DianaBuja

Posted by: Smarmotron on Apr 20 2003, 10:03 PM What is East/Central African cuisine like? I mean that part of Africa south of the sahara yet north of South Africa. I've never eaten anything I could call an 'African Dish' that wasn't Moroccan or otherwise from the North. Any recipes? Well, as I’m located here in Burundi [along Lake Tanganyika, central Africa], let me oblige with some information and recipes. First, here’s a page on our project website where I’ve put up various recipes - most of the recipes are accompanied by photos of the dish being prepared here: A "Taste" of Africa & the Middle East http://burundigoats.tripod.com/Taste_of_Af..._of_africa.html Recipes include the following: • Sautéed Ndagala (Whitebait) in Tomato Sauce (Burundi) • Green Mealie Bread (Botswana, Southern Africa) • Bushmeat, Black-eyed Peas, Greens & Pili-Pili Ho-Ho (Nigeria) • Yogurt-making in the Tropics (Burundi) • Some Yogurt-based Recipes (Egypt) o Lebna (Yogurt Cheese) o Labnah Makhbus: (Yogurt Cheese Balls in Olive Oil) o Labnah Ta'amiyyah (Spiced/Fried Yogurt Balls) o Zabaadi Bil-Tahini (Yogurt & tahini/sesame paste) sauce/dip • Sosaties - Sweet & Sour Kebabs (South Africa) • Sombe - Manioc Leaves & Goat Meat in a Hot Sauce (Burundi; Rwanda' Eastern Congo) Here is a page on cheese production in the Tropics - lots of pictures: Notes on Dairy Goats and Artisan Cheese Production in Central Africa http://burundigoats.tripod.com/Tropical_Em...y___cheese.html AND, just in case you might be wondering what *goat* cuisine consists of, hereabouts, see the following, also with lots of pictures: Why Do Goats Prefer Browse Over Grasses? http://burundigoats.tripod.com/Tropical_Em...fer_browse.html Ecosystems for goats defined: different eco-climatic zones for different animals http://burundigoats.tripod.com/Tropical_Em.../evolution.html But seriously, the ecosystem-cuisine interface is key also for human-folk; it’s only in the last decades that technology has overcome this constraint, thereby allowing foods to be processed and transported over long distances. It’s all too easy to forget this important fact, when thinking and talking and writing about ‘regional’ or ‘ethnic’ cuisines. We’re all - originally - a bit like the goats: historically, our cuisines reflected the ecosystems in which they were developed. More recipes in another post.

As I’m busy recovering from a compound fracture in one leg/ankle and simple fracture in the other, some weeks to spend at the computer and so have been reviewing current - and excavating past threads, and will put up various comments and so forth. As for fried chicken, my father’s family is from the South [Carolina} and so ‘southern’ fried chicken was a central part of the family cuisine, which came down from my grandmother and her family - simple, rich and yummy & tastes just as good here in Africa: Road-Runner Southern Fried Chickens & the Fixins - One of our African Road-Runners Melt about ½ cup of butter in a heavy cast-iron pan Mix some flour, salt and pepper in a paper bag Wash and dry [partly] chicken Shake a few pieces of chicken in the flour at a time Place chicken in the melted butter on a low-medium heat Simmer, turning, as required but not covered, until done Once done, use drippings to make gravy: Flour - salt - pepper cooked in the drippings till browned Add milk a little at a time, and cook to consistency you want Meanwhile…. Cook long-grain rice in this way: Wash and put about 1 cup in boiling water with salt Continue at a rolling boil until the ends of the rice begin to separate Put rice in a metal colander and rinse well under cold water Put colander over a pot of boiling water and steam rice, covered, till done *Don’t* throw away water in which rice is boiled - save to use as a starch for your clothes! Make biscuits: Preheat oven to 350 or so Melt about ¼ - ½ cup butter in a cake pan Make your favorite biscuit recipe - cut or do as drop biscuits Place biscuits in the pan - best if they are all touching Bake till done. Make collards Clean and chop up a large bunch of collards Put in a pot with a large chunk of fatback or a lot of bacon Salt & Pepper Simmer until done and broth is cooked down ‘Pot liker’ is good so don’t throw away Voila - a super-fat, super-delicious and easy southern home dish. DianaBuja Burundi AFRICA

Thanks for the translation. The last option is the one I'm most familiar with. As for indigenous oranges vs. horticultual/market-oriented oranges, I take it you were referring to the latter. OT - 'horses for courses' - are you a horse-person? Here in Burundi at our Cercle Hippique, we have but 31 horses left - that is all remaining in central Africa, where before the wars started a decade ago there were said to have been over 25,000 Not killed to eat, just general slaghter and attrition. DianaBuja.

Fatta/fatah is commonly a beduin dish - cooked by the tribes to the west of/ interfacing with the Nile Valley. A very hearty dish, but much more simple that the variations being discussed in this thread. And, prepared not in relation to a particular holiday [necessarily] - but any important celebration or visit of a guest. A lamb is usually slaughtered - sometimes a goat - the meat lopped into pieces, bone in, and simmered/boiled with spices [cardamon; garlic; maybe onion; pepper; salt]. When the meat begins to fall off the bone, pieces of bread are placed at the bottom of a large kettle, broth added - then, cooked rice; more broth then maybe more bread and broth and finally meat on top. How ingredients are added/layered is up to the cook. The meat can be seared in semna with lots of garlic, then the water added. In rural Egypt, I've never seen/eaten it with tomatoes in it. Nor with vinegar – but of course that doesn’t mean it’s not found. Sometimes the dish is inverted onto a large, round tray, around which all gather with spoons and 'dig in' - or the casserole may be placed on a tray and everyone digs into that. Not fancy, but very satisfying especially during the very cold winter months. Many / most recipes in the Middle East cookbooks with which I'm familiar reflect urban food and not the 'common fare' of balady/ country folk. That's certainly not a criticism, but a critique on how our perceptions of who eats what in a region - and how it is cooked - can be tempered by these foody-origins. On reproducing recipes - my understanding is that as long as the recipe is properly attributed/sited, it can be reproduced - as found on most foody lists. Any thoughts on this? DianaBuja

Can't get the book here but wish I could! [few cooking books make it as far as Burundi... Anyway, about street foods in general: It was Irene Tinker, a sociologist, who put street foods 'on the map' through a series of global case studies; I was involved in the Cairo street foods work. Really pleased to learn that cookbooks are coming out on street foods! Interestingly, street foods are not nearly as important here in Bujumbura [capital of Burundi - central Africa] - nor in Nairobi - as in the Middle East; Asia. The only street foods here = hardboiled eggs; peanuts and a kind of mandazi [deep fried sweet a bit like a doughnut]. They are primarily solded by streetboys who wander about the town balancing trays of their goodies on their heads. A little bag of home-cooked peanuts and a boiled egg makes a nice snack when hungry; very cheap and nutritious, too! Street foods might be an interesting topic to discuss as a subforum; where they exist, who benefits and who does not; what are the most popular and how are they cooked; etc. DianaBuja.

Best [commercial] shakshuka I've had - was at the Filfila restaurant in central Cairo. The dish is not really made in rural Egypt, where plain boiled eggs that are dipped in fresh cumin [not salt] are a common b'fast dish, with white cheese, onions, bread and tomatoes. Last year an Israeli friend told me that 'shakshuka' originated as a jewish [i believe sephardic] dish, thence spreading to North Africa and etc.... or, perhaps, from North Africa and then taken to Israel... Certainly, the word 'شاكشكا' is not derived from a common arabic root. Any thoughts on this? I make shakshuka with onion, tomatoes, green pepper, some hot pepper - sometimes, also, a few cubes of eggplant and white cheese ['gibna bayda']. Simmering the veggies, then breaking the eggs either on them - or keeping the eggs whole and breaking them into indentations in the veggie mixture. Look forward to your experiments and pix! Dianabuja.

Sorry to hear that; seems Carnivore may have gone the way of Manaar and others... Although, another possibility: due to very severe drought conditions now in Kenya game is, according to my friends/colleagues who are in Kenya, pretty stressed and scarce at this time and that may [in part] account for the poor game showing. Few things are less tasty that a very stressed / starved animal. DianaBuja

By all means, start out at the Carnivore Restaurant; yes, lots and lots of mainly game meat - very delicious - but also lots of non-meat side dishes. As for veg. dishes, you might want to try out one of the Manaar restaurants, though the quality has gone down somewhat since they've expanded. The Carnivore is located quite close to the Nairobi Zoo, where you can do mini-safari drive-throughs [seeing non-fenced game]; there is now a terrible drought in Kenya and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, and so you will certainly be seeing the countryside at its worst, unfortunately! Back to the veg. dishes - just about any Indian restaurant will have veggie dishes and there are quite a few, other than the Manaar. Also, be sure that you go out to Karen - now a suburb of Nairobi - and see Karen Blixen's [aka 'out of africa'] lovely house; there are quite a few nice restaurants in the vicinity that you can visit. I lived a number of years at the foot of the Ngong hills - just at the edge of the Blixen farm, but closer to the Ngong. A wonderful area. Have fun! DianaBuja