What Have We Always Said Is the Most Important Thing?

Breakfast at Mazzoldi House offers generally predictable fare.  Bread, porridge, tea, maybe some hard-boiled eggs, occasionally some mandazi (best described as East African donut holes).  I tend to keep it simple (toast with butter and a mug of steaming hot water).  But this morning I noticed a new addition to the spread.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Kabalagala!

My first guess was that they were some kind of potato pancake, but Fr. Freddy and Fr. Mawa quickly corrected me.  Kabalagala is made from bananas and cassava flour.  They are simply delicious!  These were not served hot, but the outside was still reasonably crispy, and the flavor was surprisingly (though I probably should have called it) sweet and banana-y.  I have learned to be cautious when an African is telling me that something is very sweet (a word used to describe both fish eyes and the dreaded Dorian).  Call me jaded.  But these really were delightful!

I popped back into the kitchen to give my compliments to the chef, a young man named Thomas.  He told me that Fr. Mawa was the one who showed him how to make Kabalagala, since it comes from his home place in Uganda.  This is kind of the neat thing about dining at Mazzoldi House.  Even though it is in Kenya, the priests who live here are from all over East Africa, and they each bring their recipes from home to be incorporated into the menu.  You really get a sense of the variety of the tastes and flavors of this part of the world. 

Unfortunately, Thomas couldn't give me a more specific recipe than "You mash up sweet bananas and add some cassava flour and you cook them."  Looks like I'll have to keep coming back for more!

Also, "Kabalagala" is one of the most fun words to say ever!