Around the World in 80 Dishes: South Africa

I have gotten to where I am in life not because of something I brought to the world but through something I found - the wealth of African culture. 

-- Hugh Masakela 

When reading these words, they sound like the notes emanating from the trump of the famous South African jazz musician. "The Father of South African jazz, Masakela was known for his anti-apartheid songs, such as Soweto Blues and Bring Him Back Home." His music encouraged and inspired South Africans in their struggle to end the racist system of apartheid. That struggle eventually prevailed on May 4, 1990, when an agreement was reached to establish a democratic government -- of all the people and by all of the people -- by 1994. And, in that year, South Africa held its first fully democratic election, in which the Rainbow Nation (a term originated with Archbishop Desmond Tutu) elected Nelson Mandela as its first black President.

South Africa has always interested me, as it represents one of the best examples of how a diverse people can tear down a racist system and replace it with one based on equality and freedom. To be sure, South Africa has its issues, particularly economic issues which have perpetuated and, in some respects, worsened the economic divides amongst its people. But, there is a wealth of South African culture, one that transcends dollars and cents, or Rands. One that is truly invaluable.

My Around the World in 80 Dishes challenge invites me to learn more about this wealth. The Rainbow Nation, South Africa, is truly a diverse one, as evidenced by the fact that it has eleven official languages (Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xhosa, Xitsonga and Zulu). This diversity presents a lot of potential dishes for a main course. There are, of course, many dishes from the various African nations who live in South Africa, along with dishes from other significant ethnic groups, such as curry dishes from India and Malaysia, who were brought or made their way during the colonial period. And, there are, of course, the dishes of the colonizers themselves, such as the English and the Afrikaans. There are so many options that it took a very long time to decide. And, in the end, the decision was made not by myself but, interestingly enough, by Chef Gordon Ramsay. 

While I was preparing a meal one afternoon, I happened to have Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted on the television in the background. The show chronicles Chef Ramsay's travels to various parts of the world, where he spends a week learning about the people, their culture, and their food, all tied together by a challenge to prepare a meal at the end. This particular episode followed Chef Ramsay as he learned about South African cuisine in the KwaZulu-Natal province, with a particular emphasis on the Zulu cuisine, but a recognition of other influences. He prepared a whole fish on the braai, learned how to make Ushatini and Chakalaka, and discovered the importance of pelepele or piri piri. 

Ramsay's adventures provided a roadmap for this particular challenge. I am going to make the principal dishes from that Uncharted show: whole fish on the Braai, which will satisfy the challenge, along with the sides of ushatini and chakalaka. I will even make pelepele (or peri peri).   

MAIN DISH

For the culinary challenge, I prepared a whole fish for the braai. Gordon Ramsay's preparation of this dish was very simple, basically just some salt on the fish before placing it on the grill. My recipe involves a little more preparation and ingredients. 

WHOLE FISH ON THE BRAAI

Recipe from Fish Wife

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 whole fish (such as Red Roman, red snapper)
• 1 red onion
• 1 handful of cilantro
• 2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced chiles
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 lemon

Directions:

1. Prepare the fish. Score both sides of the fish.  Chop the red onion and the cilantro and stuff into the cavity of the fish. Grate some lemon rind and add to the cavity. Mix together the garlic, chiles, ginger and soy sauce. Spread one-half of the sauce over both sides of the fish. Keep the remaining half for basting the fish. Place the fish on a fish basket that can be flipped.

2. Grill the fish. Heat a charcoal or gas grill over high heat. Cook the fish over the heat for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping over 3 to 5 minutes. Using a basting brush, paint the fish with the marinade with every flip. When the fish is done, remove from the heat and allow to rest for a few minutes. 

SIDE DISH

Chakalaka is a South African side dish that is often served with the braai. Its origins lie in the townships around Johnannesberg, where Mozambican mineworkers lived and worked. These mineworkers would combine tinned food, like beans and tomatoes, with chiles to create a dish that they could eat with pap (porridge). Chakalaka represents an effort to take something that was brought to the region by colonialists (tinned food) and making it into something indigenous. 

CHAKALAKA

Recipe from Cooking Channel

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 green Thai Bird's eye chiles, seeded and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 ounces ginger, finely grated
• 2 tablespoons mild curry powder
• 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 5 large carrots, scrubbed, topped, tailed and grated
• 14 ounces canned chopped tomatoes
• 12 ounces tomato paste
• 14 ounces canned baked beans
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper 

Directions:

1. Saute ingredients. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions until soft and translucent. Add the chiles, garlic and half of the ginger (reserve the other half to add right at the end). Add the curry powder and stir to combine. Add the bell peppers and cook for another two minutes. Add the carrots and stir to make sure they are well combined with the other ingredients and coated in the curry powder. Add in the tomatoes and tomato paste and stir. Cook until the mixture is well combined and slightly thickened, about 5 to 10 minutes. 

2. Finish the dish. Remove from the heat and add the baked beans, thyme and remaining ginger. Stir to combine; season with salt and pepper. Serve hot or cold. 

RELISH

Ushatini is a South African version of a salad or relish that I have seen around the world. In the Americas, it resembles salsa or pico de gallo, with tomatoes, onions and chiles. In the Middle East, it is halfway to a salad e-shirazi (all it needs is cucumbers). Yet, ushatini is South African with its use of the piri-piri chiles (or, in my case, Thai green chiles). It is a great accompaniment to the Braai, as it should be spooned over the grilled meat or seafood.  

USHATINI

Recipe from Cookpad

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 big tomatoes, diced
• 3 chiles, minced
• Vinegar, to taste
• Salt, to taste 

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. 

CONDIMENT

The final part of the Around the World in 80 Dishes challenge involves the preparation of peri-peri sauce, or what was referred to in Uncharted as "pele pele" sauce. This condiment was made possible by the Portuguese, who brought chiles to South Africa (as they did around the world), which served as the basis for the sauce. This is a very spicy sauce given the types of chiles used. 

SOUTH AFRICAN PERI PERI

Recipe from African Bites

Ingredients:

• 10 hot chiles (habanero, scotch bonnet or Thai chiles)
• 1 medium onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons bouillon powder or Maggi cubes
• 2 basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons parsley
• 1-3 roma tomatoes
• 1/2 to 1 cup vegetable oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper 

Directions:

1. Prepare the sauce. Coarsely chop the tomatoes and onions and discard the pepper stems. Then puree the tomatoes, onions, garlic, pepper, parsley, basil, and bouillon powder in a food processor with as much oil as needed to make a thick-ish puree. 

2. "Cook" the sauce. Pour the pepper mixture into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and slowly simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Adjust seasoning with salts.

 3. Finish the dish. Let it cool, pour into a mason jar or a container with a lid, and store it in a fridge for up to a week. For the pepper sauce to last longer, fully cover it with oil. 

*     *     *

In the end, I think these dishes turned out well, even if they may not have reached the standards of either Gordon Ramsey or his hosts when he visited South Africa. The dishes enabled me to participate in an endeavor to learn more about South African cuisine, especially the dishes of the indigenous peoples. This challenge was a success and motivates me to my next one. Stay tuned for more....

PEACE.

Louis Armstrong's Creole Red Beans and Rice

Red Beans and Ricely Yours,

-- Louis Armstrong

That is how the Great Satchmo, Louis Armstrong, signed his correspondence. This signature was Armstrong's nod to one of his most favorite dishes, red beans and rice. This dish has a long history in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Louis Armstrong was born and raised. It was often deemed the dish for Monday dinners, a simple one to prepare while engaged in a long day of work. One could simply get the pot going, leave it alone for a few hours, and return to finish preparing the meal. 

The highlighted ingredient of this dish - red beans - has a very special place in the cuisine of New Orleans. Indeed, the Crescent City is really a red bean city, in the words of Willie May Seaton, of the famous Scotch House.  The Federal Writers Project - which I have posted about before - likened the red bean in New Orleans to the white bean in Boston or the cowpea to any city in South Carolina. 

The one indisputable fact is that Red Beans and Rice not only had a place in the correspondence of Louis Armstrong, but also in his heart. Patrick Jarenwattananon once wrote about Armstrong's love for the dish in an article for National Public Radio. He quoted from Armstrong's own work, In His Own Words: Selected Writings (ed. Thomas Bros. 1970), in which Louis recounted the dish prepared by Lucille, who he would later marry: 

The Red Beans + Rice that Lucille cooked for me was just what the Doctor ordered. Very much delicious and I ate just like a dog. I said forgive me after I had finished eating. I just had to make some kind of excuse. She accepted it very cheerful. Because I am sure that Lucille has never witnessed any one Human Being eating so much. Especially at one sitting. I had her to save the rest of the beans that was left over. Then I'd come another time and finish them. We commenced getting closer 'n' closer as time went by. 

I guess one could say that Louis Armstrong's love of this one dish led to the greater love of his life.

The special place of Red Beans and Rice led those close to him to memorialize the dish for posterity. In fact, one can find numerous pages that include the recipe, which is set forth to the right. 

I decided that I would make this dish, principally because of my love of Louis Armstrong's music. It is that love that led me to use salt pork (which I generally avoid for health reasons) and ham hocks (which, I'll be honest, I had not used in cooking before). Yet, with Louis Armstrong's songs playing in the background, I assumed the role of a cook, trying my best to recreate the recipe that would have been prepared for the Great Satchmo. That's when I remembered one important thing about recipes: they may list all of the ingredients and provide the directions, but recipe's rarely capture the cook's special touch. The knowledge of exactly how long to let things simmer, how to eyeball salt to get the right "taste," and other aspects that one develops as they make the dish over and over again over time. 

My first effort to make Louis Armstrong's Red Beans and Rice was a success in my humble opinion. I made a tasty dish that may not have gotten Pop's attention, but it definitely made a few great meals for me.

CREOLE RED BEANS AND RICE

Recipe from Louis Armstrong

Serves 4-6

Ingredients (for beans):

• 1 pound kidney beans
• 1/2 pound salt pork (strip of lean, strip of fat, slab bacon may be used if preferred)
• 1 small can of tomato sauce (if desired)
• 6 small Ham Hocks or one smoked pork butt
• 2 onions diced
• 1/4 green bell pepper
• 5 tiny or 2 medium dried peppers
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• Salt, to taste

Ingredients (for rice)

• 2 cups white rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Prepare the beans. Wash beans thoroughly, then soak overnight in cold water. Be sure to cover the beans. 

2. Cook the beans without ham hocks. To cook, pour water off beans, add fresh water to cover. Add salt pork or bacon, let come to a boil over full flame in covered pot. Turn flame down to slightly higher than low and let cook one and one-half hours. Add diced onions, bell pepper ,garlic, dried peppers, and salt. Cook three hours. Add tomato sauce, cook one and one-half hours more, adding water whenever necessary. Beans and meat should always be just covered with water, never dry. 

3. Cook the beans with ham hocks or pork butts. Wash meat, add water to cover and let come to a boil in a covered pot over medium flame. Cook one and one-half hours. Then add beans (pour water off, add rest of ingredients to meat. Cook four and one-half hours. Add water when necessary. 

4. Prepare the rice. Wash rice thoroughly, have water and salt come to a boil. Add rice to boiling water. Cook until rice swells and water is almost evaporated. Cover and turn flame down low. Cook until rice is grainy. To insure grainy rice, always use one and one-half cups water to one cup of rice.

PEACE.

Around the World in 80 Dishes: Haiti

It has been a while since my last challenge, which was to make Escudella, a main course from Andorra.  With the pleasant thoughts of my role as an Escullaire for a day, I turn to my next challenge ... to make a main course from Haiti.  I assumed this challenge in the context of cooking a four course meal Haitian meal with my beautiful Angel for our Wine Club friends.  While only the main course counts toward my personal culinary challenge, I have included all four courses -- which actually includes five dishes (more about that later) -- with this post.

For the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti's cuisine has benefited from a wealth of different cultural and culinary influences.  The indigenous peoples, the Arawak and Taíno, cultivated fruits and vegetables, including but not limited to  guavas, papayas, sweet potatoes, pineapples and corn.  With the Age of Discovery, the Europeans then left their mark on the cuisine.  European traders and settlers brought  oranges, lemons, mangoes, rice and sugarcane  The last ingredient also left a further mark upon Haiti, as Europeans brought slaves from Africa to work on the sugarcane plantations.   The Africans made a significant contribution to Haitian cuisine with ingredients such as  beans, taro root, pigeon peas and okra.

My goal with this challenge was to make a four course dinner featuring dishes that are commonly served on the tables of Haitian families.  Having not visited Haiti personally, this is quite a challenge.

THE FIRST COURSE

The first course is Accra.  This dish is a Haitian version of Akkra, a Senegalese fritter made with black eye peas.  Rather than using peas, the Haitians use malanga, also known as eddoe, which is a close relative to taro root. This dish can be made either by deep frying the or pan frying the fritters.  This recipe calls for doing the latter, using about a cup of oil in a pan.  Make sure that the oil gets very hot and add a few tablespoons at a time so as to not cause the temperature to drop too much.  We served these fritters with a little sour cream, which works well with the root vegetable fritters.

ACCRA (Malanga Fritters)
Adapted from Haitian Recipes

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 pound of malanga, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon of ground pepper
1 teaspoon of adobo seasoning
Salt, to taste
2 teaspoons of flat leaf parsley
1 cup of oil
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 shallot minced
1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Directions:

1.  Prepare the malanga.  Soak the malanga in water overnight.  Heat a  pot of water on high until the water begins to boil.  Boil the malanga for about ten minutes.  Check to see if they are cooked by piercing the root with a fork.    Remove the malanga and allow them to cool.  The cover or skin should come off easily.  Allow the taro root to cool before proceeding to the next step. 

2.   Prepare the fritters.   Grate the malanga.  Mash it with a fork.  Combine the remaining ingredients and mix them in well.

3.  Fry the fritters.  Use a skillet, heat the oil until it is very hot.  Pour a spoonful of batter at a time.  Flip over to brown evenly.  Remove and set aside.  Blot with a paper towel to remove excess oil. 

THE SECOND COURSE

For the second course, I made a Soupe aux Pois Rouge or Red Pea Soup.  I could not find any red peas, so I substituted small red beans.  I followed the recipe and the resulting product closely resembled the texture of refried beans.  I added a couple cups of water to provide a more soup-like texture to the dish. 

SOUPE AUX POIS ROUGE

Recipe adapted from Haitian Recipes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 bag of small red beans

1 scallion, chopped

1 shallot, diced

1 garlic clove, smashed

1 teaspoon of adobo

1 teaspoon of black pepper

2 teaspoons of dried thyme

1 teaspoon of flat leaf parsley

1 teaspoon of oil

Directions:

1.  Boil the peas/beans.   Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the peas.  Boil for about one and one half hours until the peas are tender.  Drain the peas, set aside and reserve the liquid. 

2.  Prepare the soup.  Add the peas to a food processor, along with two cups of the reserve liquid and about another cup or two of water if you want to create a soup-like consistency, four cloves of garlic, and puree until smooth.

3.  Finish the soup.  Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium high heat.  Saute the shallot and scallions for three to five minutes.  Pour the pea soup into a large pot over medium heat.  Season to taste with the seasoning.  Stir in the thyme, parsley, scallion and shallot.  Remove from heat and serve with white rice.

THE MAIN COURSE

Of course, the Around the World in 80 Dishes Challenge requires me to make a main course.  To satisfy the challenge, I decided to make Griots, which is a popular Haitian pork dish.  I have to admit that this is a dish that I have been wanting to make for quite a while.  I read a couple of articles about Griots and the process by which it is made.  I found the articles interesting and I was very happy to have the opportunity to make this dish.  

The process is fairly straightforward.  The pork is rinsed in citrus juice (orange and lime) and then marinated with various spices for a few hours.  The meat is then cooked twice.  It is first boiled with the marinade (although I have seen some recipes that call for roasting it).  Once the meat is tender, the meat is fried until it is browned in a pan with some oil.   

GRIOTS

Recipe adapted from Haitian Recipes

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of pork

1 Scotch Bonnet pepper

1 teaspoon of parsley

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of thyme

1/2 teaspoon of rosemary

1 teaspoon of adobo

1 lime 

1 orange

Directions:

1.  Prepare the meat.  Cut the meat into medium pieces.  Wash thoroughly with lime and/or sour orange juice.  Season the meat well with adobo, rosemary, thyme, parsley, garlic powder, and pepper.  Marinate for about four hours.

2.  Boil the meat.  In a saucepan, cover the meat with water and boil over medium heat until water evaporates.  Stir occasionally and cook until the meat is tender.  Remove the meat and set aside.

3.  Fry the meat.  Heat the oil in a skillet, fry each side of the meat to brown evenly.

THE NATIONAL DISH

I decided that I would serve the Griots with the "National Dish" of Haiti, Diri Kole ak Pwa, which is also called "Ris et Pois" or "Rice and Beans."  My beautiful Angel made this dish and she did a great job.  The rice dish has quite a kick from the Scotch Bonnet peppers.  If you cannot find Scotch Bonnet peppers, you can do what I did and substitute Habanero peppers.  You can see the peppers, they are the little orange strips amongst the rice. 

DIRI KOLE AK PWA (Rice and Beans)

Recipe adapted from Tastebook

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce packages) of dry kidney beans

8 tablespoons olive oil

2 shallot bulbs, minced

6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups of uncooked long grain white rice

4 bay leaves

2 tablespoons of kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves

6 sprigs of fresh parsley

6 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 Scotch Bonnet chile peppers 

Directions:

1.  Prepare the beans  Place beans in a large pot, and cover with 3 inches of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours, or until tender. Drain, reserving liquid.

2. Cook the beans and rice. Heat oil in a dutch oven or similar pot over medium heat. Saute shallot and garlic until fragrant. Stir in cooked beans, and cook for 2 minutes. Measure reserved liquid, and add water to equal 5 cups; stir into skillet. Stir in the uncooked rice. Season with bay leaves, adobo seasoning, salt, pepper, and cloves. Place sprigs of parsley and thyme, and scotch bonnet pepper on top, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove thyme, parsley, and scotch bonnet pepper to serve.

THE FINAL COURSE

My beautiful Angel also made dessert for this meal ... Bonbon Sirop.  I would describe this dish as Haitian brownie with a citrus rum glaze, although it is technically a dense flour cake with a citrus rum glaze.  For this dish, we went all out, even using Rhum Barbancourt, a Haitian rum, when making the glaze.  The flavors of the cinnamon, ginger and molasses are very prominent in this dish. 

BONBON SIROP

Adapted from Haitian Recipes

Serves Many

 Ingredients:

2 cups of butter

3 eggs

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 tbsp of grated ginger

1/2 tbsp of ground cinnamon

1 tsp of nutmeg

1/2 cup of molasses

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract 

1 tsp of baking soda

4 cups of all-purpose flour

Glaze (optional)

1/3 cup of water

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of butter

1 tablespoon of rum

1 tablespoon of orange zest

1 tablespoon of lemon zest

Directions:

1.  Prepare the Bonbon Sirop.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Whisk eggs, butter and brown sugar together.  Combine the remaining ingredients and beat into a dough like paste.  Spread the paste into a pre-greased baking dish.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Set aside.

2.  Prepare the glaze.  Pour water, sugar, butter, lemon zest, and orange zest in a saucepan over high heat.  Stir constantly for 10 minutes until it caramelizes into a semi-thick syrup.  Take the glaze off of the heat and add rum. Drizzle the glaze over the Bonbon Sirop.

*     *     *

This is the first challenge in which I worked with my beautiful Angel to make a full meal as part of the Around the Woprld in 80 Dishes challenge.  Clare is an excellent cook and together, we make a great team.  Overall, I think we succeeded in creating a great meal.  Each dish was very good, although the Griots and Diri Kole ak Pwa were my favorites.  The Bonbon Sirop came in a close second.  And, finally, we made a donation in an amount equal to the food costs for our wine club dinner to Just Haiti, which, among other things, helps Haitian coffee growers and their families get a fair price for their crops.   

Good food and good times, all for a good cause.  What more could anyone ask for?  Until next time ...

ENJOY!