Bringing Home The Bacon

After being here a few weeks we slowly began to learn where you can by food and local supplies. One of the first things that we looked for was a store that sold good, clean meat. Tanzanians don’t eat meat very often, some only eat it on a holiday or special occasions. They mostly just receive their protein from beans, and an occasional egg or cows milk. The beef or pork is usually hanging up outside all day in the heat, in an open “duka” store, and usually covered with flies. The chicken is usually running around until it is caught and killed. We did find a store in town that has a refrigerator and freezer for storing meat, and it seems to be clean and of good quality. The down side is it is more expensive. So if you are willing to eat the meat with flies, you can choose that or go with the more expensive option. This is one reason why it can cost more in Tanzania when you don’t want to expose yourself or your family to some of the typical food-borne illnesses.
I saw all this to tell you the idea that Carey came up with to save some money. He could hear, and smell, that many of our neighbors were raising pigs. His idea was to “bring home the bacon.” So off he went to the neighbor house to see if they had a pig to sell. The above picture was of “Muddy”, named by the kids. One day Carey is seen coming down our road, dragging a pig behind him. I couldn’t help but think of the rhyme: To market, to market, to buy a fat pig, home again, home again jiggety-jig. It was a hot day and the pig seemed as if it was about to overheat, so water was quickly poured on her to revive her. She quickly began to root around in the newly fresh mud, hence the name that the kids gave her, Muddy.

The next morning Carey got up early and went out to do the dirty work of turning Muddy into meat. A friend and fellow worker here, named Charles, helped to prepare the pig. It is traditional Tanzanian custom to shave the pig, after it has been killed. The purpose is so that you can leave the skin on it when it is cooked. So that is what is being done here. The pig got a good shave.  Hot water is poured on the skin and it is shaved with a sharp knife. Because of the hot water the hair easily comes off.

Soon after that our garage became a slaughter house. Now I know a lot of women who might be completely disgusted by this. But really I didn't mind. I was glad because I knew that the meat was being handled correctly, and I knew that it was going to be clean and fresh.

Now I know others that may look at the above picture of the ribs and be grossed out, but I bet they are not grossed out by the Chili’s baby back ribs commercial. (Smiles)
We have a large deep freezer that comes in handy for occasions like this. Carey cut up the meat, labeled it, and put it in the freezer.

By late lunch time we had meat! I sauteed up some pork cubes and I made a Tanzanian dish called Pilau. It is made up of mostly rice, with some meat, carrots, potatoes, and onions. It was delicious !

One thing that I love about being here in Tanzania, is that nothing is wasted. Tanzanians eat Everything from the organs, to boiling the bones, to cooking down the pig fat to make cooking oil. With the meat scraps, and extra parts of the pig, we were able to help other families with food. I sometimes feel guilty giving someone the “scraps” but to them it is a nice gift. They were so thankful and so appreciative. Here is a picture of pig kidney, cooked and served up on a leaf. 

In the end we ended up with a lot of meat in the freezer, saved a lot of money, and were able to help out a few people in the process. 
Until Next Time,
Bonnie

Posted in: Food,Iringa