A Rwandan Thanksgiving

What do you get when you throw five CIDA interns into the best kitchen they’ve seen in months? A Thanksgiving feast!

Rwanda is a bit… tricky, shall we say, when it comes to eating. You can eat as many kinds of starch as possible in one sitting, but getting a more well-rounded nutritional experience does not come easy. Keeping that in mind, the thought of the upcoming Canadian Thanksgiving and all the deliciousness that means for most of us was getting to be a bit too much to bear for the five of us living in Kigali for these six months. A little creativity goes a long way in Rwanda, however; Logan tracked down a turkey (free-range, even, if you call wandering around someone’s yard in Nyamirambo ‘free-range’), Claire was gifted a 1.5L bottle of Chilean wine, and the rest of us supplied vegetables and pie recipes to put together a slightly haphazard but delicious Thanksgiving meal.

Bright and early Sunday morning, we all got together at Logan’s house, which has a kitchen complete with an OVEN (you have no idea how exciting an oven is in Rwanda). The turkey, who had met its demise the day before in Logan and Crystal’s presence, was in various pieces in a bag, ready for Claire to do her best with. Crystal and Katie set to work making squash pie (pumpkins are scarce around here) and Claire assembled a delightful apple crumble. Logan and I wandered helpfully. Various vegetable dishes were prepared while Claire’s turkey did its thing – sweet potatoes (no marshmallows here though, Mum!), mashed potatoes, broccoli, and peas and carrots. Tofu was marinated for the vegetarians in the house, and crispy baguettes were sliced up. Claire did a beautiful job setting the table, complete with a Canadian flag to remind us of home. Logan’s housemates (a Brit/American and an Australian, newly arrived the night before) joined us and were bemused by our cooking frenzy.

It was a Thanksgiving celebration not quite like any in Canada – a few little quirks and a lot of improvisation went into making the meal. Regardless, it was a wonderful day with great company… we’re considering a repeat for American Thanksgiving, just for good measure!