There is no better remedy for a hard week than wine and cheese. We set out Friday evening in the hopes that we might nurse ourselves back to health with the best vinho and quejo Mozambique has to offer.

As we waited by the roadside trying to flag down passing trucks, Alice and I swooned over the imaginary taste of Gouda and goat cheese and licked our lips to the ghosts of shiraz and pinot noir. Would we find fruits? Dare we dream of dark chocolate? Back home we would often skip dinner and round up our friends and these guilty pleasures to bring them together in a symphony for our eager tongues. Locating them would be hard, but we feared that failing to would be far worse.

There were rumors that a South African store in Vilanculo had a small selection of fine liquers and the odd bottle of wine along with a modist selection of two or three cheeses that were not served out of can or squeezed from a tube.

When we arrived at the store two hours later imagine our joy at finding not only Chedder and seasoned goat cheese, but also apples, peaches, and, yes, dark chocolate! Sparing no expense and wasting no time we hastily checked out with our bounty and hitched back to the chapa stand to get a ride home. The forty-five minute ride dragged on as Alice’s and my fingers tapped against our backpacks loaded with the food of the gods.

Once back at the school we nearly sprinted for the door and once inside quickly began preparing our feast.
First, uncork the wine and let it breath. Next, slice the apples paper thin and break up the chocolate. When all was ready we sat across from each other and decanted the wine into our finest glassware that had held mustard in another life. Without a word we dove into our drinks. We tore at hearty piecies of bread and piled them high before stuffing them into our mouths.
It was an unbelievable treat, to be sure. It had been over four months since our last glass of wine and we had all but given up on enjoying real cheese for the next two years, but something was missing.

Maybe the bread was too soft, the wine too acidic, the cheese not quite sharp enough to remind you to take another sip. Maybe it was the heat that took the crisp out of the apples. Maybe it was the conspicuous absence of our friends back home that make Wine and Cheese Night about more than fine food.

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