This Global Kitchen | Day 31: Malawi
Hi! My name is Stacy Leigh Hutchens, and I live in beautiful Zomba, Malawi with my husband, five kids ages 3-11, four cats, and a standard poodle. We had the rare privilege of getting to design and build our home here. It isn't extravagant, but it is my dream home, especially the kitchen. Our home was mostly built by local tradesmen, and then the month before we moved in a team of American friends came over to put the final touches on it. They included building our incredible kitchen cabinets and island, as well as painting everything. We are so thankful for them!
A wide view of our kitchen while standing beside the dining table, near the front door.
Because I am my mother's daughter, I always have a kitchen windowsill full of plants rooting in water to be transplanted later. Not only do I love the greenery, I also love the way it reminds me of home.
The island has locking casters which makes it great for cleaning and entertaining large groups. You can also see in this picture a pyrex bowl print I love that was a gift from my sister-in-law several years ago. (I brought it here frame and all in a tote!) The door to the pantry, which has a deep freeze and tons of deep shelves for all of those buy-it-all-when-you-find-it-in-stock grocery, store goodies. Tell me I'm not the only one who does that, right?
I love this reminder on the side of a drawer of the wonderful team who worked so hard to get our house ready to move into!
This corner gets a lot of use every day. I don't know how I ever lived without an electric kettle in America. I had the magnetic knife holder brought from America so I could keep the knives out of reach from my toddler. The "espresso patronum" sign was a gift from my husband's cousin, which perfectly combines two of my favorite things! And the tall board in the corner is a hand carved map of Malawi on one side, and a Bawo (also known as Bao or Mancala) game on the other side. Our Chichewa tutor taught us how to play, but none of us are very good at it!
Candles by the stove are for more than just decoration, because power outages are a way of life here. The stove was a splurge when we were appliance shopping, and I am thankful for it every day. I cook three meals a day for 7-15 people, so it was definitely worth it!
And lastly, something to show that my kitchen isn't completely perfect! Although I love the look of my wood countertops, they are a bit high maintenance (which I wasn't good at keeping up with in the chaos of the first few months here). And because the biggest sink we could find was still considerably less deep than the cabinets, and we are hand washing dishes three times a day, we have ended up with a good bit of damage in front of and behind the sink. But I've learned now to faithfully rub it down with a mix of coconut oil and beeswax, and it's helped keep it from getting any worse in a while.
My Must Haves for my Expat Kitchen:
My biggest musts are my four cast iron skillets (and a bacon press) that I brought from America. They are obviously super heavy, but more than worth it to me! They are all I use to cook with.
An equally big must is our Berkey water filter. We got the biggest one they make, and it wasn’t heavy but took up a lot of space in our luggage. We used a Berkey even when we lived in America, so we definitely weren’t going to move to Malawi without it!
Third is definitely my electric kettle. We use it many times a day, and it boils water so much faster than a stovetop kettle! With five kids, anything that gets caffeine into our veins more quickly is a big help.
My Favorite Expat friendly Recipe:
Kitchen Sink Chicken Salad
by Stacy | TakingRoute.net
I call this Kitchen Sink Chicken Salad because I throw in pretty much everything but the kitchen sink... so maybe I should actually call it Not The Kitchen Sink Chicken Salad? Anyway. It is what it is. This recipe is pretty easy to adapt to whatever you have and wherever you are, as long as you can get chicken and mayo (or the ingredients to make mayo). I like to make a LOT so my family of 7 can have easy leftover meals for a day or two. You may want to adjust your quantities based on your needs and family size.
The main secret to great chicken salad is to have as many not-chicken ingredients as possible. I also prefer to use whole chickens, because dark meat is so yummy, but feel free to use whatever you have available.
Seriously chicken and mayo are the only essentials here. Otherwise I throw in whatever I have on hand or can find. Again, add as much of this other stuff as you can for the best result, especially anything with a crunch. I try to at least get one crunchy veggie, a fruit, and a nut in each batch, but the more the merrier:
- crunchy veggies: celery, water chestnuts, jicama, or cucumber
- fruits: apples, pineapples, mangoes, grapes, etc. (the crunch of apples is really nice in it)
- dried fruits: cranberries, raisins, or chopped dates
- nuts: pecans, walnuts, sliced almonds, or macadamia nuts
- onion
Cook your chicken and then pull it apart into the biggest bowl you have. Chop what needs to be chopped and throw whatever you have in with the chicken. Add:
- lemongrass or tarragon if you have them, they're my fav herbs
- a big dollop of honey
- I like to add flax seeds or flaxseed powder for extra omega 3s
- mayo until it is the right consistency
- salt to taste
And there you have it! My chicken salad is a little different every time I make it depending on what I have available, but it is always delicious!
