Food for Thought

It’s been a month since my last blog post, and I have a lot of catching up to do! To start, I’d like to share with you a few of my favorite culinary discoveries:

BUNNY

This is authentic Durban cuisine right here! Take a ¼ loaf of bread, carve out the center and fill with curry and beans or meat. Then the bread from the loaf’s center is placed on top of the curry filling. A bunny is usually served with a carrot and chili salad, and you eat it all with your hands!

When I first arrived in South Africa and Rhona introduced me to the “bunny,” I ate bean bunnies almost every day. That was before I discovered the chip roll.

CHIP ROLL

A hot dog roll, filled with French fries, covered with cheese and ketchup. YUM. I’m always carbo-loading for tomorrow’s run!

ROTI

I’ve also enjoyed plenty of roti and beans here. Roti is essentially a savory crepe, that I most usually order filled with beans and curry. I love my beans and curry. I hope to learn how to make a proper South African curry before I leave!

ROOIBOS & HONEYBUSH TEA

I drink it almost every day. It’s delicious and good for you.

CRÈME SODA

Sodas are called “cool drinks,” here. The drink I know as cream soda in the States is bright green here, but it tastes (almost) exactly the same!

And finally, a friendly reminder from a neighborhood restaurant…


When it comes to food, my willingness to try anything and everything has introduced to me a plethora of other delicious South African dishes not represented in this brief blog post. And with the Easter holidays approaching this weekend, I hope to discover even more!

I'm also thrilled to report that with the beautiful support of a community volunteer, the Blue Roof nutrition program is now providing hot meals for our patients Monday through Thursday! It is very important for patients take their anti-retroviral medication with food, and for many patients at the Blue Roof, the meal they receive at the clinic will be their only meal for the day. Food prices in South Africa continue to rise, and so the number of patients who need nutritional assistance is growing. Rhona and I are working hard to negotiate discounts with local grocery stores, as well as donations of excess food products that can stock our supply for patient meals. We also intend to use the vegetables grown in our community garden as ingredients for patient meals, in an effort to make the nutrition program more self-sustaining.