More Meat

I think its time I revisited the food issue.

I think now, I've tried most things Nigerian. Or at least those I've heard of. And from this region anyway. I've said before meat is not big on the menu here, mainly because of cost. But I'll elaborate on some interesting points/stories.

I told you Suya is good. Now I've been to the north of Nigeria I was able to try something just as nice (maybe better) called Kilichi (spelling?). It seems to be dried beef flavoured with pepper and maybe onion. Its a bit like eating a spicy beef jerky. Quite good.

Yesterday, at my boss's house they were pounding chickens! What I hear you say. What is pounding?

Pounding is where one takes a substance, usually say yam or cassava, and puts it in a giant mortle and pestle and bangs the life out of the food to make it into a kind of paste. I've only ever heard of one doing this with yam or casssava but yesterday at our house two chickens were killed (first time i've seen that too!) then de-feathered, then mashed up (bones, innards and all) with various spices and additives to make a kind of medicine for arthritis. It was all supervised by a family friend who is a professor of pharmacy here at the university but is also nicknamed the "village chemist" because he has an interest in traditional medicines. I pities Seyi who was doing the pounding because its tough work and he was at it for hours.

In other meat news....

I've discovered that since meat is scarce, they make good use of their surrounds to err... increase one's meat intake. This has included:

1) A man walking in front of me stopped, took of his sandal, threw it as something. When I walked past I saw he'd killed a squirrel and he took with him.
2) Was told about a student who used to weekly get a gun, shoot 3 or 4 bats (there are lots around this campus), make a stew with them and eat it for the rest of the week
3) My boss tells me now the rains have come one can roam around picking snails up
4) On a highway trip, there was a clang on my bus. It screeched to a halt. Reversed 100 metres up a blind corner on a dangerous road to retrieve the pidgeon it had just killed. Lunch for the driver and conductor!

Need I go on?