Day 519: Tacos, Je t’aime

I know I have been really bad about posting new entries, but it is mainly because my daily life has turned into a routine like in the States and we all know that when that happens you don’t think exciting things are happening every day. I am convinced that we are just not looking in the right places at the right time, but I do remember those endless hours I was stuck in front of my laptop at work and the only entertaining thing that happened during my day was when I wrote lewd or outrageous emails to my friends… who were also working and had access to email every second of everyday.

Anyway, this entry is about food. Some people may be under the impression that I do not eat well in Benin. This will hopefully give you a better idea as to the state of awesomeness (or lack-there-of) of the food we can get/make here. Back in November 2008 I think I wrote an entry about losing a lot of weight and how skinny I am now. That all changed after I visited the US in May/June of 2009. I haven’t lost the 15 pounds I gained in the 13 day eating frenzy I allowed myself due, in most part, to the arrival of the new volunteers.

I have a ‘close-mate’ who lives a couple kilometers away (approximately 20+) who is originally from Downey, California. Let’s say his name is ENGLISH. Erik English. We should also pretend that he is an English teacher here in Benin and replaced a guy volunteer named Eric. Erik (with a ‘k’) is a pretty chill guy and it just so happened that during one of our first conversations together we found out that we both love the same thing. No, not tacos. Not pate either. Tapatio.

For those of you who have been living under a Mexican rock for the past so many odd years, Tapatio is the hot sauce brought down from the gods to humankind to help our taste buds fully appreciate the awesomeness of Mexican food. Or, simply put, it is tastier and less acidic than Tabasco. Once I found out that I had someone close by me who shared a love of Tapatio, and, therefore, Mexican food, I was ecstatic.

We’ve had a total of three (3) ‘Taco Nights’, one of which happened to land on Tuesday, making it ‘Taco Tuesday’. What this usually consists of is me and Erik getting together, discussing what would be good in the day’s taco pursuits and then us putting it all together for a beautiful, candlelit dinner (note: it only has been candlelit because for some odd reason the electricity has been out the last two sessions). We have slowly been inviting others to come join in the madness of taco night, but we also make sure to warn them in advance: You will want to eat more, but you will realize that you already ate way too much. Taco night is NOT a joke. It will ruin you.

Until, that is, the next morning when we make huevos rancheros for breakfast with a side of coffee.

Now that I have given the gist of ‘Taco Night’, it may be profitable to list out what we actually make here:
[1] Refried beans: sometimes we do this from raw beans, boil them with baking soda (an amazing trick that works like a charm – and that does not have a weird taste, as long as, you don’t put a ton of baking soda in the water!), drain, fry up some onions and garlic, throw in the beans, throw in oil and seasonings, and mash away!
[2] Spanish rice: mash some tomatoes, cut up garlic and onions, throw in your rice, oil, seasonings, and water… and voila! Amazing rice!
[3] Meat: This one changes every time. Sometimes we use spam (that’s usually something I randomly have since I use it sparingly here), lately I’ve been able to find PORK at post so we used that two Taco nights ago, and this last time (Saturday) we found BEEF! And man, was it glorious. Cut up garlic, onions, meat, add seasonings and voila! Spicy meat!
[4] Tortilla: Now this is the secret to our success. I found an awesome chewy tortilla recipe awhile back and it has been the crux of our night. Erik has been a great addition because he has given the night creativity. For example, during the first night where I made Mexican food for people at their technical visit, Erik suggested, “Why don’t you fry those suckers up?” Hard shell tacos. The first ‘Taco Night’ Erik suggested, “Why don’t you make a double decker taco?” So we did. The second ‘Taco Night’ we had a bottle of just-sent-Tapatio so we didn’t make many changes. The third ‘Taco Night’ Erik suggested, “Why don’t we have chalupas?” Fried tortillas, before cooking the tortillas on the skillet and then frying. Genius.
[5] Salsa: Pico de gallo, mango, or just some tomatoes and onions, we make it all. Unfortunately for us, cilantro is sorta hard to grow here, so we are still trying to work the kinks outta that one.

Now, all these things are made from scratch so you can see why it is an exciting event when we do it. We have gotten pretty good at rolling out, heating up, frying, and shaping our tortillas now. Beans, rice, and meat are simple as rinsing vegetables. When Erik and I get together we contemplate life in Benin and then the conversation always inevitably goes to, ‘What would be good to add/subtract for the next Taco Night.’ Sad, but true.

Erik has also been publicizing our nights to anyone who would lend a listening ear, so PCVs are beginning to think that we do them all the time and wonder why we don’t invite them. Little do they know that Erik and I enjoy having exclusive rights to ‘Taco Night’ and changes made to the night need to be done with much scrutiny. The next ‘Taco Night’ might actually move into an altogether different category, chimichangas. Or better yet, burritos. Or better still, TAQUITOS. Oh man, I’m not gonna be able to sleep tonight.