West African recipes
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- Pepper Pig
- Posts: 4920
- Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 5:52 pm
- Location: North West London
West African recipes
This, from yesterday's OFM,is generating a bit of interest on Social Media.
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/a ... lope-ariyo
I don't think I have ever had plantain.
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/a ... lope-ariyo
I don't think I have ever had plantain.
- Earthmaiden
- Posts: 5297
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2020 11:58 am
- Location: Wiltshire
Re: West African recipes
Lovely recipes, nothing there I wouldn't want to eat. I have had plantain. I'm surprised that cookery based on that from various parts of Africa hasn't become more mainstream yet (no doubt it has if you are in London etc). Maybe this will help.
- Badger's Mate
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- Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 6:07 pm
Re: West African recipes
I used to work with a Nigerian girl; if I'd married her, which was never an option, I would be twice as heavy by now. Great cook, lovely food. There was a red rice dish with bits in. The bits could be anything, but might include tripe or snails. There's a lovely stew with okra and dried shrimps, onions and chillies.
The veg market in Edmonton Green was (and still is, of course) a great source of tropical produce, well worth trying for exotic goodies. I've got fewer reasons to go nowadays. I love plantains, and think that people who like roast parsnips would like them too and vice versa, both being starchy and sweet. I suspect there's not that much overlap between the two camps.
As has been mentioned here before, I'm also a fan of the unfortunately named Ghanaian pepper sauce.
The veg market in Edmonton Green was (and still is, of course) a great source of tropical produce, well worth trying for exotic goodies. I've got fewer reasons to go nowadays. I love plantains, and think that people who like roast parsnips would like them too and vice versa, both being starchy and sweet. I suspect there's not that much overlap between the two camps.
As has been mentioned here before, I'm also a fan of the unfortunately named Ghanaian pepper sauce.
- Stokey Sue
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- Location: Stoke Newington, London
Re: West African recipes
Jollof rice?
.
There’s a lunch place in Dalston called Jollof Box that I intended to try but lockdown intervened
Just looked at their menu - the theme of the names had eluded me before
https://www.jollofbox.co.uk/menu
Given the number of West Africans I’ve encountered over the years I’m embarrassingly lacking in any knowledge of the cuisine
.
There’s a lunch place in Dalston called Jollof Box that I intended to try but lockdown intervened
Just looked at their menu - the theme of the names had eluded me before
https://www.jollofbox.co.uk/menu
Given the number of West Africans I’ve encountered over the years I’m embarrassingly lacking in any knowledge of the cuisine
- Badger's Mate
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- Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 6:07 pm
Re: West African recipes
I'm sure it was Jollof rice. One variant had dried fish in it . My friend used to use palm oil to cook it iirc. I thought that was the colourant rather than tomato, but I might have misunderstood.
- Pepper Pig
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- Lusciouslush
- Posts: 1735
- Joined: Thu May 03, 2012 10:35 am
Re: West African recipes
I had a friend (Chico) from The Gold Coast, Ghana whose mother regularly sent him soup/stew through the post - it was a huge joke between us tho' I never did find out what exactly was in those parcels - dried ingredients he couldn't get here I expect - he never went into it - & no, it definitely wasn't illicit drugs......!
His Jollof rice was ace & very popular - he always made a vat-full of it for parties - - he never told anyone his recipe/method tho' very close to his chest & all that.
His Jollof rice was ace & very popular - he always made a vat-full of it for parties - - he never told anyone his recipe/method tho' very close to his chest & all that.
- Lusciouslush
- Posts: 1735
- Joined: Thu May 03, 2012 10:35 am
Re: West African recipes
Badger's Mate wrote:I'm also a fan of the unfortunately named Ghanaian pepper sauce
Badgers - do you make your own shee-to sauce? if so, do you have a t&t recipe.
- Badger's Mate
- Posts: 1489
- Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 6:07 pm
Re: West African recipes
No, only ever bought it ready made. The Tesco local to w*** used to sell one, I believe the brand was Ghana Best
Re: West African recipes
We had a Mindful Chef box recently, with a dry West African spice mix. Googling helps, but does anyone have a tried and tested spice recipe? Cumin? (I don’t have dried chipotle powder.)
The best I can find seems to be sweet paprika, ground white pepper, ground black pepper, ground fennel seeds, ground coriander seeds, and ground chipotle pepper.
https://www.blueapron.com/recipes/west- ... -lime-rice
https://app.mindfulchef.com/recipe/chic ... atay-sauce
The best I can find seems to be sweet paprika, ground white pepper, ground black pepper, ground fennel seeds, ground coriander seeds, and ground chipotle pepper.
https://www.blueapron.com/recipes/west- ... -lime-rice
https://app.mindfulchef.com/recipe/chic ... atay-sauce
- Stokey Sue
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- Location: Stoke Newington, London
Re: West African recipes
I had a little Google myself - Seasoned Pioneers, Steenbergs and the Spice Shop all sell readymade suya which might be a cost effective way of trying it out as stocking up on cubebs and grains of paradise (melagueta) might be quite an overhead
I’ll have a look if I get a chance, my local “Asian” shop is at least 50% African and Caribbean they might have some variants
I’ll have a look if I get a chance, my local “Asian” shop is at least 50% African and Caribbean they might have some variants
- karadekoolaid
- Posts: 2581
- Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:40 pm
Re: West African recipes
Interesting spice mixes there.
I have to admit I have never never eaten West African food - probably because I´m on the other side of the Atlantic - but it all sounds wonderfully exotic.
I have to admit I have never never eaten West African food - probably because I´m on the other side of the Atlantic - but it all sounds wonderfully exotic.
Re: West African recipes
Interesting, thank you. There was an added peanut/satay sauce, so I don’t think peanuts were an ingredient, so, so far, sweet, smoky and chilli flavours. Possibly fennel and coriander? It wasn’t ‘hot’.
- Stokey Sue
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- Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:02 pm
- Location: Stoke Newington, London
Re: West African recipes
I’ve found the recipe which does not have ingredient details
https://app.mindfulchef.com/recipe/chic ... atay-sauce
Trouble is, once you get past the cultural mish-mash required to put Indonesian/Malaysian satay and Japanese tamari and non-tropical maple syrup together into a “West African” dish there could be anything at all in the spice blend. The details should have been somewhere in the packaging?
It may be delicious but while I’m not a stickler for rigid authenticity this doesn’t sound what I’d call Mindful
https://app.mindfulchef.com/recipe/chic ... atay-sauce
Trouble is, once you get past the cultural mish-mash required to put Indonesian/Malaysian satay and Japanese tamari and non-tropical maple syrup together into a “West African” dish there could be anything at all in the spice blend. The details should have been somewhere in the packaging?
It may be delicious but while I’m not a stickler for rigid authenticity this doesn’t sound what I’d call Mindful
Re: West African recipe
Yes, it’s only the second box we’ve had, but lack of detailed ingredients does seem to be a bit of an issue. I feel an email coming on.
- karadekoolaid
- Posts: 2581
- Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:40 pm
Re: West African recipes
Amber: I´ve spent the past 20 years mixing spices for Indian food, Thai food, Indonesian, Mexican, Malaysian, Laotian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tunisian, Jerk, Moroccan......even Southern USA dishes and BBQ rubs.
I can offer you a version of satay which seems to work very well on grilled meats, gado-gado, etc.
I´d be quite happy to investigate West African spice mixes and come up with a recipe, if you´re interested.
I can offer you a version of satay which seems to work very well on grilled meats, gado-gado, etc.
I´d be quite happy to investigate West African spice mixes and come up with a recipe, if you´re interested.
Re: West African recipes
Is this the most disastrously underesearched and misleadingly titled cookery book ever? You'd think with that title there'd be at least one West African recipe, given that the population of those fifteen countries is 350 million.
No. Apart from only having only 35 or so full recipes (pastes and sambals don't count), the only countries he actually visited are the ones in colour on this map. It's a bit like visiting the UK and writing a book based on trips to Kent, Surrey, West Sussex and London. The area in grey is what constitutes West Africa, the closest he got to West Africa was over 2000 miles away.
And of course many of the recipes are his own concoctions anyway. Page 143, Stir Fried Squid, the only African link is that the squid were local, utterly unremarkable bog standard stirfry.
No. Apart from only having only 35 or so full recipes (pastes and sambals don't count), the only countries he actually visited are the ones in colour on this map. It's a bit like visiting the UK and writing a book based on trips to Kent, Surrey, West Sussex and London. The area in grey is what constitutes West Africa, the closest he got to West Africa was over 2000 miles away.
And of course many of the recipes are his own concoctions anyway. Page 143, Stir Fried Squid, the only African link is that the squid were local, utterly unremarkable bog standard stirfry.
- Earthmaiden
- Posts: 5297
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2020 11:58 am
- Location: Wiltshire
Re: West African recipes
Presumably the book was published some time ago? Sadly, that was probably what many people in Britain thought of as Africa not so long ago. We still don't see enough mainstream African cuisine from the remaining parts IMO. Possibly in London nowadays but not out here in the sticks.
- Stokey Sue
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- Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:02 pm
- Location: Stoke Newington, London
Re: West African recipes
I spent over 3 months in South Africa in 2007. When many white South Africans talk about “Africa” that plus Namibia is pretty much the area they are thinking of
Not all of course, but I bet Floyd’s team thought like that - it seems to have been published in 1998 according to Amazon
Not all of course, but I bet Floyd’s team thought like that - it seems to have been published in 1998 according to Amazon
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