Beecher's Mac Africa and Cheese

On our last day in Rwanda I got the big treat of making lunch for the 50 man crew working to build the St Ignatious school.  When we were working there we really enjoyed the workers. It was classic mime communication as of course we knew no Kinyarwandan and only a few of them knew even a little English. Despite the language barrier we grew to really appreciate them and the hard work they performed for $1.50 per day.

Beecher's Mac and Cheese and Maximus/Minimus braised pork was the menu.  Rwandans really only eat rice and beans so many of the workers had never tasted pasta.  They were very curious as I showed up and packed my supplies into the fire shed where the lunch cooking is done.  Word spread that the Americans were here to cook.  The two ladies who did the cooking were quite helpful in teaching me, again pretty much just with mime, how to cook on an open fire on a dirt floor in a shed with no chimney. 

In the end it was actually a reasonable facsimile of the real Beecher's Mac. There were certainly many times during the process that the outcome was in doubt, but they all loved the finished product and the plates were clean.

At one point the fellow with the best English asked me how much this meal would cost in America.  A mix of appreciation for our western situation and shame arose in me as I realized that it would be over a week of wages simply for him to buy this meal that I had prepared.

Stay tuned for a video of the Mac & Cheese making process!

Also, if you haven't gotten a chance to the other posts, just click on the rwanda tag below to display all of them.

Flatiron Faves - ABC Kitchen with Jean-Georges

There are some restaurants that just fit you. Everything on the menu seems interesting. The atmosphere feels like something you recognize from a forgotten dream. The whole experience smacks of déjà vu. In restaurants like these, it’s like someone reached into your head, found your ideal restaurant, and made it happen. If I were to make a foray into haute cuisine fine dining, ABC Kitchen with Jean-Georges, would be that restaurant.

Jean-Georges is a titan of the restaurant industry. He’s tossed his toque into just about every culinary ring at one point or another. It was only a matter of time before he undertook the locavore trend. Organic, local, farm-raised, grass-fed, line-caught: the menu reads like a sustainability bingo card. It doesn’t stop with the food either. The menus are made from recycled paper and served on cardboard from ABC Kitchen’s boxes, the furniture is reclaimed, and the placemats are compostable. Don’t let all this get you carried away, though. Although this type of verbiage can often translate to lawn-flavored smoothies or pasta that tastes like burlap, the food at ABC Kitchen is far from those heavy-handed bulgur/wheatgrass concoctions. It’s artfully plated, delicate, and well-balanced, yet somehow maintains a rustic, comfort food quality to it.

Serving Pure Food has always been a priority for me, from Beecher’s Handmade Cheese to Maximus/Minimus. Regardless of the type of food, I want people to be sure they know how it’s made and where it comes from. It’s hard to do that with exotic-seeming haute cuisine, but Jean-Georges is able to do it, and well. I appreciate that and I’m always excited to get a chance to dine there again.

View Beecher's and ABC Kitchen in a larger map

Thank you for following my little walking tour through my Flatiron Faves. Remember that if you’re curious about my other selections, head back to the original post for a list and a map.

Next week, we’ll return to our regularly scheduled recipeblog!