Cooking Praxis #6-Kenyan Cuisine: margie

margie_sue

Cooking Praxis #6-Kenyan Cuisine

Aug 08, 2010 16:59

1.) Research and inquiry about a course/meal

Since the recipes were already given to us it gave me more time to actually research the country of Kenya and I learned a lot of interesting facts. The first website I went on gave me so much information: http://www.wfp.org/countries/kenya?gclid=CLfv_PviqqMCFcpS2godNQFz6A I wanted to copy and paste the table into my blog to provide you with some basic facts about Kenya and food security and poverty issues. So please click on the link and look over the home page.

Recipes:*We followed Janet’s suggestions/alterations which are in bold*

UGALI: (African cake)

·         Water -- 4 cups

·         Salt -- 2 teaspoons (I used far less salt that this, 1 teas)

·         White cornmeal, finely ground -- 2 cups (or use yellow cornmeal, if you wish)

Method

1.       Bring the water and salt to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the cornmeal slowly, letting it fall though the fingers of your hand.

2.       Reduce heat to medium-low and continue stirring regularly, smashing any lumps with a spoon, until the mush pulls away from the sides of the pot and becomes very thick, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool somewhat.

3.       Place the ugali into a large serving bowl. Wet your hands with water, form into a ball and serve.

Variations

·         White cornmeal is the most commonly used grain for ugali. But you can substitute sorghum, millet or coarse cassava flour or even hominy grits. I will be using yellow cornmeal as the stores around me didn't have white. I am also adding a little milk (2 Tablespoons) for a richer flavor. If you find this recipe too bland, feel free to use a cornbread variation with egg, although the whole point is to experience the same flavors as Kenyans.

·         More or less water can be added to achieve the consistency you prefer.

·         Stir in a little butter if you like for a richer flavor.

·         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. I recommend that you preceed your meal with a big bowl of water to wash hands and then set the ugali in the center of the table; eat your meal with your hands if you feel comfortable doing so. This is the African way.

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CLASSIC KENYAN STEW: (Beef or goat stew with vegetables)
1 pound of beef or goat, cut into cubes
2 carrots, peeled and cut in diagonal rounds
2 green bell peppers, diced
4 tomatoes, chopped
4 onions, sliced
2 tsp curry powder (and/or cumin and ginger)
2 tbsp freshly-chopped coriander leaves or parsley
1 tsp ground black pepper
vegetable oil
salt, to taste
The order of ingredients are simple: braise beef or goat meet in large stew pot with some oil, salt, curry, and onions. Then add a few cups of water, depending on how thick you wish it to be. I also add a tablespoon of floor to creat a roux or thickening agent or, alternatively, a bit of peanut butter to capture that karanga flavor. For this recipe, make it quite thick so it can be mopped up with ugali easily. Then add the other ingredients and simmer for a few hours. Serve it with ugali and veggies.

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SUKUMA WIKI: (Cooked vegetable dish)

·         Oil or fat -- 3 tablespoons

·         Onion, chopped or minced -- 1

·         Kale or collard greens, destemmed and finely chopped -- 2 pounds

·         Tomatoes, chopped -- 2 cups

·         Water or stock -- 1 cup

·         Salt and pepper -- to taste

Method

1.       Heat the oil or fat over medium-high flame in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the greens in batches, sautéing each addition until wilted.

2.       Add the tomatoes, water or stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer gently until tender, from 20 to 30 minutes.

3.       Adjust seasoning and serve with a little bit of the broth.

Variations

·         Add a chopped chili pepper or two with the onions if you like. Add garlic if you have it. Also, if you can't locate collard greens or kale, try brocoli, it is of the same family. The family I stayed with gathered wild spinach for this dish.

·         Some recipes call for thickening the dish with a flour-lemon juice mixture. Here's how: mix 2 tablespoons of flour well with the juice of 1 lemon and a little water. Stir into the greens after they have been simmering for about 10 minutes. Continue simmering for another 15 to 20 minutes until the dish is slightly thickened.

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FRUIT: Honeydew

2.) Gathering/hunting/harvesting
Like Janet said this was a very cheap meal to plan for. The only ingredients we had to buy was beef for the stew, broccoli for the vegetable dish and a honeydew melon for the fresh fruit. Christine and I got into a debate at Price Chopper on what fruit we are going to have. I thought watermelon was a good idea because it's delicious and can go with other meals if we had leftovers but Christine thought we should have honeydew. Not sure what her reasoning was but I accepted her choice thinking that I hadn't had honeydew in a long time and it would be good to try it again. That was our only interesting experience with foraging for our ingredients.

3.) Processing and preparation
I was in charge of making the stew because at the time Christine wasn't home so I thought I should make the "stressed" dish that took the longest to prepare (simmer wise). So I chopped up my ingredients: onions, carrots, tomatoes, green peppers and the beef. I actually think chopping and laying out all the different vegetables is really cool because you have an array of textures, smells and colors at the end. And then simply throwing them into a stew is great because then you don't have to worry about anything. Dad even commented on how good the stew smelled and he could easily identify the curry which I thought was pretty cool. He also said the stew was very colorful!

So then when Christine got home I told her she could be in charge of the bread and vegetable. Only fair right? As I was sitting in the kitchen keeping an eye on my stew Christine asked me what temperature she needed to set the temperature at and I was just simply gave her the one raised eyebrow look and a "Huh?" She was surprised that the bread recipe wasn't your traditional idea bread, something you need to bake. Thought that was pretty interesting. But it just goes to show that we need to keep an open mind to recipes and follow the recipes "through the eyes of the people" we are researching.

4.) Consumption

Overall I thought everything (minus the honeydew) was very bland and plain. But my theory on this meal was, you know how after a long hike you eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and it tastes really good? Well I think after hunting and taking care of their children people are very tired and this particular meal, while hearty, isn't very "exciting," but tastes great because people are so famished. Does that make sense? But I definitely make the stew again give or take a couple ingredients. And of course the honeydew was juicy and delicious!

5.) Notes
As we are winding down with the class I thought I should just give my overall opinion and thoughts about this past month. Researching and cooking unique foods that I had never tried before definitely opened my eyes to the many possibilities when it came to the question "What is for dinner?" I have soaked up so much knowledge about other nations and cultures, and I feel that I can say that I am no longer a novice when it comes to being in the kitchen and getting my hands dirty as they say. I have really enjoyed the diversity and the interaction with other students via blogging during this class. And I have also come to realize how frustrating it is to cook with a sister and how nice it is to cook alone when possible. :) Dad says that we should take the class forever and my thought was "Maybe on my own time and by myself."

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