is damn expensive at the moment! I mean shit! The price of just about everything has become astronomical and it seems to have happened in the span of two months. My grocery bill is severely budgeted as it is and nothing is ever thrown out unless it has been drained upside down, squeezed to an inch of its life and scooped from the jar with precision for two weeks. Oh yeah, my salary stayed the same while my rent went up 10%. My electricity bill was the lovely shocker. I'm now paying more for a fuel levy than my actual consumption. My water bill did make me a little bit less miserable as I have a small credit, until I read the paper and saw that the company wants to increase their fees to 50%.
All in all, things are quite thick at the moment but we're trucking on. I know my one big expense I will need to rethink is my satellite telly. Yes, I'm an idiot for still hanging on to a luxury while facing starvation but I needed it to keep me home. See, with the Olympics, I tend to go home early and watch the day's events and on the weekends, I have tons of sports to watch and catch up on and most importantly Survivor Micronesia. Yes, I know I'm behind like 67 seasons but I love love love Jeff with an unhealthy longing. But my latest addiction is a documentary series called Long Way Down on National Geographic about a cross continent road show by Charley Boorman and his good friend Ewan McGregor. It's absolutely fascinating and quite touching journey as they make their way through Africa to Cape Town on gorgeous bikes, the little towns they visit on the way, the humble yet cheerful people they meet, the bureaucrats they struggle with and the bumps and bruises they encounter all in the name of idle Scotsmen with good hearts having a great time. I lament that I discovered this show a little bit late but I'm glad I found it before they reached Kenya. I love seeing this country through other people's eyes because living and working in Nairobi jades me sometimes.
On the boys' trip to Marsabit, they were treated to a goat roast in the middle of nowhere. It was their first time seeing the meat not coming out a shrink wrapped Styrofoam tray but from an alive and kicking animal. They witnessed the slaughter, skinning and cleaning before the meat was grilled to perfection. Now I drooled while I was watching them chow down because budgetary constraints have made me drop meat off my menu for a couple of days. I've been craving Masai meat which is a distinctly exquisite flavorful meat. Why? Because it's the "pointy" sheep/goat breed blend. Yes, they do mix them up once in a while and these animals provide the most amazing barbecue item. The best place I've had this dish is at Kitale Club about 450km North West of Nairobi closer to the Uganda Border. I'm a member of the golf club that is being run down by aging relics of club officials but is a wonderful museum piece if they get off the bar stool and hand it over t0 a youthful entrepreneurial group who can restore it's glory.
I digress - as usual. Masai meat is basically grilled or pan fried. I prefer the latter as it is sauteed in onions and you can throw in dhania (coriander leaves) at the last minute and serve with ugali (chapati for me) and sukuma wiki (kale) or spinach and tons of kachumbari (onion/tomato salsa). I detest my local butcher because they meat always has a funky taste so I bought supermarket beef as Masai meat is hard to get within the city. I was craving this dish so I made it last night with all of the above trimmings, girl-in-Nairobi style. First 1/2lb of beef cubes which I cut even smaller, clean and sea salted with ground black pepper. Toss in two onions, sliced into rings in a saucepan with about 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil (healthy living!), saute for about two minutes, add the meat and cook on low heat for additional 10 - 20 minutes depending on how the level of doneness wanted. When most of the natural juice has reduced, toss the meat into a sillet with one onion sliced into rings, cover and stir every 2 minutes. Add dhania for about one minute, cover then stir until sizzling. Serve with cool and spicy kachumbari, warm and toasty chapatis and...wow, I'm drooling and it's 10 a.m.
bon appetit
P.S. Charley and Ewan had condiments. Mayo and yellow mustard............why?
