BuzzEssen Foods: Cuisine

Wat

Doro Wat is one of the most famous of all African dishes. You will find it in every Ethiopian restaurant and virtually anyone who is familiar with African cuisine will have heard of it. Another version, though not as commonly known here, is Sik Sik Wat, made with beef. You can directly substitute beef for chicken and follow the same cooking instructions.

Doro Wat is traditionally made very spicy. Super spicy. Like I-don’t-know-how-Ethiopians-have-any-taste-buds-left spicy. Western adaptations are still spicy, but quite tame compared to the real deal.

Traditionally Doro Wat is served with an Ethiopian flatbread called injera. It’s kind of a spongy pancake made with teff flour (a grain indigenous to the area), and the batter is left to ferment for up to 4 days before its used. The injera is used in place of an eating utensil and is used to scoop up the chicken stew.

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African Cuisine

Injera

Injera is usually made from the tiny, iron-rich teff. However, teff production is limited to certain middle elevations and regions with adequate rainfall, so it is relatively expensive for the average household. As many farmers in the Ethiopian highlands grow their own subsistence grains, wheat, barley, corn, and/or rice flour are sometimes used to replace some or all of the teff content. Teff flour is gluten free, therefore Injera that's made only with teff flour and water is gluten free and has higher demand. There are also different varieties of injera in Ethiopia, such as tekore (black ), nech(white) and sergegna (mixed).

In making injera, teff flour is mixed with water and allowed to ferment for several days, as with sourdough starter. As a result of this process, injera has a mildly sour taste. The injera is then ready to be baked into large, flat pancakes. Unusual for a yeast or sourdough bread, the dough has sufficient liquidity to be poured onto the baking surface, rather than rolled out.

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African Cuisine

Ugandan Chickennat

For main meals, white maize flour is added to the saucepan and stirred into the ugali/posho until the consistency is firm. It is then turned out onto a serving plate and cut into individual slices (or served onto individual plates in the kitchen). Cassava, yam, and African sweet potato are also eaten; the more affluent include white (often called "Irish") potato and rice in their diets. Soybeans were promoted as a healthy food staple in the 1970s and this is also used, especially for breakfast. Chapati, an Asian flatbread, is also part of Ugandan cuisine.

Chickennat is a traditional Ugandan recipe for a classic stew of chicken and onions cooked in chicken stock broth that's thickened with peanut butter and egg yolks.

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African Cuisine

Beef Biryani

Ingredients vary accord to type of meat used and the region the Biriyani is from. Gosht (of either chicken or mutton) as the prime ingredient with rice. As is common in dishes of the Indian subcontinent, some vegetables are also used when preparing Biriyani. Other vegetables such as corn also may be used depending on the season and availability. Navratan biryani tends to use sweeter richer ingredients such as cashew, kismis and fruits such as apples and pineapples.

Beef biryani, as the name implies, uses beef as meat. In Hyderabad, it is famous as Kalyani biryani, in which beef (buffalo meat) is used in preparing the Kalyani biryani. This meal was started after the Kalyani Nawabs of Bidar came to Hyderabad sometime in the 18th century. The Kalyani biryani is made with small cubes of beef, regular spices, onions and lots of tomatoes. It has a distinct tomato, jeera, dhania flavour. In Kerala, beef biryani is very famous.

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African Cuisine

Ugali

Known as ugali in Kenya and Tanzania, this starchy, polenta-like side dish goes by different names in sub-Saharan Africa. In Malawi and Zambia it is called nsima or nshima. The South African name for it is pap or mealie pap. Zimbabweans call it sadza.

Ugali is usually served as an accompaniment to meat or vegetable stews, greens or soured milk. To eat ugali, pull off a small ball of mush with your fingers. Form an indentation with your thumb, and use it to scoop up accompanying stews and other dishes. Or you can form larger balls with your hands or an ice cream scoop, place them in individual serving bowls and spoon stew around them.

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African Cuisine

Burundi Beans and Bananas

Beans are the staple of Burundian cuisine and the typical carbohydrate sources are beans, plantains, bananas and corn. Like many East African cuisines there is a strong Asian influence on Burundian cookery, including the use of hot spices and the prevalence of Chapatis at meals.

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African Cuisine

Cachupa

Cachupa is the quintessential Cape Verdean dish. While there are countless variations, almost all Cachupas have hominy, beans, and potatoes. Some add yucca. Any assortment of vegetables and legumes can be added, depending on availability. For those who can afford it, dried and smoked Portuguese sausages are also added for tremendous “stick to your bones” flavor. Fish, such as tuna and wahoo, is a little more attainable for the average citizen. Our version is vegan and more affordable.

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African Cuisine

Brochette

In cooking, en brochette refers to food cooked, and sometimes served, on brochettes, or skewers. The French term generally applies to French cuisine, while other terms like shish kebab, satay, or souvlaki describe the same technique in other cuisines. Food served en brochette is generally grilled.

The skewer itself, the brochette, can also be used to dip pieces of food in a fondue. In those cases it normally takes a slightly different form and is sold as a brochette de fondue or as a set along with the fondue pot.

Typically, meats and vegetables are put on a brochette, but small pieces of bread can also be skewered along with the other ingredients.

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African Cuisine

Chicken Yassa

Chicken Yassa is a Senegalese stew which is also known as Yassa au poulet.

The chicken is marinated with lemon and mustard for hours before it been cooked. This sauce is popular all over West Africa, it can be found in Gambia, Guinea, Ivory coast and many other African countries.

Yassa can also be made with beef, Lamb or fish. The sauce mainly consists of onions.

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African Cuisine

Moambe

Moambe is a traditional African stew. The thick red sauce is made from the fruit of the African oil palm. Chunks of beef, mutton, or chicken are then added to complete the dish.

To make moambe, the marinated meat and chopped onions are put in a Dutch oven. The meat is then left to simmer until it becomes golden brown. A few cups of water and cut tomatoes are then added before putting in the palm oil sauce. The dish is then left alone for an hour for the meat to tenderize before serving it on a plate with fufu or chikwanga.

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African Cuisine

Daraba

Chad is a large landlocked country in Central Africa. It is one of the poorest and most corrupted countries of the world and most Westerners probably know nothing about it. As is common in Africa, it is home to over 200 ethnic groups and like many African countries, it unfortunately has a history of civil wars, attempted coups, messy politics and such. Over half of the people are muslims, though about 1/3 are Christian. Polygamy is very common. The country has a rich cultural heritage, especially around music. There is only one cinema in the country, but very small scale movie production still exists.

The main staple food of Chad is millet, usually formed into balls which are dipped into sauces. It is also made into various alcoholic drinks. Other starchy foods include sorghum, corn, rice, manioc, and potatoes. Other popular ingredients include fish, yoghurt, various beans, bananas, some nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, dried fruit, sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes and okra. Foods may be seasoned with e.g. lemon juice and zest, chili, coriander, cardamom, cumin, garlic, cinnamon, cloves and honey.

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African Cuisine

Egusi Soup

Egusi is one the most widely consumed soups in Nigeria, it’s prepared by most tribes. Egusi is ground up shelled melon seed. Its dry milled and combined with a little water to form a paste. The paste is then combined with seafood and cows meat to make the soup.

Egusi is traditionally served with a starch. Possible starch options include Iyan (Pounded yam), Garri (fermented cassava), elubo (fermented yam) or semolina. The vegetable used in egusi preparation is also very important, it goes a long well in defining the taste of the soup. Great choices are tete (calallo), spinach, ugu (fluted pumpkin leaf), ewuro (bitter leaf), Gbure (water leaf), amunututu (malabar spinach), kale, collard and or scent leaf (efirin).

The main factor that set Yoruba style egusi soup apart is the presence of clumps/lumps . According to my grandmother, egusi is just as delicious as meat in this lumpy form. There are different methods to getting and retaining lumps in the soup, I will be using the frying method which happens to be most straightforward . Yoruba style egusi is also cooked with stew base (sans tomato) and contains iru. The recipe can be modified without these ingredients.

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African Cuisine

Ndolé (Bitterleaf) Soup

Ndolé (or N'Dolé, or Ndole) is a hearty soup from Cameroon. It is made from a variety of ingredients that, for the non-African, might seem to be an odd combination. Look for bitterleaf and dried shrimp in international grocery stores. As the name implies, the bitterleaf (also called bitter leaf) adds a distinctive flavor to the soup, but if none is available substitute spinach or other greens. Skip the optional ingredients to make the most basic Ndolé soup.

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African Cuisine

Arroz de cabidela

In the North of Portugal we see animals as a whole and, therefore, it is possible to find dishes that honor all cuts of meat, ranging from the noblest ones (loin, belly, ribs) to the “inferior” ones (tongue, heart, blood). This comes from our earliest origins back in the time when the Iberian Peninsula was occupied by Suevian and other tribes, which were used to eating what is now considered to be inferior cuts.

These dishes are prepared mainly using pork and chicken and their common denominator is their ability to make unusual cuts shine, either through flavor or consistency. They are part of our rich cultural heritage, and in Porto, we take pride in this and even call ourselves tripeiros, which literally translates into tripe eaters!

In order to introduce you to the gastronomical culture of Northern Portugal, we are starting a recipe series called Tripeiro, which is dedicated to tripes! Think about stomach, heart, tongue, liver, blood, etc. the possibilities are immense, as is the pleasure of discovering all of them!

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Pages

BuzzEssen Foods

Wat

Injera

Ugandan Chickennat

Beef Biryani

Ugali

Burundi Beans and Bananas

Cachupa

Brochette

Chicken Yassa

Moambe

Daraba

Egusi Soup

Ndolé (Bitterleaf) Soup

Arroz de cabidela

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