Cowboy Potatoes by Lake Tanganyika

A couple of days ago Chef Richard, at the Hotel Club du Lac Tanganyika, prepared a buffet that featured several American dishes, including Spicy Meatloaf, Rocky Mountain rice and peas, and – the center piece – Karen Resta’s Cowboy Potatoes!

Buffet

The Cowboy Potatoes were inspired by a recipe that Karen Resta included in her blog entry entitled ‘What Small Potatoes We All Are, Compared With What We Might Be!’ – and it is a great read.

In the blog, the recipe is described as ‘Hungarian’ – not Cowboy – but following a bit of back-and-forth it became ‘Cowboy’ instead of ‘Hungarian’ Potatoes. First, because the recipe called for paprika, which here in Burundi is awful. Second, since the hotel buys whole carcasses of beef and other meat – sort of ‘cowboy-style’ – and third, because the beef broth called for in the recipe was made from ‘fresh’ bones and leavings – down-to-earth Cowboy-style.

Also, Richard insisted that the dish be named in honor of Karen, since she had put it in her blog.

Half a beef, fresh from the abbatoire

Preparing beef broth for the recipe

Preparing other good things

Karen Resta's Cowboy Potatoes

The main buffet

The salad bar

Dessert table

Happy diners

Thanks, Karen!

 

Cuisines and Crops of Africa, 18th Century: Food and Farming in Timbuktu

Tetuan, Moroccan port town opposite Gibraltar. Steel Engraving. Institute in Hidlburghausen. 1842

In about 1789, the merchant and voyager Abd Salam Shabeeny  set out from his home city, the Moroccan port town of Tetuan, for Germany in order to procure items for use in his trans-Saharan caravan trade business.  On the way he was captured, finally landing in England, where – before being returned to Morocco – he dictated:  ‘An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa Territories in the Interior of Africa.’

His  narrative is filled with snippets about the life and times of a North African Muslim caravan merchant of the period.  It was eventually published by Mr James Grey Jackson in  1820, together with a variety of notes and correspondence from the period, relating to colonial events and aspirations  in West Africa.

The sections on crops and cuisines are brief, but insightful and several are given below.

First however, a little taste of  Hajj Shabeeny’s biography, which offers a fascinating window into European and North African  commerce and politics of the late 18th Century; as told to Mr. Johnson [my explanatory notes in square brackets]:

The person who communicated the following intelligence respecting Timbuctoo and Housa, is a Muselman, and a native of Tetuan [Moroccan port just across from Gibraltar]…

… in the twenty-seventh year of his age, he proceeded from Tetuan as a pilgrim and merchant, with the caravan for Egypt to Mecca and Medina, and on his return, established himself as a merchant at Tetuan, his native place, from whence he embarked on board a vessel bound for Hamburgh, in order to purchase linens and other merchandize that were requisite for his commerce [ produce that would be sold to merchants for the caravan trade south to Timbuktu and Hausaland, which was the largest Sahelian 'kingdom' of the time].

Saharan Caravan on the march Algeria 1896. Shabeeny would have traveled to Egypt in a similar caravan. Source: Royal Geographic Society.

On his return from Hamburgh in an English vessel, he was captured, and carried prisoner to Ostend, by a ship manned by Englishmen, but under Russian colours, the captain of which pretended that his Imperial mistress was at war with all Muselmen…

There he was released by the good offices of the British consul, Sir John Peters, and embarked once more in the same vessel, which, by the same mediation, was also released; but as the captain either was or pretended to be afraid of a second capture, El Hage Abd Salam was sent ashore at Dover, and is now, by the orders of government, to take his passage on board a king’s ship that will sail in a few days… [returning him to Morocco]

Passages on crops and cuisine, as quoted by Shabeeni:

Regarding the crops of Timbuktu:

Timbuktu, Mali.  Steel engraving, 1868.   Source:  Probably based on the 1824 sketch by Rene Caillié, the first European to travel to Timbuktu and to bring back drawings of the town.

The country is well cultivated, except on the side of the desert. They have rice, el bishna [Indian corn], and a corn which they call allila [a species of millet] but in Barbary it is called drâh:  this requires very rich ground. They make bread of el bishna: they have no wheat or barley.

Bread-baking oven in Timbuktu, very likely similar to those used during the time Shabeeny resided in the city. Possibly, the similarly-shaped constructions in the drawing above are ovens (or, very small hovels for poorer members of the population). Source: Wikipedia

Property is fenced by a bank and a ditch. Dews are very heavy. Lands are watered by canals cut from the Nile high lands by wells [i.e., from the Niger River], the water of which is raised by wheels worked by cattle, as in Egypt [This would be a saqiya - but I think Johnson is incorrect; most likely  a shaduuf was used - see pictures and further discussion below ]…

Egyptian saqiya, which I do not think was meant by Shabeeni. Saqiya of the Daramalli family, 1924, Qurna Historical Project. qurna.org

Boy using a shaduf water-lifting device in Egypt, 19th Century. This is most likely the device that Sabeeny was trying to describe. Source: unknown

Water lifting device, similar to a shaduf, used today in the Niger floodplains. Source: fadama.net

The farming system used is called fadama, and is still employed throughout the Niger floodplain (above picture) and elsewhere in West Africa.  I suspect this was a technique brought back from Egypt by pilgrims, as both the farming system (fadama) and the water-raising technology (shaduf) are basic to Egypt farming.  It is possible that the word fadama is a corruption of the Arabic word faddan, which is the basic unit of land measurement, being 1.038 acres / 0.42 ha.  The fadama plots that I saw in the Niger floodplain were all small – i.e., about a faddan in size.

Fadama cultivation; seeds have been sown and the little plots have been watered. Source: fadama.net

Fadama plots a few weeks after watering. Source: fadama.net

They begin to sow rice in August and September, but they can sow it at any time, having water at hand: he saw some sowing rice while others were reaping it. El bishna and other corn is sown before December. El bishna is ripe in June and July; as are beans. Allila may be sown at all seasons; it requires water only every eight or ten days.  Their beans are like the small Mazagan beans, and are sown in March; the stalk is short, but full of pods. The allila produces a small, white, flattish grain.

[The rice would be the indigenous Oryza glaberrima, found throughout the Niger floodplains.]

Provisions:

Rice is their principal food, but the rich have wheaten flour from Fas [also from Morocco], and make very fine bread, which is considered a luxury. Bread is also made from the allila.

They roast, boil, bake, and stew, but make no cuscasoe:

'kuskus'

Their meals are breakfast, dinner, and supper. They commonly breakfast about eight, dine about three, and sup soon after sunset. They drink only water or milk with their meals, have no palm wine or any fermented liquor; when they wish to be exhilarated after dinner, they provide a plant of an intoxicating quality called el hashisha, of which they take a handful before a draught of water….

The difficulty with the narrative is that it was told to a British Consul in Arabic, who then translated it to Mr. Johnson – who published the work.  How many errors of either misunderstanding or simply re-interpreting Hajj Shabeeny’s narrative is of course impossible to determine.

However, there is a good deal of interesting lore and I will put up more information from his text in the future.

 

Cuisines and Crops of Africa, 19th Century – The Limits of Pastoralism as a Lifestyle

When the British explorer John Hanning Speke traveled through what is today Somalia, East Africa, in the 19th. Century,  he was very impressed both by the eating habits of the local people, as well as by the physical characteristics of livestock – both of which he attributed to living in a harsh desert climate:

Somali home and dress. Source: Unknown

What Led To The Discovery of the Source Of The Nile, by John Hanning Speke,  1864

Their food is very limited [Somali bedouin], except in the rainy season, when milk prevails: in consequence of this, it being now the dry season, my servants accounted for their increasing appetite for my dates. Some of the poorer men are said to pass their whole lives without tasting any flesh or grain, but to live entirely on sour milk, wild honey, or gums, as they may chance to come across them…

As a gun is known by the loudness of its report, and ability to stand a large discharge of powder, to be of good quality, so is a man’s power gaged by his capacity of devouring food; it is considered a feat of superiority to surpass another in eating.

I have seen a Somali myself, when half-starved by long fasting, and his stomach drawn in, sit down to a large skinful of milk, and drink away without drawing breath until it was quite empty, and it was easy to observe his stomach swelling out in exact proportion as the skin of liquor decreased…

Each man carried a junk of flesh, a skin of water, and a little hay, and was then ready for a long campaign, for they were not soft like the English (their general boast), who must have their daily food; they were hardy enough to work without eating ten days in succession, if the emergency required it. Here a second camel was on the point of dying, when his flesh was saved from becoming carrion by a knife being passed across his throat…

I was very much struck with the sleekness of the sheep, considering there appeared nothing for them to live upon; but I was shown amongst the stony ground here and there a little green pulpy-looking weed, an ice plant called Buskale, succulent, and by repute highly nutritious. It was on this they fed and throve.

These Dumba sheep–the fat-tailed breed–appear to thrive on much less food, and can abstain longer from eating, than any others. This is probably occasioned by the nourishment they derive from the fat of their tails, which acts as a reservoir, regularly supplying, as it necessarily would do, any sudden or excessive drainage from any other part of their systems…

Fat-Tailed sheep in Somalia. Fat resources in their tails allow for prologued periods with little food or water. Source: Mohamed Abdi Ware

African long fat-tailed type at Songa Station, Rwanda. Source: FAO

The ancestors of these fat-tailed sheep may originally have come from Arabia, where for millennium they were an important asset of pastoral tribes both in Arabia as well as in the Middle East.

Rock engravings of fat-tailed sheep from central Arabia, second or early first millennium BC. Source FAO, Anati, 1968

Herodotus mentions them in Arabia in the 5th Century:

Herodotus, Histories, Book II,  Tr. by Rawlinson:

There are also in Arabia two kinds of sheep worthy of admiration, the like of which is nowhere else to be seen; the one kind has long tails, not less than three cubits in length, which, if they were allowed to trail on the ground, would be bruised and fall into sores. As it is, all the shepherds know enough of carpentering to make little trucks for their sheep’s tails. The trucks are placed under the tails, each sheep having one to himself, and the tails are then tied down upon them. The other kind has a broad tail, which is a cubit across sometimes.

Cartouch from the' Africae in' Tabula' by A.F. Zurneri C. 1709 - closeup. Source: kunstpedia

The importance of relationship between a particular environment on the one hand, and the agriculture-livestock-cuisines found therein on the other, has been minimized in modern times.  This is due largely to the ability of industrial agriculture to provide a variety of technologies that often distance the linkages between environment and livelihoods – both of people and animals.

For example, improved irrigation allows for less drought-resistant crops and livestock – while high medications that treat various livestock diseases and parasite problems can make possible the raising of non-indigenous breeds in areas where there are serious problems with parasite burdens, but only with regular – and often high levels – of anthelmentics – a strategy that most resource-poor farmers cannon sustain.

In arid and semi-arid regions such as Somalia the Sahel and Arabia, the envelope of livelihood options both for people and for animals is  highly restricted and thus physical and behavioral adaptations to the environment are required.  But as mentioned, our Western, industrially-based and high technology-input lifestyles, whether for people or for livestock, tend to obscure this critical interface.  The map of Somalia, second below, shows just how few options – other than marginal pastoralism – are available to Somali inhabitants:

Somalia is the 'horn' shaped country to the N.E. of the dark blue (Kenya and Tanazania)

Close up of Somalia and its resources:

Economic and natural resource map of Somalia. Source: biyokulule.com

Blue = food crops (sorghum, vegetables, grazing)
Orange= sugar cane
Pink = cotton
Brown = pastoral – most of the country

To supplement these meager resources, pre-modern trade from the interior of Africa to Somalia and the Indian Ocean coast consisted of gums, ivory, slaves, and other minor products.  From the coast, sea trade moved the produce across the Indian ocean and to the Middle East.

Caravan with slaves carrying ivory, moving towards the Somali coast. Notice that the sheep on on the lower right appears to be a fat-tailed sheep Source: Speke, What Led to the Discovery of the Nile

In modern times, and with the collapse of this trade and of the Somali state and economy, sea piracy has become one – though certainly not the only way – of  supplementing  pastoralism:

Pirates off the coast of Somalia. Source: Daily Telegraph, UK

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Cuisines and Crops of Africa, 19th Century – Zambezi River Watershed in Southern Africa

Between 1858 and 1864 Dr. David Livingston and his brother, together with several other persons, explored  the Zambezi River and its tributaries in south-central Africa.

Livingstone-Frontispiece from Narrative of an expedition to the Zambesi

Although this was one of the most difficult of the colonial ventures into the interior of Africa, and was considered fruitless by some members of the Royal Geographical Society, it nevertheless provided a wealth of information on the people and politics of the area as well as on flora and fauna, agriculture, trade and other information.

I have already put up a bit of information from their exploits – about  collecting and eating lotus – in this blog.

This, and several future blogs, give passages from this book on crops and foods on the Zambezi watershed.  These I have selected in order to illustrate both major  indigenous foods and crops, as well as the crops that were introduced by Swahili and Portuguese traders.

The major ethnic group located in the watershed are the Manganja, who migrated into the area from the south of the Congo in about the 15th Century AD.  They are a Bantu group, primarily agriculturalists but with some livestock.  Throughout the area Swahili and then Portuguese merchants had traveled for several centuries – first, seeking ivory and then increasingly also slaves.

Some settlements were founded by either the Swahili or Portuguese traders along the river and in these places a variety of seeds were imported for use by the trading communities, many of which became incorporated into indigenous cropping and culinary systems.

In the section below I have highlighted the crops grown by the Manganja that had been introduced.  It is clear that, with the exception of patches of sorghum and millet,  little by way of indigenous crops are systematically grown – a topic I will take up in later blogs.

Future commercial agricultural activities that Britain could pursue was one of the topics of the exploration, and the passage suggests that the growing of cotton was considered one such possibility.

Women with Water-Pots, Listening to the Music of the Marimba, Sansa, and 'Pan’s Pipes'

From:  A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone’s Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1865.

The Manganja are an industrious race; and in addition to working in iron, cotton, and basket-making, they cultivate the soil extensively.  All the people of a village turn out to labour in the fields.  It is no uncommon thing to see men, women, and children hard at work, with the baby lying close by beneath a shady bush.

When a new piece of woodland is to be cleared, they proceed exactly as farmers do in America.  The trees are cut down with their little axes of soft native iron; trunks and branches are piled up and burnt, and the ashes spread on the soil.  The corn is planted among the standing stumps which are left to rot.

If grass land is to be brought under cultivation, as much tall grass as the labourer can conveniently lay hold of is collected together and tied into a knot.  He then strikes his hoe round the tufts to sever the roots, and leaving all standing, proceeds until the whole ground assumes the appearance of a field covered with little shocks of corn in harvest.  A short time before the rains begin, these grass shocks are collected in small heaps, covered with earth, and burnt, the ashes and burnt soil being used to fertilize the ground.

Large crops of the mapira, or Egyptian dura (Holcus sorghum), are raised, with millet, beans, and ground-nuts; also patches of yams, rice, pumpkins, cucumbers, cassava, sweet potatoes, tobacco, and hemp, or bang (Cannabis setiva).  Maize is grown all the year round.

Cotton is cultivated at almost every village.  Three varieties of cotton have been found in the country, namely, two foreign and one native.  The “tonjé manga,” or foreign cotton, the name showing that it has been introduced, is of excellent quality, and considered at Manchester to be nearly equal to the best New Orleans.  It is perennial, but requires replanting once in three years.  A considerable amount of this variety is grown in the Upper and Lower Shiré valleys.

Every family of any importance owns a cotton patch which, from the entire absence of weeds, seemed to be carefully cultivated.  Most were small, none seen on this journey exceeding half an acre; but on the former trip some were observed of more than twice that size.

The “tonjé cadja,” or indigenous cotton, is of shorter staple, and feels in the hand like wool.  This kind has to be planted every season in the highlands; yet, because it makes stronger cloth, many of the people prefer it to the foreign cotton; the third variety is not found here.  It was remarked to a number of men near the Shiré Lakelet, a little further on towards Nyassa, “You should plant plenty of cotton, and probably the English will come and buy it.”

“Truly,” replied a far-travelled Babisa trader to his fellows, “the country is full of cotton, and if these people come to buy they will enrich us.”  Our own observation on the cotton cultivated convinced us that this was no empty flourish, but a fact.  Everywhere we met with it, and scarcely ever entered a village without finding a number of men cleaning, spinning, and weaving.

It is first carefully separated from the seed by the fingers, or by an iron roller, on a little block of wood, and rove out into long soft bands without twist.  Then it receives its first twist on the spindle, and becomes about the thickness of coarse candlewick; after being taken off and wound into a large ball, it is given the final hard twist, and spun into a firm cop on the spindle again: all the processes being painfully slow.

 

Cat Culture in the Tropics

Several weeks ago  my cat Binty died.  She was nearly 14, which is an exceptionally good age to reach here in the tropics, where diseases and climates take heavy tolls on both animals and people.  She died of complications of a kidney infection, for which no proper medications can be found in Burundi.

Two other cats also came with me from Kenya, and they have died within the last couple of years, also of disease complications that could not be properly treated due to lack of medications.

Here is a little blog about them.

Binty, which means 'my girl' in Arabic

Binty, a Kenyan Burmese, who grew a white mustache as she aged

First, however, a quote about cats that I recently came across in a late 19th Century book on Domesticated Animals, whose author was clearly not a cat-fancier – a fact I find rather surprising for the colonial period:

Among the curious features connected with the association of the cat with man, we may note that it is the only animal which has been tolerated, esteemed, and at times worshiped, without having a single distinctly valuable  quality.

It is, in a small way, serviceable in keeping down the excessive development of small rodents, which from the beginning have been the self-invited guests of man. As it is in a certain indifferent way sympathetic, and by its caresses appears to indicate affection, it has awakened a measure of  sympathy which it hardly deserves.

I have been unable to  find any authentic instances which go to show the existence  in cats of any real love for their masters.

Shaler - Domesticated Animals – Their Relation to Man and to His Advancement in Civilization. 1895

Mr. Shaler apparently did not consider cats as contributing to man’s ‘Advancement in Civilization’ – which was  a favorite colonial preoccupation.

Binty was given to me along with her brother ‘Boy-boy’, by a dear friend in Kenya, and the two cats were inseparable:

This was not posed - but was how the two liked to rest.

Boy-boy was huge – about twice as large as Binty, and very lazy.

Boy-boy posing with his huge paws spread

Boy loved two things: sleeping and eating (ok, most cats do, but he really did little else). He seemed to have managed to combine the two, as when sleeping he occasionally would chomp-chomp while licking his chops.

But my favorite cat was Lulu, who died 1st. January of this year (he always liked to do things in style).  Very intelligent – more like a dog, due to being 25% East African Wild Cat.

'Wildcat' pose

…When less than a year old, in Kenya, he managed to find a way to escape his cage when taking him to the vet – and was lost for a couple of weeks.

This poster brought resultes; Lulu was mewing up a tree. I gave a nice baked cake to the person who reported him, as a reward

Balancing along the round curtain rods – a favorite game

A few more Lulu-antics:

climbing up the poster bed

Climbing out the window after climbing up the bookcase, ladder-style

Balancing along the upper level curtain rods after climbing up the curtain

Relaxing on an African textile

Relaxing in bed

Favorite computer-assistance pose

"Food!"

Hot weather napping

Oriental pose

Well, more than enough of Lulu!  What a wonderful cat he was…

A few yeas ago I was given another cat by a friend here, and named it ‘Bébé’ because he was terribly small and malnourished.  However, he grew with good feeding, and soon began to terrorize Binty and Lulu.

Bébé on an elephant

Computer-assistance spot, shared with Lulu

Sun bathing location

Alternate position

Favored sunbathing position

Bébé giving the new Belgian Shepherd pup a lesson in how NOT to play

How the cats liked to sleep when the temperature fell below 75 - cold for the tropics

That is enough about cats.  Another time, dogs – and perhaps also about the donkeys, horses, goats, birds, lizards, snakes, monkeys, bats, owls, and other strange creatures that we’ve had and-or cared for over the years. Living in central Africa brings delightful experiences, if you are fond of animals.

 

How to stock and run a commercial kitchen in Central Africa

Here is a photo-tour explaining in general terms how a hotel in the middle of Africa buys its meat and fresh produce, stores and prepares it, cooks, and serves. Everything in this part of the world is from ‘scratch’.

Beginning with the meat: In order to assure healthy meat,  The hotel buys ‘on the hoof’, at the main slaughter house, where it is vet-examined, butchered and then brought back to the hotel:

Newly-slaughtered beef, arriving at the Hotel

Meat is then hung in the cold room and aged a bit:

Goats and sheep in the meat storage. Sometimes I arrange goats to be purchased from farmers in the nearby village, which must be brought live and then they are slaughtered on site.

Examining aging beef

In the butcher room it is cut up, some being ground, and lots of bones for good soup broth.

Rolling lamb

Preparing goat brochettes - these wil be marinated and grilled over charcoal in the grilling room, at the back

Fresh produce is bought in bulk; nothing is over 24 hours old (from the field) and as much as possible, it is purchased from the nearby village so that it is even fresher.

Fresh produce is delivered by different dealers three or four times a week. Here, it is weighed and sorted

Richard and the vegetable supplier (seated) jointly weigh the items. Poor quality items are rejected.

Produce is then stored in the veggie cold room:

Produce is arranged in the veggie coldroom

Items that will be used immediately, or that don't do well being refrigerated, are stored outside the coldroom

Dishes  are prepared here, in the main kitchen:

Preparing green beans for a large dinner

The salad chefs

Main stoves area

Preparing an Indian (actually, Swahili) dinner

Can't forget the potato peelers!

And desserts are prepared here:

Fresh strawberry tarts, for Sunday International Buffet

Special occasion cake, by pastry chef Arnold

Serving a special occasion buffet

Buffet served in the main diningroom

A great Congolese group that entertains in the restaurant with mellow tunes

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African Beef Stew with sweet potatoes and mangos, cooked and served in a Pumpkin

Yesterday Chef Richard, of the Hotel club du Lac Tanganyika, prepared a dish that I learned in Kenya quite a while back, which is both tasty and provides a great presentation in a buffet.

A group of international dignitaries came to the hotel for lunch, and so Richard made this African stew together with a baked rice-amaranth  ‘risotto’ with a cheese topping, served with several salads.  Fresh strawberry and apple tarts and fresh fruit were served for dessert; it was all very good.

10-12    Pound whole pumpkin (one large, or two small)
1/4    Pound butter
1     Cup sugar
2 T    Olive oil
2    Pounds beef chunks
4    Cups sweet potatoes
4    Cups white potatoes (or sweet)
1    Cup onions, diced
½    Cup green peppers, diced
4    Medium ripe mangos
1 – 2    Cups carrots, sliced
1 T    Oregano *
1    Bay leaf *
Salt & pepper
2    Cups beef stock

* Can be used for European tastes, but in Africa the choice would be for red pepper ( ‘pili-pili ho-ho’)

•    Cut lid and clean out the inside of the pumpkin
•    Brush inside with the softened butter and sugar (mixed)
•    Replace lid and bake at 350 F in a roasting pan for about 45 minutes
•    Place olive oil in a large skillet and brown beef
•    Remove meat and in juices cook sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and carrots
•    Remove potatoes and carrots and in juices cook remaining ingredients, including beef stock
•    Cook until onions are translucent
•    After pumpkin is finished cooking combine all cooked ingredients into pumpkin
•    Don’t overcrowd
•    Return to oven for abuot 45 minutes
•    Serve out of the pumpkins

The dish is not terribly spicy, but it is tasty and the meat becomes quite tender, baked in the pumpkins.

Chef Richard and sous-chef Jean-Claude showing off their African stew in pumpkins, being served from the bain-marie

Sous-chef Jean-Claude with the Rice-broth-linga-linga (local amarante) & cheese 'risotto'

Part of the buffet. The large 'nuts' are freshly-picked coconuts from trees on the Hotel shore-front of Lake Tanganyika

Serving staff with Richard and Jean-Claude

Next, I will talk about How to stock and run a commercial kitchen in central Africa. Well, how it is done at the Hotel.

 

Inventing Ethnicity; Imagining Agriculture: The ‘Tribes’ of Ham and the ‘Primitive’ Crops of Africa

One of the most bedeviling aspects of colonial and post-colonial African history and development that continues to impact on contemporary events has been the identification by colonials of specific ‘races’ and ‘tribes’ that were said to be linked to the slave status of the biblical Ham, son of Noah.

Together with these invented ethnicities often came the unexamined assumption that agriculture, livestock and cuisines of Africa were similarly inferior to those of Europe .

The tall, thin pastoralists of central Africa were identified by colonial explorers as descendants of the tribes of Ham. c. 1880

I put the terms ‘race and ‘tribe’ in quotes, because many were invented categories that can be traced back even to classical geographers and their conceptions of the peopling of the African continent.

Background:

It is important to realize that, from medieval through colonial times, geographers, explorers and scholars turned to the bible for scientific information.  Hence, the bible formed the substructure for imaginings of what existed in unknown regions of the world – specifically for this blog, empirical knowledge about the people and customs of Africa.

The Peopling of the world – Colonial and Medieval conceptions:

Based on the book of Genesis, the world was divided by medieval scholars into three, major (geographical-cum-racial) groups, each populated by one of the sons of Noah: Shem, Japheth, and Ham.  This is depicted in the following 15th Century map:

T & O map of Guntherus Ziner, 1472. Asia is at the top, Europe the bottom left, and Africa the bottom right. The Mediterranean is in the middle, the Red Sea to the right, and Caspian sea to the left of the T.  The  ocean surrounds.   Source: Wikipedia

The descendants of the family of Shem were the inhabitants of Asia, while Europe was peopled by the sons of Japheth and Africa by the sons of Ham.

Modern T & O map, showing how the known world was configured in medieval T-O maps, so called because the major land masses are divided by a large ‘T’, all being surrounded by the an ‘O’ – the ocean.  Source: Wikipedia

Shem, Ham and Japheth, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot. 1902. Source: de Brunoff

As the following passage from Genesis explains, the descendants of Ham, through his son Canaan, were to be cursed for all time and were to be the ‘…slaves…to his brothers.’  It is upon this slim passage that the inhabitants of Africa became considered as an inferior race.

The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.
These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled.
Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard;
and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,
he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”
He also said, “Blessed by the LORD my God be Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.”
God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.”

Source:  Genesis 9:18-27

Although the color of Ham is not mentioned in the above passage, later interpretations – both Jewish and Christian – ascribed darkness or blackness to either his continence or his conscience, because of the evil act that he had perpetrated.

Interestingly, while the Old Testament is recognized by Islam, the interpretation of the inferiority of Ham’s descendants is rejected in Islamic sources.  The 14th Century social historian ibn Khaldun ascribed skin color to environmental determinants – not to the family of Ham.  Similarly, the earlier historian and essayist, al-Jahiz (8th. Century), stated that:

The Zanj [blacks, or Africans] say that God did not make them black in order to disfigure them; rather it is their environment that made them so. The best evidence of this is that there are black tribes among the Arabs, such as the Banu Sulaim bin Mansur, and that all the peoples settled in the Harra, besides the Banu Sulaim are black. .. White and black are the results of environment, the natural properties of water and soil, distance from the sun, and intensity of heat. There is no question of metamorphosis, or of punishment, disfigurement or favor meted out by Allah…

Source:  Internet Medieval Sourcebook

Colonial Explorers and the Sons of Ham:

The idea that the populations of Africa, as the ’sons of Ham’,  were of  an inferior and subservient race – as developed out of medieval Europe and based on biblical sources -  continued to heavily influence European conceptions of the continent during 19th and 20th century explorations and subsequent colonizations. This ideology was used to justify not only colonial political actions, but was also used by missionaries in their endeavors to erase  ’savagery’ and introduce ’sound Christian principles’.  We have seen some of these attempts in this entry.

However, seeing the physiological differences between Africans residing in East Africa (of a lighter color, taller and thinner) and the black tribes of the interior (darker and shorter), British and German colonials (initially) decided that the former were the Hamitic descendants of Ham that had intermarried locally – and as such were considered superior to the black, ‘fully Bantu tribes’ of the interior – who were seen as the least ‘civilized’.  In other words, the Hamitic tribes were  considered ‘half way’ to being civilized, while the Bantu blacks were seen as stateless, lacking religion and morals, and  totally lacking in advanced skills of agriculture, as defined by European powers.

The following passage by the British explorer Speke is the earliest source of which I am aware that proposes a Hamitic origin for the lighter-taller tribes of East and central Africa:

I propose to state my theory of the ethnology of that part of Africa inhabited by the people collectively styled Wahuma– otherwise Gallas or Abyssinians. My theory is founded on the traditions of the several nations, as checked by my own observations of what I saw when passing through them.

It appears impossible to believe, judging from the physical appearance of the Wahuma, that they can be of any other race than the semi-Shem-Hamitic of Ethiopia.  The traditions of the imperial government of Abyssinia go as far back as the scriptural age of King David, from whom the late reigning king of Abyssinia, Sahela Selassie, traced his descent…

Source:  Speke-Journey of the  Discovery of the Source of the Nile.  1863.

[NOTE: I am quoting solely from Speke's journals in this blog, but his thoughts reflect those of virtually all explorers of the period - with the possible exception of Dr. Livingston.]

This interpretation of lighter and taller groups in central Africa as a kind of ‘half-bred’ Hamite was used to explain the existence of several of the indigenous kingdoms and city-states that explorers found in central Africa.  Their forefathers, Speke proposes, had migrated out of Ethiopia and intermarried with Bantu tribes and this explains their more ‘advanced’ condition, especially with respect to state structures.  Their more aquiline features and lighter skins were used as proof of Hamitic origin, in contrast to darker, shorter groups who were seen as wholly Bantu (non-Hamitic).

Speke continues:

…In these countries [ the kingdoms and city states that he fund in central Africa] the government is in the hands of foreigners, who had invaded and taken possession of them, leaving the agricultural aborigines to till the ground, whilst the junior members of the usurping clans herded cattle–just as in Abyssinia, or wherever the Abyssinians or Gallas have shown themselves. There a pastoral clan from the Asiatic side took the government of Abyssinia from its people and have ruled over them ever since, changing, by intermarriage with the Africans, the texture of their hair and colour to a certain extent, but still maintaining a high stamp of Asiatic feature, of which a market characteristic is a bridged instead of bridgeless nose….

Source:  Speke-Journey of the  Discovery of the Source of the Nile.  1863.

An ‘ideal type’ hamitic-African, long thin nose and lighter skinned. Source: Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle (By Massailand to the Source of Nile), Oscar Baumann, Berlin (1894)

A blending of colonial political and missionizing goals in 19th.C. Burundi: The left = a Tutsi considered ‘part Hamitic’ ('superior' race), in the middle a Hutu considered fully ‘Bantu’ ('inferior' race) and right = a Christianized Tutsi ('best of both worlds'). Source: Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle (By Massailand to the Source of Nile), Oscar Baumann, Berlin (1894)

The two pictures above were taken in Rwanda-Burundi and reflect goals first of German, then of Belgian colonizers: empowering and creating a tribe of Tutsi rulers, while disempowering and creating a tribe of Hutu agricultural peasants.  But as we will see in future blogs, these were primarily inventions on the part of colonialists, for it is now generally considered that the two groups were not ethnically based, but were associated with political and livelihood pursuits.

Christian and Commercial goals:

The intertwined goals of commercial development and missionizing are clearly laid out by Speke, who advises prospective missionaries as to where they should direct their efforts (bold text, mine):

Of all places in Africa, by far the most inviting to missionary enterprise are the kingdoms of Karagué, Uganda, and Unyoro. They are extremely fertile and healthy, and the temperature is delightfully moderate. So abundant, indeed, are all provisions, and so prolific the soil, that a missionary establishment, however large, could support itself after the first year’s crop.

Being ruled by kings of the Abyssinian type, there is no doubt but that they have a latent Christianity in them. These kings are powerful enough to keep up their governments under numerous officers. They have expressed a wish to have their children educated; and I am sure the missionary need only go there to obtain all he desires on as secure a basis as he will find anywhere else in those parts of Africa which are not under the rule of Europeans.

If this was effected by the aid of an Egyptian force at Gondokoro [Southern Sudan], together with an arrangement for putting the White Nile trade on a legitimate footing between that station and Unyoro [Uganda], the heathen would not only be blessed, but we should soon have a great and valuable commerce. Without protection, though, I would not advise anyone to go there.

Source:  Speke-Journey of the  Discovery of the Source of the Nile.  1863.

Summing up the conditions of Africans as seen by colonial explorers, Speke  concludes – for the benefit of his government and of missionary-prone readers in England:

How the negro has lived so many ages without advancing, seems marvellous, when all the countries surrounding Africa are so forward in comparison; and judging from the progressive state of the world, one is led to suppose that the African must soon either step out from his darkness, or be superseded by a being superior to himself.

Could a government be formed for them like ours in India, they would be saved; but without it, I fear there is very little chance; for at present the African neither can help himself nor will he be helped about by others, because his country is in such a constant state of turmoil he has too much anxiety on hand looking out for his food to think of anything else.

As his fathers ever did, so does he. He works his wife, sells his children, enslaves all he can lay hands upon, and, unless when fighting for the property of others, contents himself with drinking, singing, and dancing like a baboon to drive dull care away. A few only make cotton cloth, or work in wood, iron, copper, or salt; their rule being to do as little as possible, and to store up nothing beyond the necessities of the next season, lest their chiefs or neighbours should covet and take it fr

Source:  Speke-Journey of the  Discovery of the Source of the Nile.  1863.

The agricultural connection:

The notion that African societies were inferior – and that some groups in Africa (such at ‘Hutu Tribes’) were still more inferior – continued to influence a number of areas of Western interactions with the continent, including areas of food, agriculture and cuisine, such that improvements could, according to colonial efforts, best be found by introducing western-derived cultivars, livestock, food technologies, etc – an approach that continues to influence many research, development, and humanitarian efforts as will be discussed in later blogs.

Indeed, colonial imaginings of indigenous agricultural and cuisine were as fanciful and lacking in understanding as those related to ethnicity:

Now, descending to the inferior order of creation, I shall commence with the domestic animals first, to show what the traveller may expect to find for his usual support.  Cows, after leaving the low lands near the coast, are found to be plentiful everywhere, and to produce milk in small quantities, from which butter is made. Goats are common all over Africa; but sheep are not so plentiful, nor do they show such good breeding—being generally lanky, with long fat tails (1).  Fowls, much like those in India, are abundant everywhere.  A few Muscovy ducks are imported, also pigeons and cats.  Dogs, like the Indian pariah, are very plentiful, only much smaller; and a few donkeys are found in certain localities…

… whilst all tropical plants will grow just as well in central equatorial Africa as they do in India, it surprises the traveller there should be any famines; yet such is too often the case, and the negro, with these bounties within his reach, is sometimes found eating dogs, cats, rats, porcupines, snakes, lizards, tortoises, locusts, and white ants, or is forced to seek the seeds of wild grasses, or to pluck wild herbs, fruits, and roots; whilst at the proper seasons they hunt the wild elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, pigs, and antelopes; or, going out with their arrows, have battues against the guinea-fowls and small  birds.

(1) fat-tailed sheep are now know to possess a remarkably useful adaptive capacity to arid zones, by which nutrients are stored in the tail [Diana's note].

Source:  Speke-Journey of the  Discovery of the Source of the Nile.  1863.

In future blogs I will take up the impact of these reports regarding the food, cuisine and agriculture in Africa.  Also, I want to say more about the terribly negative impact of Hamitic myths on future generations of inhabitants in central Africa – impacts that the colonials could never have imagined.

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Changing Paradigms in African Agriculture: Learning from the Locals

When I began working in the agriculture-livestock sectors, the main paradigm for improvement was that of technology transfer – moving technologies developed and used in the northern (western) hemisphere, to researchers and farmers in the South.

ToT (Transfer of Technology), as it is called,  was considered the avenue for improvement, by which cultivars and improved livestock that had been developed in the North would be ‘transferred’ to the southern hemisphere.

Neat and clean.  No culture – no society – no politics – no history:  only ‘technology’.

I remember a soil scientist explaining to me:

“There are so many technologies just sitting on the shelf, waiting to be transferred!”

He continued:

“We just need to get them out to the researchers and farmers!”.

And so, extension agencies,  by which ‘technical packages’ were provided,  became one of the ‘answers’.  Sadly, as time went by and failures mounted, this approach was seen to be far too simplistic.  Technologies cannot exist outside of a social-cultural-economic-political context.  And thus, it becomes incumbent upon those developing new or improving old methods to consider the clients – the farmers and policy makers – their limitations, needs, resources, and demands; the context in which they lived and operated.

A major turning point in achieving this came with the work of Robert Chambers and his colleagues, who in the early 80’s developed Rapid Rural Appraisals, and then  Participatory Rural Appraisals (RRAs; PRAs) in which assessments of local resources and needs were conducted with local farmers.   In this way, farmers became not the object of research, but ‘researcher’s themselves, working with a multidisciplinary team to define major problems and sort out possible solutions.

This is a radical shift – called by some a new paradigm – that entails conjoining researchers and technicians with local community members in ways that go beyond filling in of a questionnaire or conducting surveys by outsiders.  A brief review is given here and an article by Chambers here.

While the method has come under criticism and now its limitations are better recognized, I continue to find it an exceptionally useful tool to get researchers, technicians, local farmers, and project staff working together, speaking ‘the same language’, and jointly determining both the most crucial issues as well as potential solutions within the confines of a particular project.

Joint meetngs at the end of the day, to discuss what had been accomplished and activities for the next day

Of course, it is only a first step – but one that can avoid any number of wrong directions while also bringing on board the ‘objects’ of research and development – farmers and herders themselves.

Transects – an example of farmer-led research:

Transects of farms are conducted by farmers together with technical team members.  A transect is walked across an area of the farm, and different data are noted, taking the lead from how farmers (not technicians) perceive the categories.  The transects are later drawn up by the farmers together with technicians and researchers.

With women of the colline and a technical assistant, during an assessment

In training that I have been conducting upcountry, teams are divided into men and women, because the farming activities are very much gender-specific and so transects of the same area, conducted by each gender, can be quite different.

Farms are usually situated on a hill (as in the distance), with different crops and trees planted in horizontal 'bands' that differ as one moves down the plot.

A team of local women and several project technical staff walked a transect on the farm of one of the women, after which the women drew their own transect noting characteristics such as soil type, crops grown, major problems, major opportunities.

A group of women drawing their transect after returning from walking along it.

A group of men also have walked a transect and are now busy discussing and drawing it.  Men will come up with a different set of problems and solutions that women, with regard to particular crops, grasses or trees.

A local group of men discussing and filling out their transect

Back at the project office, staff continued to discuss and debate preliminary findings and how they could best be incorporated into project work.

Differences and similarities between findings of men's (left) and women's (right) transects are identified and discussed.

Market days take place two times a week, and these are also important occasions to find out what villagers sell, and during which times of the year.  In this area, the closest market is a four mile walk and with no transport other than ‘head’, market access came out as a top priority – especially, how to diversify sales so as not to be dependent only on one merchant in one market for sales.

For example, it makes little sense to assist farmers in increasing their output of (e.g.) sweet potatoes, if there are no markets to which they can readily sell excess.

Tarffic from a local market - women are transporting BaTwa (pygmy produced) pots, which are used in local cuisines.

What kinds of things did we learn, and where to go after such an assessment?  More on that, in the future.

 

A Guide to The Bars of Cairo, or: How to Conduct Participatory Research and Enjoy It!

Several decades ago, while going through the joys and agonies of Ph.D field research in Egypt, I was part of a small coterie of like-minded colleagues and bon-vivants who set out to conduct participatory research in the old bars and bistros of Cairo.

This was a very ‘hands on’ experience; participant observation of the highest order, which nicely complimented our daily forées into ottoman archives, museum basements, ancient library sources, village byways, and other arcane places where we individually went about our official research business.

In these ramblings about Cairo, we not only solved world problems, but also batted about our mutual research dilemmas, seeking solace, or at least a bit of advice,  from our colleagues.  This, accomplished to the accompaniment of Stella beer and bitings.   Our ramblings usually began at Café Rich – one of the most famous and oldest bars of Cairo, which for decades was a political and writers’ gathering spot.

Interior of the Café Riche; photos of past luminaries line the walls. Source: ambassidors.net

The Café rich is located just down the street from Cairo’s central Midan Talaat Harb whose colonial buildings provide a glimpse into decades past.

Midan Talaat Harb. For a time, while looking for alternative digs, I took a room in an Italian pension located on the top floor of the building straight ahead. I enjoyed it very much. Source: Wikipedia

After the Café Riche we usually walked about 20 minutes up the street to left-center, above, to a very baladi (country-style) fateer place.  Fateers are a kind of pancake that may be sweet or filled with cheese or mince, and this particular hole-in-the-wall made the best in central Cairo.

A sweet fateer. Source: Wikipedia

Thereafter, we might visit one or two other bars, continuing our debates, finally ending up at the famous bar of the Winsor Hotel, which was frequented by British military in times past.

The famous 'Barrel Bar' at the Winsor Hotel. Relaxing atmoshere for a late night coffee or final beer. Source: booking.com

A few weeks ago I was delighted to see that Mike Dunn, the Editor-in-Chief of our underground Guide to the Bars of Cairo had recently put up a blog about our adventures.  I should mention, that the document produced was specifically not directed to tourists or  ‘hesitant-residents’…

Below I quote a little of Mike’s take on our adventures, followed by several links to recent articles on the old bars of Cairo.

Mikes Blog

During a post-doctoral research year in Egypt in the late 1970s (1977-78 for the record, the year Sadat went to Jerusalem), several fellow scholars (who have achieved some level of professional success and might not want me to identify them by name) and I actually wrote up a little underground guide to the baladi bars of Cairo. There were, as the article notes, a lot more of them then; the 1980s and 1990s were devastating to the baladi bar scene as religious pressures closed a lot of the bars lower-class Egyptians could afford, even while more five-star hotel bars were sprouting for the tourists and the nouveau riche. We explored the old, declining bars of the downtown and its outliers…

We disdained the big hotels and the upmarket areas such as Zamalek and Heliopolis. Our guidebook, typed up in the days before personal computers and circulated as a xeroxed samizdat, is pretty much gone with the wind (I may have a copy in a storage room somewhere, and a few mid-to-late-1980s updates on a 5 1/4″ disc), but the memories endure, and are rather like those evoked by this story. [Readers: If you have an original complete copy post a comment and let me know.] Most of the bars we explored are gone now; some of those we patronized were known to Naguib Mahfouz and others of the literati, but most were holes-in-the-wall where foreigners were a decided oddity…

There’s a secondary class of bar worth remembering: the mid-level colonial bar. The old Bar Cecil on Midan Tawfiqiyya (Urabi) was a stupendous one: once a hangout of the British officer class, but not the senior ranks who hung out at Shepheard’s, it was glorious for its big windows on the circle, its brass rails, and so much more, but it died, became a branch of the Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI), itself of later scandalous infamy, and is forgotten. Another mid-level British officers’ bar survives I think (last I heard) in the Barrel Bar of the Hotel Windsor, which was an overflow for the original Shepheards burned in 1952. But the old colonial bars have their own fan clubs, and this post is really aimed at remembering the baladi spots…

BBC – Sad goodbye to ‘cosmopolitan’ Cairo

Religion, decrepitude threaten downtown Cairo bars Huffington Post

The decline of the Egyptian Bar Scene

The Windsor Hotel

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