Cooking for One

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes,

learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!”
― Julia Child, My Life in France

I’ve never considered myself to be a great cook. At home in the U.S. I can cook a few things well, like lemon squares, salmon, rice, and chicken tacos, but there’s not a whole lot of variety. I tend to be a very boring eater. For example, when I was studying abroad in Paris, I ate plain oatmeal, nothing added, every morning for breakfast. I get into a habit of eating the same thing over and over again.

I’m living on my own for the first time here in Togo. I’ve never had to do all the cooking, cleaning, and housework before. If I ever had a problem at home, I had people to turn to. Especially when cooking, my mom and dad are the best cooks I know, and can always fix my disasters in the kitchen. Since I’m a rather inexperienced cook, I was really happy when we received the “Whopper” in training. The “Whopper” is the Peace Corps Togo cookbook. It’s a compilation of recipes from former volunteers. It shows us how to make meals that we like with ingredients available in Togo. There are sections on snacks, breakfast, sauces, desserts, meals from Africa, etc.

Knowing that I tend to get into boring eating habits, I’m going to try to mix things up every once in a while. This morning I used the “Whopper” for the first time to make myself brunch. I cooked the Dream Meal Beans.

I knew I would like this recipe because I love tomatoes, onions, and beans. To make it, I halved the ingredients since I’m only cooking for one, but I still used 1 onion because I LOVE onions. I didn’t have the spices, so I just chopped up 1 piment pepper and put it in with the onions and pepper to sauté. Vegetables here are MUCH smaller than in the U.S. The tomatoes, green peppers, and onions are all tiny compared to the ones you would find in Safeway, for example. The cans of tomato paste are a lot smaller as well, only 70grams. Piment is an incredibly popular pepper in Togo. If I was going to make this in the U.S. I would just substitute with any hot pepper, like a jalapeño, and make sure to take the seeds out.

I encountered only a couple of problems, but they were stupid mistakes. One, I nearly burnt my beans because I didn’t add enough water. Two, I touched my eye after chopping the piment and couldn’t open my eye for about ten minutes because it burned so bad. I understand now why it’s called pepper spray. Who needs Mace in Togo? Just carry around some chopped piment and you’ll be safe. Other than that, it was a pretty successful and delicious brunch. Bon appétit!