The groundnuts come from the plot at the back of Auntie Miriam's house
Suki, my six-year-old daughter, is now helping Auntie peel the nuts. It's a sociable process where they chat, laugh, peel and taste. Most shells contain two or three nuts, so the conspiring peelers decide that four nuts will grant you a secret wish, the Ugandan equivalent of a four-leafed clover. Suki's pace picks up, her little fingers expertly crushing the shell to expose how many groundnuts are hiding in their pod. Before the woven basket is full, she has been granted three wishes.
Cousin Winnie is also hard at work. She is preparing an avocado salad plus some more traditional Ugandan dishes like green pea stew, creamed gobe, which is made up of the spinachy greens from a small bean plant, and steamed matoke, the regional staple of savoury banana.
The house has two kitchens, one with a gas oven inside the house, the other with a coal-fired oven outside. Winnie and I shuttle between them.
I roast the groundnuts with salt in a cooking pan and leave them aside. The already peeled and diced butternut squash is now sizzling and softening in the pan. To make the reduced gravy I keep pouring pork stock from the tray into another pot on the stove. Then I squeeze the juice from 4 tangerines and throw in a handful of dried mushrooms. On the side I peel and dice 1 1/2 kg beets and mix them with oil and vinegar. I toss them into another pot, which I cover with a lid. Once the beets have softened, I add the green beans and squeeze the juice of one lemon over the mix.
The meat is nearly ready. I turn the joint so the skin faces up, increase the heat to 280°C and remove the aluminium foil covering it.
After about 30 minutes, I check on the roast and find it bubbling in the oven. To my frustration, despite some promising popping sounds the skin is not getting crisp. I now realize that this gas oven does not have a grill function, so I have to abandon my attempts at making the skin crackling. I take the meat out of the oven and let it cool for five minutes while I put the finishing touches on the side dishes. I crush the peanuts coarsely and mix them with the squash. The purple coloured skin of the nuts complements the orange squash. The green beans and deep purple beets create another nice contrast.
I seasoned the pork shoulder with salt, coriander, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. We balanced the plates on our knees and enjoyed the meal
Out comes the meat. It is super juicy despite the high heat, and falls apart like pulled pork. I carefully separate different cuts, trying to follow the muscles of the animal. I arrange the pieces on a tray and pour generous amounts of gravy over it. Winnie and I carry our creations into the living room where the whole hungry family is gathered. The sun has set, its rays replaced by the glow from the fluorescent bulb in the ceiling. Auntie blesses the food and gives thanks that we are once again gathered together at the Equator to eat and be merry. We serve ourselves, children first, and get comfortable on sumptuous sofas, carefully balancing full plates on our knees.