film title decided!!

So my trip to St Louis was kind of a bust in the sense that I was unable to get any filming done, my one scheduled interview got canceled due to a funeral (can't really be mad at that). I did learn a lot though.

The St Louis variety of the dish is also different than that in Dakar. I can't quite say whether it is better or not, it is just different. Certain condiments are substituted, for instance in Dakar there is a special sauce that is made to accompany the dish called Dakhar (because its made from the tamarind [dakhar] seed). In St Louis there was the absence of this sauce, but the variety of the rice itself was different, thus the end product differed, and yet the method remained the same! I have now learned that the rice used in St Louis is locally cultivated in the river delta, as oppose to the asian rice used in dakar. I don't think this minute difference accounts for the difference in outcome.


I had lunch in a friends family home, her relatives were rather curious about my inquiry about Ceebu jen. Her uncle thought it quite quaint, until I explained to him that the nature of my inquiry is not at all superficial, I shared some of my knowledge about the dish and suddenly he realised he was not dealing with an ignorant observer. We spoke at length about Ceebu jen, and focused mainly on eating it, and then for a brief moment the conversation lingered on the topic of Penda Mbaye. He asked me if I had ever heard about her outside of the 'ceebu jen penda mbaye' (the st louis variety of the meal) context. He then proceeded to tell me in what region of St Louis I would most likely find out information about her. The conversation was both entertaining and enlightening, at some point he said "Penda Mbaye was the first woman to prepare Ceebu jen here in Senegal, but now all Senegalese women [who prepare ceebu jen] are Penda Mbaye -- you know". His wife chuckled and quickly refuted "...I am not Penda Mbaye!" (moi, je suis pas Penda Mbaye). My trip to the local museum was also pretty unfulfilling, though I did come away with an angle to actually tell this story. The man in charge of the archives after laughing dismissively at my request to see any information on penda mbaye or st louis/senegalese cuisine in general then said the only people who 'claim' to know about penda mbaye are really old, and there is no telling whether what they say is plausible or not. So in short he was insinuating that i am headed down a dead end road, or that the old people not wired correctly anymore. In any event where he sees no opportunity I see a goldmine, because I can already see how much fun it will be interviewing as many old people as possible and looking for the common thread. Interactions like this one make me more interested in the life and person of Penda Mbaye now more than ever before. Her legacy feeds the nation daily and it lives on everyday in the lives of the Senegalese so I think it only fitting to find out so I have also decided on a few possible film titles

les filles sont interdit: reconstructing penda mbaye
or
les filles sont interdit: searching for penda mbaye
or
les femmes penda mbaye