Reminiscing: About Custard

Some things just taste better when you are stranded in the middle of the jungle with no way out for at least another week, you know?

At least that was my experience with custard. If you've read through any of our stories from the bush, I'm sure you've already heard of our unexpected extra week in the jungle last year. It was a lesson to us to always make sure that you can get back when you first decide to go out. But that's not what this is about.

This is about custard.

This custard looks better than mine.

For some reason, custard doesn't seem to be very popular in the States. It's pretty much the same thing as pudding, except that it's egg flavored. But during that extra week in the bush, egg flavored custard was an amazing dessert. Martha had a huge bag of the stuff and she was glad I took a liking to it, since it meant that I was willing to man the stove and make a pot of it in the evenings. It was quick and easy and delicious.

Fast forward a couple weeks. We were back in Madang and had bought ourselves a big bag of custard mix! I dumped in the mix and some milk and set about heating it up. I added the sugar, making sure to stir just right so that it wouldn't burn.

Soon, I was ready to serve what we had already established as being one of the most delicious of the desserts to be found in the jungle. But something was wrong. Taking a big spoonful, I tasted the concoction and learned, to my dismay, that some things should probably stay in the jungle.