add sugar and pumpkin. Blend until thoroughly combined.
Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients. Mix until ingredients are thoroughly combined and a smooth batter forms (use medium speed on a handheld mixer or medium-low speed on a stand mixer. If mixing by hand, use a balloon whisk and mix for two minutes). Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl once or twice with a rubber spatula while mixing.
Divide batter evenly between prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Remove pans from oven and place on a wire rack. Allow bread to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove bread from pans and place directly on wire rack. Allow bread to cool before slicing. Store bread wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for 3 to 5 days, or wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
