in praise of zucchini

In food and cooking news, the most exciting thing to happen so far this week is that we have found zucchini. Or rather, Mama Cris found it for us at Mwanza's central market. This may seem a completely inane thing to report, but when your produce options are limited (what I would do for some celery!) and you basically cook the same 5-6 vegetables every week (not that we’re complaining, they serve us well), the finding of zucchini is almost cause for celebration because finding zucchini means proper ratatouille and proper minestrone soup. 


It’s funny how much joy we (and by “we”, I mean Jill and I) get when a certain fruit or vegetable becomes available at the market, or when something like cream cheese shows up at U-Turn, the one grocery store in town that caters to expat interests. Cream cheese for Jill means she can make her favorite cake, tahini means hummus, and I’ll say it again, zucchini means ratatouille and minestrone soup!