“Push the week . . . Polk Salad Annie and Our Daily Bread
Juxtaposition. Compare and Contrast. It’s what I love about being Deeply Southern Fried American and a Pilgrim in East Africa. Both places have red dirt, rural hospitality, “tribal problems”, and soul food. The story below is my latest attempt to explain, connect, and understand two cultures. Sukuma Wiki, Ugali, Polk Salad Annie, and other culinary thoughts And give us this day, our daily bread A special thanks to two new Kenyan friends at Elite Computers: Thanks Silas for repairing my computer so this story could be finished. Asante sana, Faith for serving as my Kiswahili editor! Down in Louisiana Where the alligators grow so mean There lived a girl I’d swear to the world Made the alligators look tame. -“Polk Salad Annie” Tony Joe White’s song from the 70’s came to mind last week in Africa. The spark that brought it back was the Swahili term, Sukuma Wiki. It’s what they call greens here. And it means “Pushing the Week.” Like when you’ve got several days to eat, and little or no money, you resort to eating “Sukuma Wiki.” Wild greens or even grasses boiled over an outside fire. Tony Joe White’s** Louisiana song of a poor neighbor girl who picked “Polk Salad” for the family’s meals was a classic among my generation. *Question for our readers: Is it Poke Salad or Polk Salad?
