It's not always considered polite to ask too many details when you are being offered a local culinary speciality. Last week though, I found myself in a true 'guessing game' when I visited the market. The man who owned the stall with nuts and spices challenged me to guess exactly what he was selling. I had to smell it, feel it and taste it and then..it was time for me to guess exactly what it was. With most of the products I felt quite comfortable (although I still don't know if I guessed the right names, since the salesman didn't speak English ;). But with one of the products I was hesitant; they looked like small white stones or chalks in various shapes and sizes. I was afraid I would break my teeth! The salesman and the colleague who joined me were laughing and convinced me I should take some home and put them in a glass of water for a 15 minute soak; it would make delicious juice! I was not really sure if they were serious or just trying to see how easily I would be convinced (or joked with;). But I decided to do what they told me to do as soon as I got home. After I had soaked the white 'stones' for a quarter of an hour I sifted them and prepared myself for my new experiment. The juice turned out to be very refreshing and tasty! Frank examined it for a while and concluded the white 'stones' are pieces of the fruit from a Baobab tree. During one of his many safari's in Africa, Frank was told an interesting story about this particular Baobab tree. According to an African myth, God made a mistake when he created the Baobab tree; he dropped it from heaven and the tree landed up-side-down in the earth! (..not difficult to imagine when you look at the attached photo :). I am curious if the salesman from the market would have guessed that..
