On food...

I do not know how many of you have ever tried to eat with your fingers (and I do not mean the stylish finger food nowadays served at fashionable parties). It is not as easy as it looks, there is also a certain etiquette to it. This may vary from country to country. Here in Zanzibar there is the rule that you should use your right hand only (the other one is considered unclean, since it is the one you use to clean yourself after using the bathroom (no toilet paper)). So with your right hand you scoop up the food on your plate, not so bad when it is potatoes or chunks of vegetables or meat, a little trickier when it comes to rice and spinach, very difficult when you have to break off pieces of bread or fish or so with one hand only. Then you pass your hand with the food to your mouth and somehow deposit it there. Without dropping too much on the way. As I said it is not as easy as it looks and I'm far from looking as elegant at it as the women here. Oh well, I am trying and elegant isn't the sort of description that comes to mind immediately when thinking about me anyway...
The food here is really good, even though half of the time I have no idea what exactly I am eating. I do try everything and mostly it is a pleasant surprise. I have to admit though that I really don't like octopus (much to the disappointment of the people here) and that pili pilis have proven to be to strong for me (much to the amusement of the people here).... As for the fruit... oh boy, the Mangoes and Papayas we get in Europe just cannot compete, they are so delicious here... and there are all kinds of fruits I have never seen and tasted before... it's all very exciting and I consider myself very adventurous. Oh, and I noticed that the three chicken that were running around in the court yard are conspicuously absent and that we did have several dishes containing chicken lately....
The funny thing is that my host family thinks I am not eating enough, even though I feel like that's all I do. They think I'm on a diet. Me! Now there's a laugh....

As I didn't manage to post a the habitual piece of Antiquarian Knowledge last time, here are two pieces for today:

On tourism:

The first travel guide that included specific information on transportation, accommodation, prices and so on was published by a German publisher in 1836: the famous Baedeker (it still exists today). It was said to be very accurate and thorough, there is the legend that Karl Baedeker, the publisher dropped a pea at every twenty steps when visiting the Milan Cathedral so as to be able to report the exact number. There go those Germans....

On food:

The 19th century not only saw the Scramble for Africa but also the invention of canned food. Eating food out of cans was considered to be sophisticated and a status symbol. So all those colonials would rather eat their meals out of a can instead of enjoying all the delious fresh produce around them. Just to show white man's superiority....