Fish braai market

9 September 2010

This is an outing we have promised our self for a long time. The directions we got were to look for stand no.43 and the cook with the name of Marvelous.  On a pamphlet we got the directions to the Mogadishu barracks where we turned into a gate and paid our N50 entrance fee. 

Being used to the Nigerian African markets by now I found this one surprisingly organized, the road made a wide circle with well built brick stalls on both sides.  We managed to get a parking in a dead-end side shoot and headed for the inside core of the circle.  A festive atmosphere reigned with smoke and these big orange fish everywhere. Inside this circle another smaller roofed-over circle housed all the fish cooking ladies.  The customers walk around the circle on the outside until they decide on, or being persuaded on a cook. We were shown two fishes by Marvelous.  Or rather she proclaimed her name Marvelous even though her number was something like 39.  Anyhow her friendly smile convinced us to place our order.  We choose the medium size one, which was still big enough for both of us and ordered chips for two. You have a choice of brightly orange spiced fish or no spice with just lemon on. They braai the fish in front of you on top of a half barrel balanced on a stand.  Underneath this barrel is a pot with hot coal with another pot of hot oil fitting into it.  We were directed to stand away when they threw our chips into this hot oil which resulted in lots of splatter.

With our meal being cooked we decided to while away the ten minutes waiting time by exploring the outer circling market.  Most of these stalls were fabric shops, dressmakers and hairdressers.  Inside some of the cubicles old fashioned machines were working away or someone was ironing the new creations.  The drapes of typical Nigerian fabrics with their big patterns, which I am starting to admire, where hanging out on the street to entice the customers.  Bundles of multi-coloured zippers in different lengths were hanging like Christmas lights from the rafters.  I enjoyed the different wording they used to market their stalls and as usual they do not really care for the correctness of their language.  I wished I wrote them down because some were quite amusing.

Back at Marvelous we were shown to one of the little cafes which lined the outer edge of the circle opposite the cooking fires.  Each little cafe had one or two fridges, a television and tables and chairs.  We were lucky to get one with a fan as well.  Here you order some beer or soft drinks while you wait for your meal to arrive and enjoy the passing trade and traffic.  First to arrive were two bowls of water to wash our hands and then the dish of fish with chips, lemon, chilies and a bit of coleslaw.  Luckily someone warned us to bring our own knives and forks because it is common and expected to eat with your hands.



The dish





Fabrics and zippers



Normally one would have been offended with so many hawkers who disturbed our meal, but they were delightfully courteous and amusing.  Some sold toiletries tied in bundles, one walked around with a big glass fronted box of jewelry, and another hawked the finely cross-stitch embroidered Muslim hats.  Nick got bargained into buying a Muslim hat and I were amused with this one guy whose whole shop of toiletries fell apart not far from us. Calmly, with a slight frown on his forehead he gathered the stuff together, closed the boxes that opened in the fall and started assembling a new display with elastics bands to keep them together.  A hawker that never made it to us, because he drew too much attention not far from us, was selling camping gear: beautiful little camping pan sets in bags, a powerful torch, termosflask and jump leads.





When we were ready to leave, the cooking ladies came over not only to clear the table but to also wash the knives and forks we brought and bid us a cheerful farewell...





It was a struggle to get out of our panhandle parking road because some guy decided he wanted to come in just when we and two other cars wanted to get out.  We got really stuck and somehow this guy did not realize that the only way we could get moving was for him to reverse out. The beauty of this story is that eventually the guys in the other two cars who wanted to get out, got out of their cars and one of them just calmly walked over and very courteously explained to the driver who was blocking us all, that the best will be if he moves his car backwards.  In South Africa they would probably have shouted to the driver to move his….! 







It is the gentleness of these people on the street that is so charming and endearing; their cheerfulness despite all the hardships is truly remarkable.  Maybe it is exactly their struggling life that make they so patient and tolerant and friendly.