Heather's Chickens

The tale of Heather’s chickens began last Thursday when Heather and two of her colleagues bounced out to Mbalabala for a meeting. Since they planned to serve lunch in the village, they stopped in town and picked up 5 frozen chickens, a 25 kg bag of mealy-meal, and two bags of fresh tomatoes.

Heather's chickens in one of their many stages of existence in our kitchen

Heather and her coworkers didn't wind up using the chickens for lunch that afternoon, so the chickens came to live in our refrigerator.

On Saturday morning Heather and I made the executive decision (amidst many sms messages with her coworker) to cook and freeze the chickens. Well, all except one. When I opened the 5^th chicken, I declared it unfit for human consumption based on the unpleasant aroma that wafted through the kitchen.

Heather at work

Around 15 hours on Tuesday afternoon, Heather’s coworker dropped by to see if the chickens could be served for dinner that night. Heather explained that we had cooked the chickens and frozen them. “Whole?” her coworker asked, gasping in unbelief!

Yes. In America, we’re used to cooking whole chickens, which is unheard of in Tonga world.

Heather thawed those chickens as fast as she could, and delivered them to the cooks next door, who sawed away through the still-frozen bones and began redeeming our culinary “mistake.”

Mrs. Moono and Mrs. John cutting the whole chickens

Heather’s chickens were served Tonga style Tuesday night for dinner. I wasn't there to give quality control assistance, but the smells drifting out the window were Tonga-wonderful.

cooking, cooking, cooking

Heather's amazing chickens in the end

I've been trying not to mention the word, “chicken” these days in any context.

Heather’s trying not to think about those birds, that word, her experience, the full fridge, the jars of broth in the freezer, the quandaries, the interesting “parts” included in some of the bags, the blood in the sink, the full Ziploc bags, the raw meat… she’s been trying not to think about her chickens.