One of the wonders of this country is how we have issues with the supply and prices of sugar despite being one of the biggest producers and exporters of the product.
In 2023, there were tussles relating to the prices of sugar between the major producers and the government.
At the end of the day, the prices went up. As if that was not enough, we had shortages of the commodity which led to rationing of the same.
It was no surprise that we saw people queueing up for sugar in our supermarkets. Seeing such sparked some inevitable comparisons between home and where I am.
Story time. At one point I visited a friend of mine who had recently arrived in Manchester when he decided to show me around the area where he lived.
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As we passed a certain eatery, he pointed out how he was known as the person who “loves his sugar”.
Apparently, the first few times he patronised the place to have a cup of tea or coffee, he had ended up asking for more “sugars”, a thing no other customers had done.
I have had a cuppa tea with the good man and I cannot say that he goes too hard with his sugar. That tells me one thing. It may just be that what we consider normal is not that normal kwa eni uku.
One day, I visited a Malawian family and thanks to my impeccable timing, tea was served within the minutes of my arrival.
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For context, this family has only been here a little longer than I have been. When tea was served, I was puzzled by the absence of the sugar bowl on the table.
Apparently, to them, the tea bag and milk were enough to make a cup of tea. I am not sure what that was all about, but I am sure they picked it up right here.
I have been in gatherings with locals and have seen them taking pitch black coffee with no sugar and a few of them do the same with tea.
Salt. In the few times I have dined with friends from Europe, they could not help but notice that I needed to add a pinch of salt to my food when they felt like it was perfect.
In such cases, I have been reminded of what one Prof Adamson Muula told us in class.
The good man claimed that we did not need to add salt to boiled eggs and that if you really tried, you would taste the salt that is already in the egg. Perhaps, he may have had a point then.
There it is, then. I have found myself in a land where you cannot enjoy the salt on your fries without someone noticing that you are overdoing it.
Well, at least by their standards.
When you enjoy a brew of coffee with friends, you should go easy on the sugar to avoid being weird. I wonder if a shortage of sugar in the United Kingdom would cause any uproar in the same way it does back home.
