Watin fo Chop?

This entry is for my parents. They’ve only now stopped asking if I’m eating.

Watin fo chop? What’s for eats? Well well well. My perspective is probably warped, coming from a good-cooking family; my grandmother is from Calabria; I am (was) a pampered young professional – black angus steak after sushi washed down with a couple imported Belgium beers on a random Tuesday was a normal occurrence, and my kitchen in Ottawa was probably worth more than the whole house I live in here, times two. But aside from all that I would be happy to swim in pizza and smoked meat poutine with a chocolate milkshake from the Elgin Street Diner in my hand. I’m easy to please.

My parents worried. Even my colleagues worried that I wouldn’t get my pizza fix. Well you’ll be happy to know that there is pizza here. Just like home, I savour the time I spend with pizza. I get to a pizza once or twice a week. I even bought a bottle of Sweet Thai Chili sauce, which I take with me to Montanas’. Basically you can get all the basics – burgers, fries, chicken wraps, shawarmas, club sandwiches, soups, salads etc. (Photo: Barracuda with fries and shrimp with rice; and a yummy stewy sauce for the rice)

There is a good-sized expat community here, so there is a demand for this kind of food. Unfortunately the community is largely (earmuffs my UK friends) British, so, ya, the tastes are not in line with your typical Canadian, to say it politely! The “fabulous” pizza here is a 2 out of 10 on my scale - but the heat could be getting to my head. From my experience at some of the better hotels here, the cuisine is very middle-of-the-road, and sold as hi-end. There is a large Lebanese community monopolizing the import export business and serving up good hummus and wraps. And the Chinese have some flavour in Freetown.

But enough with the foreign food. The local chop is where the value, freshness and nutrition are found. Innovation, variety and availability are not hallmarks of Sierra Leonean dining. You get rice, maybe couscous, beans, potato leaves, chicken, unidentifiable meat and fish. Most dishes are rice with some sore of stew, which may include fish or unidentifiable meat.

Mangos, bananas and avocados fall from the trees, and maybe the vegetables do too. Maybe that’s why they look so bad at the markets. My stir-fry consists of eggplant and onion. Yum. Not! Not after the 10th time! The tomatoes look worst than the ones on the floor at Price Choppers.

Like most people say, you can find most everything here. It’s true. And now that I have wheels I can peruse a variety of markets in town. But I haven’t found nachos to go with my fresh guacamole yet! (Photo: Fresh oysters from the local village at River No. 2)

The best grub seems to be at the beach bars where you can get fresh lobster, shrimp, snapper and barracuda. And you get the feeling that Freetown is continually expanding. New beach restaurants appear overnight and there is rumour of a new sushi bar coming to town. Opa!

My favourite product of Freetown is the frozen yogurt. Such an anomaly in this oven-of-a-city. You spot the vendors easily. They carry their product in coolers in baby strollers. Each individual small bag is tied by hand. No labels. I was suspect at first, but now I seek these guys out every day!