Burgies avec fromage Américain

Success never tasted so good!

So my Cameroonian mama has been asking me to prepare an American dinner for awhile now. Initially my plan was something simple, pasta...with red sauce from a jar, and maybe some pieces of meat thrown in. But after seeing how hard Jacqi works on prepareing her own sauce for fish, chicken and everything else, I quickly realized my method would not be acceptable. After talking about my predicament with a friend I learned he had successfully made burgers for his entire family. I was under the impression that it would not be possible to acquire all the ingredients necessary in my small village. However, he assured me that it could be done. 

With a new found sense of determination I set off to market at dawn this past weekend. The main street was still very quiet, and only few shops and stands were open for business at this hour. I first went to the butchers and saw no meat. The man there told me they would be receiving their cow in thirty minutes. So I marched on to get the next necessary ingredients. On the way I stopped by a cart stand to purchase a spaghetti omelette sandwich. Yes, it was amazing. Onions, peppers, tomatoes, hot sauce, all mixed in with eggs and spaghetti, then put into a small baguette to create a breakfast on the go rivalled only by San Diego's early morning burritos. I paid the omelette man 300 Cameroonian francs ($0.60), and thought about what else I needed to buy while enjoying le petit dejeuner. I walked into the local supermarket (a one room store with a wall of goods) and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had ketchup! I had bought mayonnaise and mustard the other day but couldn't find ketchup so I was worried I was going to have to attempt to make my own. I know, disaster avoided, phew. I now went looking for hamburger buns. The bakery attached to the one aisle supermarket I was just in had none. Then it turned out the other main bakery had nothing as well. This wasn't looking good.

I still needed meat as well so I went back to the butchers. As I approached I saw a large pile of bloody skin covered in flies, excellent, the meat had arrived. In Colombian fashion, I explained that I needed two kilos of his finest product. He obliged, but mentioned that their meat grinder wasn't working so I would have to wait for someone to take it to another shop for grinding. As I was waiting the grinding seemed to be taking a long time. I began to wonder if my French had let me down and if I had completely miscommunicated what I needed. Thankfully after thirty minutes I had a plastic bag full off beef, dripping with blood on my lap. 

Still in need of hamburger buns I decided to go back to both bakeries to see if they had received any fresh goods. If not, I would have to settle for chopping up baguettes. The morning sun began climbing overhead and I knew I would need get back soon. As I was walking, I spotted a street stand that appeared to have hotdog buns. This might work. Wait, hamburger buns too! I immediately asked to buy all fifteen. Scratch that, fourteen, the last one was completely moldy and covered with ants. As I brushed the ants off of my newly purchased victory I thought about the remaining items I needed. 

Back to main street, which was now bustling at this point. I bought fresh avocados, tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers and potatoes. Finally I purchased the finishing touch, sliced cheese. (I bought mozzarella and an labeled brand. The unlabelled brand turned out to taste just like American cheese so I ended up using that and gave the mozzarella to my host siblings in exchange for help while preparing dinner.)

Preparing this feast was quite interesting. I had a friend of mine come over to help. She cut potatoes into french fries and I seasoned the meat and made the patties. The whole time there were at least four other people in our tiny kitchen all watching what we were doing and not minding that they were completely in our way. After a little more than two hours, we had everything prepared. A golden mind of french fries, fourteen thick cheese burgers, and a bowl of egg salad. I also bought coke for everyone to make it the most typical American meal possible. Everyone loved the hamburgers and the fries were gone almost instantly. I couldn't believe how well the meat turned out, considering I've never seasoned meat before, but whatever I did worked.

As I sat back in my chair slowly digesting two delicious cheeseburgers I couldn't have felt more full. I was full of pride, delight, and satisfaction. We had truly done America justice, and I know that whenever my host family thinks of the US, that meal will be the first thing on their mind.