Thursday 27 September 2012

Smell of African air

Dear Veg,

I saw on your blog that you are asking for African themed meals. I used to live in Cameroon, and whilst I don't cook many Cameroonian meals, I thought I would share a few of my favorites. Perhaps you'll try these, or similar meals, in Malawi.

Plantains

Snails!

Favorite Cameroonian meals:

Poulet DG: a chicken dish with lots of veggies, notably plantain. 'DG' stands for 'directeur générale' since the dish used to be expensive so that only the well off could afford it.

Fried plantain: scrumptious. Not terrifically healthy, but scrumptious.

Fufu and ndoleh: Manioc boiled and pounded into a paste like dish (fufu) and bitter leaf (ndolé) pounded until the bitterness is gone and mixed with groundnuts and meat/prawns if affordable (ndoleh). The cats I had in Cameroon were named Fufu and Ndoleh.

All the best for your trip to Malawi; I hope you love the smell of African air the way I do.

Best,
Janet

5 comments:

  1. Attention !! Very bad and politically not correct joke incoming. Continue to read this comment on Your own risc !!

    "The cats I had in Cameroon were named Fufu and Ndoleh."

    So.. how did they taste?

    ReplyDelete
  2. ah you brought back memories from my research trip to Cameroon a few years ago! I agree, that plantain is scrumptious! I tried to cook it here in Scotland when I came home (tesco occasionally sell it) but it didnt work out so nice!

    I dont however have pleasant memories of Fufu and ndoleh - in fact, I would go as far as saying that ndoleh was pretty horrible tasting!
    Please dont take offence however, as I am sure that Fufu and ndoleh when in the form of two cats are probably absolutely lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  3. http://www.iltalehti.fi/ruoka/2012092716130196_ru.shtml

    Go Martha! :) Second time you are in our biggest news magazine. Keep going! :) Greatings from Finland.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh! I LOVE plantains! They have to be pretty ripe though so I am not surprised that the ones sold at Tesco where so-so. Wait a few days before frying them... Delicious...

    ReplyDelete