Dreaming of Africa

Nathan is in Kenya right now. While he is supposedly there to attend a few meetings, meet the guy whose job he is taking over, and get a better idea of his new job scope, I'm treating his trip as a way to scope out the food situation in Narok, where we will be living.

We've heard a little about Narok- it's mostly Masai who live there, with a light smattering of ex-pats. It's also the last stop before you reach the Masai Mara, which is Kenya's most popular wildlife reserve (slightly north of the Serengeti!) So, there are tourists regularly coming through to fill up on gas and maybe grab water for the road. We've heard rumors of a Nakumatt being built there. Nakumatt is the Kenyan equivalent of Walmart. While I'd never willingly shop at a Walmart here in the States, I'm sure I'll be hitting the aisles of Nakumatt to shop for appliances (we'll want a blender and toaster) and perhaps an oven and fridge.

Our house (forgive the poor quality photo- it's a screenshot from a Skype conversation) has a small cooking area, but from the looks of it, it has a lot of counter space, which is more than we can say for our current house. There is running water, sort of- that tank in the front fills with rainwater from the roof (there's another tank at the back) and in times of drought, water can be purchased from a truck. There's a two-burner propane stove, a small sink, and a whole lotta counter. That's about it (no fridge, no oven, no microwave). The couple (Chris and Amanda) who are currently living there will leave us their solar oven, but we may cave and buy a 'real' oven. (We like our freshly baked bread!)

The sink drains into a bucket so the water can be reused to water a garden, so I'll be shopping for herbs: cilantro and basil, chives and parsley. Chris and Amanda have had luck growing arugula, pepper, borage, spinach, basil, kale and chili. They didn't have much success with tomato, squash, onion, garlic, watermelon and cucumber.  Fresh greens are a start, though- and there's a fruit and veg market about a 10 minute walk away!

Nathan has been sent with a long, exhaustive list of foods to locate. (I'm sure he's really excited about the treasure hunt.) I'm hoping for whole wheat flour and brown rice most of all, as well as olive oil. I just can't get that excited about white flour and white rice. I'm also hoping for potatoes, olive oil, and soy sauce. I can get creative with an assortment of fruits and veggies, so I'm less concerned about that. Chris and Amanda say that garlic, onions, bananas, corn and tomatoes are readily available.

In the picture above, you'll note a little hut to the right of the house- chickens! I'm excited for fresh eggs, and I'm also interested in learning how to butcher a chicken. We rarely eat chickens here because we're pretty conscientious about where our meat comes from (hormone free, vegetarian fed, free range) and for the most part, it's hard to find really humanely-treated meat animals. However, when I lived in Samoa, I was much more open to meat eating because in general the cows, pigs, and chickens were treated really well while they lived, and were about as free range as it gets- they strolled all over my village and ate a varied diet that included a lot of coconut. I imagine 'our' chickens will be pretty happy, as chickens go.

Aside from chicken-butchering, another project I'm excited about it is cheese making! I'm ordering a few kits from New England Cheesemaking (bad website, cool products) and am excited to make mozzarella, ricotta, goat cheese, and yogurt. We supposedly will be able to buy fresh goat and cow milk from our new neighbors!

(By the way, I plan to make steamed buns sometime in the next few days! I haven't forgotten my original challenge!)

Cheers!

Gelato

The History:
I think the one thing everyone wants to know about gelato (at least, everyone according to my scientifically valid poll of three...) is: "What's the difference between ice cream and gelato"? Gelato has lower butterfat (4-8%) and ice cream has a much higher percentage: 14%. Another fun fact: the first reported ice cream, apparently, is mentioned in the Bible: Someone in the old Testament (can't remember who) gave Moses ice cream made of ice and goat's milk. (I'm honestly not sure if this actually counts...)

The Process: 
Important first step: acquire a friend with an ice cream maker. My good friend Jen not only has an ice cream maker (it attaches to her KitchenAid- I'm so jealous!) but is also experienced with making gelato- (thankfully! because my winging-it tendencies seem to disappear when there is a thermometer and precision involved in the temperature of a delicate mixture of egg yolks and milk. I got nervous. She kept it real.) Because I had hoarded a solitary, precious vanilla bean from Madagascar left over from a Peace Corps friend who served there, I wanted to make vanilla gelato.

We started the process in the morning, since gelato requires at least 8 hours of chilling. It was a pretty complicated process- maybe by my third or fourth time it would seem smoother. I'm a gelato-newbie, and like I said: recipes that call for precise temperatures make me nervous.

The Recipe:  
1 vanilla bean (seed it by slicing the bean lengthwise, then remove the teeny seeds by scraping the pod with the knife.)
2 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
1 cup cream
3/4 c sugar
1 t vanilla extract

Remove the seeds from the vanilla bean, then add the pod and seeds to a pot with 2 cups of whole milk. Heat to 170 F. (Stir frequently to avoid scorching the bottom of the pot.) Remove the pot from heat, and let the vanilla beans steep for 30 minutes, then remove the pods. (Smell. Isn't that incredible?)

In the meantime, whip 4 egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar until lightly frothy. Use a bowl that is much larger than necessary. (You'll see why.)

Add 1/2 cup sugar to the milk mixture, then reheat to 170 F, stirring frequently. Then, using a ladle, slowly add the hot liquid to the egg/sugar mixture, while stirring the eggs. Add about half of the hot milk to the eggs. (This step is meant to prevent the egg yolks from hitting the milk while cold, thus creating sweetened scrambled eggs, which would be pretty gross in gelato.)

Then, pour the egg mixture into the rest of the hot milk, while stirring. Heat this mixture (the custard) to 185 F, and continue stirring until the custard thickens. It should coat the back of the spoon fairly evenly.

Now: prepare an ice bath. Take a very large bowl, fill about 1/4 of the way with ice cubes and some water, then place a smaller bowl inside it. Add the 1 cup cream and the teaspoon of vanilla extract to the bowl. (And, can I have a word about vanilla extract here? Use the REAL stuff- no 'imitation' or 'artificial flavorings!) Then, place a finely meshed strainer over the smaller bowl, and pour the hot custard through the strainer and into the bowl. (The strainer keeps any errant clumps of custard from chunking up your gelato.) Stir. (Taste it too- you probably won't be able to help it!) Continue stirring occasionally until the mixture has cooled, then cover the bowl and place in the fridge at least 8 hours.

At this point, recipes say "follow the manufacturer directions on your ice cream maker" which sounds mysterious if you've never used an ice cream maker. It was simple: Pour the chilled gelato mixture into the ice cream maker (a super-thick metal-lined bowl that had been hanging out in Jen's freezer for a few days), then attach the ice cream paddle to the Kitchen Aid, and stir for 20 minutes. It was pretty magical- after about 15 minutes the creamy liquid started to look like deluxe, beautiful, professional gelato, complete with authentic flecks of vanilla bean!

For best results, eat right away!

The Results:
Jen made an amazing rhubarb-strawberry compote that we put on top of the gelato and the flavors were perfect, though this gelato was so delectable that it would have been delicious without. It was pretty amazing- very rich, creamy, and strongly-vanilla flavored.
Would I make it again? Well, not anytime soon: I don't (yet) own a KitchenAid or ice cream maker, and given our upcoming move to Kenya (!) I'm not sure I'll have the opportunity. But in the future? Definitely! I'd love to experiment with other flavors: pistachio (Nathan's favorite), chocolate, hazelnut, lemon.... Check back in a few years.

African Interruption

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted.

But I have an excuse! I graduated about a month ago, which was preceded by a flurry of vaguely-academic activity and followed by more activity, and finally, we went to Germany for 3 weeks. I'd like to blog about German food, but to be honest, it wasn't terribly great. The best meals we ate were "Vietnamesisch" restaurants, which were mainly pho of varying quality and none with a broth as flavorful as my homemade pho.

We also ate at Unsicht-Bar, which is a restaurant staffed by blind waiters. Your meal is eaten in complete darkness- no winks of light anywhere to be seen. It was a 4 course meal (I ordered a 'vegetarian' meal and Nathan got poultry) starting with salad, then soup, entrees, and dessert (which was our favorite course.) The meal is ordered in the lighted bar, then you hold onto the left shoulder of your waiter and follow them into the darkness, for a meal which took us about 3 hours. It was fun to select the meals: the menu was very obtuse, and said things like: "Soup: The princess is not laying on it, but her father is telling anecdotes from his younger days" and "Dessert: With caffeine-revolted Belarussian meets South American fire". So there wasn't much to go on. (Soup was a delicious, creamy pea soup, and my dessert was a white chocolate mouse, mango-chili compote, and vodka lemon sorbet.)

So, clearly, I don't have pictures of the meal given that it was pitch black. It was fun to eat, though- after a few minutes of aimlessly stabbing at my plate in the darkness, I gave up and ate the entire meal with my fingers, utilizing the wine's ice bucket to rinse my fingers between meals. If you end up in Berlin, I highly recommend the restaurant as much for the experience as for the food.

This brings me to the point of my blog entry... we're moving to Kenya! Nathan is moving next week, and I'll be joining him in mid-August. Clearly I have a few more recipes (steamed buns, gelato, biscotti) to complete, and then the theme of Eyeballing It will change, a tad dramatically, to cover the adventures, travails, and successes of cooking in Africa! I'll be blogging soon on the topic of "what to pack for ones kitchen when moving to a very small rural dusty town in the middle of Kenya".

Hope you'll stick with me for this next adventure in cooking!