Guest guest Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 By the way, I spent one year almost starving in Zaire (now Congo again) when I tried to cook over a charcoal brazier. I had to pluck my own chickens (when I could afford one) and pound my own plaintains. Beans (which were also quite expensive) take a very very long time to cook over charcoal. I couldn't quite muster the energy to deal with pounding, soaking, and wrapping cassava in banana leaves. So, after dropping to a weight that left me constantly ill and being sent another Peace Corps Volunteer, we hired a cook. He was excellent. He found the most amazing stuff to make food out of. Most of the time I was working in developing areas, it was simply not possible for me to cook. I think I actually ate a much healthier diet overall. I have to say that on an almost sugar free diet, you can develop intense cravings for sugar. I and all the other Zairois (or Congolese now) would dump huge quantities of sugar into our coffee or tea if we had tea with the Belgian nuns. The rest of the time, you bought sugar (raw) in tiny little packets of 1 teaspoon at a time because it was so expensive. Even in that sugar-deprived environment, people did succumb to yeast infections due to the heat and the moisture. Best regards, E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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