the confined nomad

A birdhouse in East Harlem

We had nearly given up on Benin and started making plans to try to grill up some bush rat at home so we could move on to Bhutan.  I had sent e-mails to Benin Diaspora USA, an organization based in Harlem, the Nomad had called up the Benin permanent mission to the U.N. several times and I had stopped by to no avail.  Admittedly, we are heathens, and we made a lot these efforts on Good Friday, not thinking that since Benin is over 40% Christian, that probably wasn’t the best time.

The following week when I had some down time at work, I decided to make a last-ditch effort to contact someone at the mission.  The man who answered the phone could not have been more helpful.  He told me that there weren’t any restaurants that he knew of, but he had a phone number for the person who usually caters their functions.  He recommended that I ask for ablo, a typical West African starch usually made from corn and yeast.  In my excitement, I effusively thanked him and hung up without asking for any other pertinent information that might have been useful, like recommendations of other typical Beninese dishes or the name of the person I was going to call for example. read more »