She was actually stirring some play mushrooms from Ikea - but in Kinshasa, those fungi are now fufu. Way more practical.
So, I asked her to name some of the other things on her table. Here is what she told me:
Okay. She didn't actually say, "Les haricots." She said, "Yum. Mama Vida cook yummy." Which I interpreted as "beans." Obviously.
My two year old translated lettuce into cabbage. Coffee into tea. And mushrooms into fufu. Her casual responses were surprisingly astounding to me.
I really love fake food. Always have. But I assume that play food is obviously representative. Of the foods I grew up with in Virginia*.
Lou's play food experience, on the other hand, is heavily shaped by the worldview of Mama Vida, Mama YouYou, and Mama NouNou. No lettuce - it's cabbage. Beans are protein. Tea is shared every morning on the porch. Big sips to the babies, of course. And mushrooms? No way. But fufu is a way of life.
*I know, I know. We have cabbage and tea in Virginia. But, that's not what I would assume my kid would assume these items were. Get it?
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