During the first day of the two-day Muslim celebration in Madaoua at this time of year, most of our team went visiting with our host. We stopped at the house of M, whom I had met the previous day. M's family had slaughtered four rams and stretched the carcasses out on sharpened poles adjacent to a handbuilt fire. These dressed goat rams would be eaten on the second day. But on this day, M's family would eat the insides ..."Have a taste of this" M said to me, as he fished out a chunk of pale grey goat innards from a steel pot hanging over an open fire, with a heavy steam pervading the atmosphere. The contents of the pot were less than appealing, with assorted grey tripe-like substances floating in a thick brine. I decided to be brave and take one for the team.
As I grasped the morsel for a taste, I realized that this was not unsafe to eat, because the ram had just been butchered, and the morsel was probably a piece of goat liver (foie chevre?) It tasted fine. I had been concerned because M had told me that he usually got sick this time of year from eating the rams (likely due to the carcass not being cooked thoroughly in the hot climate).
M then invited us into his residence where we were offered various dishes of macaroni, fritter and guinea fowl prepared in two separate sauces. All was delicious. For "dessert" M presented a steel container of a thick milky substance. Although it was prepared with unfiltered water, my host assured me that I could safely handle a couple of drops, which I did, with no apparent adverse effects.
For me, it was a great experience to visit a Muslim Nigerien family's home, to benefit from their hospitality and to sample their traditional foods.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
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