A is for Africa

 The first stop on the quest to cook a meal from every book in the library is Africa!

The Book: Food of the World: Africa, TimeLife, 1970.







The Menu:

• Pumpkin Bredie (lamb & pumpkin stew) - South Africa
  
• Mchicha Wa Nazi (spinach with coconut milk and peanuts) - East Africa
  
• White rice

The preparation couldn't be easier.  Sear the lamb stew-meat (cut for me by the butcher), sweat a bunch of onions sliced thin on the mandoline (careful not to slice fingers), throw in chopped garlic, ginger, chillies, cinnaomon, cloves, salt, and pumpkin (fresh, cut in chunks) and cook for a while.  For the spinach: blanch and chop it, sweat some finely chopped onions and chillies, stir in coconut milk and ground peanuts and cook briefly, then add chopped spinach and cook until hot.  Rice is, well, rice.

Fortunately I detected prior to cooking that these recipes had been adjusted for the 1970s American palate.  In the stew I added more like a couple of tablespoons each of chopped garlic and ginger (as opposed to 1-2 teaspoons) and a couple of tablespoons of chillies (not just 1).  I even ventured a whole dozen or so cloves rather than the measly 4 the recipe suggested.  Thank goodness I did, too!  Otherwise the stew would have been inedibly bland, rather than the edible but very bland it turned out to be.  I knew a couple of teaspoons of seasoning couldn't be enough for  1 1/2 lbs. each of meat and pumpkin.  Next time (if there is a next time) double down again on the seasonings and don't seed the chillies first.

The spinach, fortunately, made up for the unexciting stew.  I think this may just become a staple preparation although I will probably experiment with stronger seasoning (more chillies? garlic? ginger?) here too.  Loved the texture and richness provided by the coconut milk and peanuts.  Sort of an African creamed spinach.

It does seem that Africa's a rather big place to explore with just one meal.  I'm thinking it may merit a return visit!

Next up: we come home to the good old USA.