Hey folks, Just a quick update today to clear up some ignorance in an earlier update. I have to take back my statement of there being "not much to choose from in the way of unusual local food". I have now tried the dagaa and ugari and it's a nice combination. I had said earlier that the ugari (made from cassava or maize flour) was like a porridge that meat was dipped into. Well something got lost in the translation and now that I have tried it, I can give you a better description. It is more of a flavourless dough, something like semolina. Traditionally you would use your hands to roll out a lump and dip it into your meat or bean dish. The daaga (dried small fish) is prepared into a stew and Laurie's version was very nice, the salt of the fish is intense alone but nice with the ugari. Peanut butter also features heavily in many Tanzanian dishes and this week it was put with some green bananas that Mlafu had brought back from the village. Green bananas cook up surprisingly well. They hold their shape and wind up taking up flavour basically the same as pieces of potato but really nice texture. I don't know where the heck you would get them back home though.

When we got to talking about eating dragonflies, Laurie also mentioned the more expensive Kumbi Kumbi, which she described as "an insect with wings that comes from the ground". So I rattled off the English for everything I could imagine and we checked the dictionaries for the matching translation but there was nothing… It wasn't until we stumbled on a random blog on Google that I realised what they were. Flying termites! I hadn't even considered bothering with something so small but according to health reports they are a super food and as with everything in Africa they are bigger here. Now, believe it or not the day we discovered the identity of this delicacy the evenings weather conditions were just right for the things to come out so guess what was chased up for tonight's starter…..

Of all the questions that may be exchanged over tonight's meal there's one I will have to ask.

Do I have something in my teeth?