Around the World in 80 Dishes: The Gambia

My Around the World in 80 Dishes challenge reaches another milestone ... the fiftieth (50th) challenge. This particular challenge takes us to The Gambia, which is the smallest country by square mileage on the African continent. A narrative would describe this country as a sliver of land, beginning along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, at the estuary of a river that shares the same name as the country. That river, the Gambia River, snakes its way inland, as does the country, which extends from north and south along the river. Yet, at its widest point, The Gambia spans only thirty-one (31) miles from north to south. To put that in some perspective, that distance is shorter than the drive down Interstate 95 from Baltimore, Maryland to Washington, D.C.

Agriculture figures prominently in The Gambia. Around seventy-five percent (75%) of the population is involved in one way or another in agriculture, and, their combined effort results in agriculture constituting twenty-five percent (25%) of the country's gross domestic product. One could find a wide range of crops grown along the Gambia River, such as cassava, yams, tomatoes, rice and lentils. However, if you truly want to know more about The Gambia, you need to know more about gerte ... or peanuts. Those groundnuts play an important part in the economy, the culture and the cuisine of the country. 

Source: Aramco

The Portuguese originally introduced the peanut to the region during the sixteenth century. But, it was the British turned who turned it into a cash crop, Today, with the shackles of colonialism long gone, peanuts continue to be the cash crop of The Gambia, grown on one-third of the country's arable land. Those crops support approximately one-quarter of The Gambia's population. It is not just growing the crop, but also processing the peanuts into goods for sale, namely, peanut butter. 

"Every child in The Gambia learns that we depend upon groundnuts." -- Musa Loum

Yet, despite the rather heavy emphasis on agriculture, the country produces only about half of the food its people need to eat. Moreover, food insecurity. poses a significant threat to the people of The Gambia. There are many reasons to explain why there is not enough food, from low crop yields to the exports of the production to countries like the United Kingdom and the United States. For example, approximately sixty percent [60%] of the groundnut production is exported.) According to the World Food Programme, about twenty-seven percent (27%) of the population faces food insecurity, and nearly double that percentage -- 53.4% -- live in poverty. 

There is a even larger threat looming on the horizon ... climate change. Groundnuts, like peanuts, require a certain amount of water. That means there needs to be a certain amount of rain or precipitation. However, growers in The Gambia find that total rainfall has decreased by 8.8 milliliters since 1960. That may not seem like a lot. But for a grower of a subsistence crop, or even a crop destined for export, that change in the amount of rain means something. The reduction in rain has resulted from more erratic rain patterns. Those uncertain patterns result in smaller peanuts and, by extension, smaller yields, creating greater issues for a very small country and its people. 

MAIN COURSE

For this challenge, I draw my inspiration from the peanut. I prepared the national dish of The Gambia, which is known as Domada. The name -- Domada, or perhaps more appropriately Domodah or Tigadena -- means peanut butter sauce. That is an apt description of the reddish-orange stew, whose aroma and taste feature peanut butter. Domoda is typically prepared with whatever vegetables are available, along with tomato paste, chicken stock and maggi cubes (bouillon cubes). It also features some protein, usually beef or chicken.   

DOMADA (GAMBIAN PEANUT STEW)

Recipe from Daring Gourmet

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound beef steak or chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 can (3 oz) tomato paste
• 3/4 cup of natural, unsweetened peanut butter
• 4 Maggi or Knorr tomato bouillon cubes
• 3 cups water
• Scotch bonnet chiles, diced, according to heat preference
• 4 cups pumpkin or sweet potato, diced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Prepare the stew. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven. Sauté the onions until golden. Add the beef (or chicken) and garlic and continue to sauté until the beef is no longer pink (or the chicken is browned). Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes.  Add the tomato paste, chiles, peanut butter and stir to combine. Add the water and bouillon cubes.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add squash, cover and continue to cook for 35-40 minutes or until the pumpkin or sweet potato is tender, stirring occasionally.  Season with salt and pepper.

2. Finish the dish. Serve hot with rice.

*    *    *

The preparation of Domada was fairly easy and the resulting dish is very delicious. The hardest part of this challenge is preparing the national dish of The Gambia while knowing that so many Gambians live in poverty and suffer from food insecurity. That knowledge has been weighing a lot on me lately as I explore cuisines and cultures where the people are struggling to survive. Until next time ...

PEACE.

Roasted Fall Vegetables

There is an old adage when it comes to wine, "don't choose a wine by the look of its label." A label's design is intended to  catch a consumer's eye, without regard to the specifics of the wine, such as the grapes used, the terrior, and/or the process.  Yet, most people purchase wine based upon the label.

Recipes are a lot like wine.  One should not choose a recipe based upon the picture.  The photograph, much like a wine's label, is designed to get the attention of the browser.  

This recipe represents an instance where I did not follow that old adage.  I was looking for a colorful side dish to go with a roasted turkey.   While surfing the Internet, I came across a recipe from Colorful Recipes that had a picture of colorful roasted vegetables.  Based upon that picture, I decided to make this recipe as that vegetable side dish. 

And, as I expected, the finished product did not come close to the picture that initially grabbed my attention.  That is the problem with choosing things based upon sight alone.  It is important to learn more about the recipe, such as the ingredients, cooking process and cooking times, before making a decision.  Once can say that the old adage applies to just about everything, not just about wine or recipes but also books or even people.  In the end, it is important to look beyond the first impression and really get to know what or who you are working with. 

ROASTED FALL VEGETABLES

Recipe adapted from Colorful Recipes

Serves 6  to 8

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1/2 pound green beans

3 small-medium carrots, peeled and cubed

8 ounce baby bella mushrooms

1/2 red onion, cut into wedges

1 head of garlic, peeled

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning

Fresh thyme, to taste

Salt, to taste

Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place all of the ingredients on a large baking sheet. Toss well with the oil, vinegar and herbs.  Bake 45 to 50 minutes until fork tender.  Serve immediately.

ENJOY!

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Ginger, Cardamom and Honey

If one were collecting cardinal rules of cooking, my suggestion would be that "cardamom makes just about everything better."  Not butter.  Not bacon.  But cardamom.  Any type of cardamom: black, green or Madagascar.  If anyone were to question this cardinal rule, then my response would be to direct him or her to this recipe: Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Ginger, Cardamom and Honey.

Before this recipe, I did not like sweet potatoes.  If given the option between regular fries and sweet potato fries, I would choose the former over the latter.  If my only option was sweet potato fries, I would grimace and look for the nearest bottle of hot sauce to mask the taste of the sweet potatoes.  If presented with the choice of mashed sweet potatoes, that would a choice I would avoid.  The bottom line: I would rather have an empty space on my plate.  

All of that changed with this one recipe.  We had a couple of large sweet potatoes, which were given to us as part of our CSA share.  The sweet potatoes sat on our counter, and in our refrigerator, for a while as I pondered what I would do with them.  Eventually, I had to confront them and prepare them in some manner.  I once again went to the Internet to find some recipe that would intrigue me.  It did not take long before a recipe caught my eye.  The eye-catching feature of this recipe was the word "cardamom."  

I am no stranger to cardamom.  There are over a dozen recipes on this blog that feature the spice, but I used the spice to cook dishes with ingredients that I loved to eat.  The problem with using cardamom is its price.  It is very expensive, second only to saffron.  The price is worth it, because the warm, pungent aromas of the cardamom pod and the unique flavors that it contributes to the dish are without measure.

This recipe marks the first time that I used cardamom to prepare a dish with an ingredient that, as I mentioned above, I did not like to eat.   Now, I love sweet potatoes ... at least with cardamom.

MASHED SWEET POTATOES WITH GINGER, CARDAMOM AND HONEY

Recipe from Chowhound

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 pounds of sweet potatoes

8 ounces of russet potatoes

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1/4 cup peeled, finely grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons of honey

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1.  Prepare the steamer.  Fill a large pot with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil over high heat.  Set a steamer basket inside and set to low so the water is simmering.

2.  Prepare the potatoes.  Peel and cut the sweet potatoes and russet potatoes into large dice.  Place them into a steamer and cover with a tight lid.   Steam until fork tender, about 20 minutes.    Meanwhile, place the remaining measured ingredients into a small saucepan over low heat, season with pepper and stir until the butter and honey have melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

3.  Finish the dish.  When the potatoes are ready, transfer them to a large bowl and drizzle with the butter mixture.  Mash with a potato masher until you get the desired consistency.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  

ENJOY!