Food is great but sometimes eating food can be tiresome especially if it's not your favourite kind of food. So what do we like?
The Rolex. Every Ugandan knows this is a snack not a $10,000 watch. As I'm sure most Ugandans have tasted one except the few who are lying about it, rolexes never taste the same and their recipes vary. The main components are the chapatti(indian bread) and omelette which are rolled together. The omelette is the heart so it has to be perfect. Some people prefer the omelette plain. Some prefer vegetables(tomatoes, onions, cabbage, greenpepper, carrots) in it. Some like all vegetables in except the tomatoes. They'd rather have these rolled raw within the omelette which is commonly known as "nyanya mbisi" meaning "raw tomatoes". I am a nyanya mbisi person as well and i consider the anti-nyanya mbisi people to be uncouth. On another side we have people who like nyanya-mbisi but don't like cabbage or greenpepper. I am yet to find someone who doesn't like onions in his/her omelette. Then we have the 'tapeworm' lovers who want all the vegies raw as if to counter the high cholesterol of the oily omelette and chapatti. Best rolex I've ever had? This one guy kinda over did the eggs on the pan till they were golden brown and abit crunch. The nyanya-mbisi was there and he had one of those chappattis where minced carrots and greenpepper are done within a pure wheat dough. Incase you didn't know some chappatti guys added a little cassava flour to their wheat flour to make ends meet. But this one was pure wheat. First bite got the saliva going. Second bite confirmed the fact that i had just had a good day. Heavenly. Blissful.
Odi in between two soft slices of wheat bread. Incase you're wondering what odi is, it's peanut butter but this one contains simsim paste as well. The best your mouth can get. By far the best thing to ever come out of northern Uganda. Soft wheat bread I'm talking about the Supaloaf kind if you're a Kampala-n. You take a bite on this odi sandwich and it sticks to the roof of your mouth. You then have to pry it off with your tongue. It sticks to the far ends of your molars. Quite troublesome but so worth it. If you want to make things more perfect, take this with a hot cup of vanilla flavoured milk tea. Also add an omelette between the slices. Use only onions and carrots in this omelette.
Grilled/Fried meat.
If you've ever been to one of those beaches in Ggaba or Entebbe along Lake Nalubbale and tasted deep fried tilapia then you know what happiness is. Those things are heavenly. You leave the place talking too much. Next to these is grilled chicken. The kind that gets so soft you crunch on the cartilage. Then comes goat meat. And pork. The kinda food that brings out the apex predator in you. It's sad that i can't eat red meat because it gives me a nasty stomach ache, skin rash and heavy chest. That was the few times i forced myself on pork and goat meat. But I'm good with my fish and chicken.
Pizza. I haven't had that much pizza in this Kampala but Tastebudz has the best pizza I've eaten so far. It's not too crusty and it's big. Pizzahut is good but small. Perfection is that hot Tastebudz chicken pizza with extra cheese.
Fried rice. This is not pilau. This is the standard fried rice but it's not stand alone because it has complements which include pasta, chopped up irish potatoes, vegetables and seasoning. So here we fry our vegetables i.e tomatoes, onions, carrots and greenpepper in shallow oil. Only greenpepper can be done without. Carrots are the secret to making your rice taste heavenly. Onions bring in an often ignored taste that is highly relevant. They're the cornerstone and do the same when added to boiled pasta. Tomatoes give us colour and taste. Add your salt and seasoning when frying the vegies. For seasoning we shall use just one teaspoon of Royco per 1/4kg of rice. Period. Add some small water to enable thorough mixing. Add your rice and mix well. Then add water which has to 3x the rice you put. Use same measuring container.Stir with very well. Add your pasta and chopped up irish which shouldn't exceed 3/4 of the rice when everything is ready. Stir slowly and ensure everything is or atleast almost submerged. Boil till the water is finished. Serve still hot with a glass of cocktail juice on the side. Take a heavy nap afterwards.
Cake. Contenders we have the black forest cake, chocolate cake, red velvet cake, marble cake, fruit cake and just cake. Black forest cake made with butter instead of margarine wins hands down. It pains me to talk about that cake since i can't reach it now but it is perfect. From the soft icing to the heart. It is as gorgeous as it is sweet.
