Desert Masterchef or "The 10 Star Desert Restaurant"

Communal living has its advantages and disadvantages but often the shared kitchen can be the source of some disharmony – you know, unwashed dishes, missing ingredients, smelly fridge harbouring Year 10 science experiments (oh look, mould really does grow on left-overs), everyone trying to use the stove at the same time etc etc

New arrivals are, and probably should be, given a wide berth until their approach to personal hygiene and communication skills are properly understood, and more importantly, whether or not they can contribute anything of use to the communal kitchen.

As a newby (and possibly the only person over 30 here), I couldn’t help thinking the seasoned campaigners were thinking I was either:

(a)    a raving lunatic

(b)    an escaped felon with a long and disturbing criminal history

(c)     a middle-aged person experiencing a significant mid-life crisis

(d)    someone who accidentally got on the wrong bus at the airport

(e)    all or most of the above

(f)      an ordinary person with an interest in the NaDEET program hoping in some way to contribute to the successful running of the Centre.

In truth, I initially thought I had happened upon the set of the Namib Desert Big Brother House under no illusions that I would certainly be the first person voted off.

As a volunteer, I was instructed to arrive with enough food for the first 2 weeks, by which time I would be able to order additional supplies which are delivered fortnightly (or thereabouts depending on road conditions and driver skills) by a refrigerated semi-trailer operated by African Marketing.  In return, I would be given one shelf in the fridge and one cupboard.  Sounds fair enough? –sure.

 

Desert Shop

Additionally, my briefing notes indicated that you would also be expected to bake your own bread – yeast provided for free.  Yikes!   And as NaDEET is a model for sustainable living, although a gas stove is available, one should really concentrate on using renewable sources of energy for cooking and use these instead:

 

Nick demonstrates solar cooker & solar oven

Yikes x 2!

For the first few days I secretly (and quickly) used the gas stove to make scrambled eggs and baked beans to keep me going but concerned that this diet would eventually bring my personal hygiene habits into question, I knew I would have to somehow work out how to use these strange looking appliances.

Manuela very kindly showed me how to use the solar cooker and by day 3 I had mastered the ability to boil water (great, that’s tea and coffee covered) but at this rate, I was still facing the prospect of starvation despite the generous energy reserves I carry on my person and, besides, my reserves of canned tuna and cracker biscuits were running low.

Despite having very little culinary training, Nick was routinely producing pizza’s, potato cakes etc which led me to think, honestly, how difficult can this be. 

 

The solar cookers supply the heat and the rest is just basic science.  The solar cooker and ovens utilise the principles of bundling (concentrating energy into a single point (or a box in the case of the oven), reflection to get the energy pointed in the right direction, and absorption (to keep the heat where you want it – hence the need to use black, and preferably cast iron, pots and pans).  All you need to do is remember to move the cooker or oven so it continues to face the sun every 15-20 minutes or so.  Simple!

My first attempt was a carrot cake – definitely edible but a bit damp in the middle (the solar cooker heats to approx 150C-170C) so need to make allowance for more time and perhaps not such a heavy batter.  So then I thought, in a fit of over-confidence, being a Sunday, hot buttered scones might be nice and people might see that I’m really a category (f) person (see above).  Hmmn, not entirely successful so renamed them Anzac Biscuits and tried to pretend they were never meant to be scones (yep, didn’t rise and you could bounce them off concrete).  However, my lamb tagine (using the solar cooker) was a triumph – I was starting to get the hang of this but bread-making remained outside of my repertoire.

I don’t know how it started, but soon it was evident that Nick and I had entered into the spirit of competitive cooking, the scene was set for a Desert Masterchef birthday cake bake-off on the basis that in the space-time continuum we live in the ever-present, so it must be everybody’s birthday everyday.  So we deemed Saturday to be Karley’s and Nick’s birthday and Sunday to be Manuela’s and AMO’s birthday.

Making allowance for the slow cooking properties of the solar oven, I made a  chocolate orange cake using oil and water to keep the mixture light and velvety topped with chocolate ganache icing and slow-cooked orange peel, which looked something like this:

And if I don’t say myself, it was bloody good and was quickly devoured.  Honestly, this was going to take some beating.

Nick replied with this:  

 

A Desert Rose orange cake with hand-made marzipan and chocolate rose which was also supremely delicious.  Imagine my surprise when I realised I may have been out-baked.

 

Since then, Manuela, Karley, Nick and I have established the 10 Star Desert Restaurant sharing recipes and solar cooking tips and have spent many a night around a candle-lit table feasting on tasty solar cooked dishes like slowed cooked whole-chicken marinated in olive oil, garlic, honey, chilli etc; chilli chicken stir fry, lamb curry, spicy mince, baked jacket potatoes, luscious apple and cream cheese pastries and pizzas and pasta on Italian Fridays whilst pondering the magnificent Milky Way and the occasional shooting star.  Yep, it’s pretty tough living out here as you can see:

 

 

 

(Hey Doc, if you’re reading this, I’m afraid I’m probably not going to lose that extra 10kg you were hoping for).

And last week, I filled in as the Centre cook for the Anglican AIDS Educators group and finally I know how to make and bake bread – thanks to Maria and Retatuhe who taught me how to “feel the dough”.  

 

 

 Hmmn, nice apron AMO

So, signing off for now.  Hope we’ve made you feel hungry!

Cheers

AMO

PS  Not that I’m a sore loser or anything but last time I saw Nick, he looked liked he’d packed on a few kgs (he he he)