Chapter 104: Diet
October 3, 1867.
Mbeya, Ininaya Village.
Ayguli Yahaf was preparing breakfast for herself and her husband.
Ayguli Yahaf was Armenian. She had been bought from Ottoman nobility by Arab slave traders and sold into the East African colony.
She was awarded as a "prize" to Zhao Yizhan, a model soldier officially recognized by the colonial government.
Zhao Yizhan was a Chinese immigrant and one of the earliest settlers in Mbeya, part of the first Chinese military migration organized by the colony.
Of the original hundred-man unit that arrived in Mbeya, only ninety-seven survived the brutal march—three comrades died along the way.
Later, Mbeya became the capital of the Upper Lake Malawi Zone. As the colony began organizing villages and opening land, Ininaya Village was established near Mbeya.
Zhao Yizhan, as a veteran, was assigned to Ininaya and became a member of the village security team.
Originally from Shandong, Zhao was tall—178 cm (considerable for the early 20th century, when average heights in many Western countries were below 170 cm).
Back in the Far East, famine had left him gaunt, but once well-fed in East Africa, he recovered quickly and worked with great energy.
Selected in First Town to be one of the first Chinese soldiers, he later joined the campaign to secure Mbeya.
Over the course of a year in Mbeya, Zhao proved himself through obedience and resilience. His superiors appointed him as a backbone figure in the newly founded village (village security had only a few members, under a German village head and a Hohenzollern Academy officer, making Zhao relatively powerful).
During the colony's "cleansing" campaign, Mbeya's location along a key route for expelling tribes toward Zimbabwe and Zambia made it a strategic hotspot.
Local government had to both ensure passage and expel remaining tribes, increasing workload—but also offering more opportunities to earn merit.
Zhao stood out by organizing a temporary militia during the campaign, making him one of the first to be awarded a wife.
It was then that Ayguli Yahaf married Zhao.
Their marriage certificate was issued directly by the Mbeya government.
As an Armenian woman, Ayguli was unfamiliar with East African ingredients.
Armenians, from the South Caucasus and West Asia, had diets influenced by Greek, Persian, Turkish, and Arab cuisines.
They lived in harsh mountain valleys, with limited access and difficult terrain.
Compared to West Asia, East Africa seemed almost like a land of abundance.
Its tropical climate supported many fruits and vegetables.
Fertile, flat lands yielded high grain output, and rivers, lakes, birds, beasts, and fish offered a wide range of food sources.
Much of it was new to Ayguli. Fortunately, Mbeya grew wheat as its primary crop.
As an Armenian, she knew how to make a type of Armenian flatbread as a staple food.
East Africa promoted fish as an alternative to wild meat, and Armenians were skilled at preparing fish.
Still, Ayguli was inexperienced with many local foods.
That's where Zhao Yizhan's strengths showed.
As a Far Easterner, he knew how to cook—not well, but enough to get by.
He taught Ayguli how to fry, stew, bake, and boil, and how to make flatbreads and noodles.
These basic techniques were enough to handle most ingredients.
Their meals were simple but reflected a fusion of Eastern and Western traditions.
In these times, being full was more important than taste.
East Africa had considerable agricultural output—each person received about one pound of grain daily.
As a model soldier and security member, Zhao got 1.5 pounds, and Ayguli received about 0.7 pounds. Together, they had just over 2.2 pounds per day.
Occasional meat supplies, homegrown vegetables, and wild herbs or fruits rounded out their meals.
By the standards of the time, the Zhao household lived well above global averages—if not for inferior housing, their lifestyle could rival Europe's.
That morning, their breakfast was two slices of flatbread, a bowl of fish soup, and a side of stir-fried greens.
Ayguli prepared the ingredients; Zhao lit the fire.
Their home had both a traditional Chinese stove and a West Asian-style oven.
Initially, most pots, pans, and utensils were imported in bulk from the Far East and Europe.
After taking over the Zanzibar Sultanate's mainland territories, the colony also inherited and expanded local brick kilns and workshops, now supplying stoves, pots, and ironware for East Africa.
Unlike Zhao's family, which cooked at home, most of East Africa's single men still relied on communal canteens.
Once married, colonists were no longer allowed to eat in these mess halls.
But with more couples forming and family-based immigrants arriving, canteen usage was declining.
Soon, village mess halls would likely shut down. Higher authorities had already ordered that family immigrants be prioritized for village settlements.
Single men, meanwhile, would be assigned to cities—where East Africa was developing traditional workshops for basic household goods.
Cities were easier to manage, and families were more governable than lone migrants, so farms got the families and cities got the singles.
East African cities weren't European cities in the traditional sense.
They were more like large towns or mega-farms labeled as cities for administrative convenience.
They still centered around agriculture, but had better infrastructure and transport.
Even with government control, they had the potential to grow into regional hubs.
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