African 1:
Africa in general; West Africa
A proud and strong people who introduced to the Western world a plethora of new herbs and cooking techniques.
Bantu means ‘the men or people’. Bantu is used as a general label for 300-600 ethnic groups in Africa of speakers of Bantu languages, distributed from Cameroon east across Central Africa and Eastern Africa to Southern Africa. The Bantu family is fragmented into hundreds of individual groups, none of them larger than a few million people (the largest being the Zulu in South Africa, with some 10 million). ‘Wikipedia’
The story of Africa and its peoples is a complex one but very interesting and intriguing. So much has been written about the slave era throughout the world and, of course, in the Caribbean and St. Maarten/St. Martin, places to which these slaves were transported, is no exception. Slaves were first introduced to the Caribbean in the 16th century with the main influx being in the 18th century. Slavery existed in Africa long before the 16th century, between the Arab countries in the North and various Africa regions down towards central Africa.
For the purpose of this column it will be appropriate to describe some of these ethnic dishes from different tribes but first we would need to know a little more about Africa.
Africa is a very large continent that is washed by the Mediterranean Sea in the North. The Southern part of Africa has the Atlantic Ocean to the West and the Indian Ocean to the East and these two oceans meet, more or less at a promontory called the Cape Peninsular, in the South.
The continent is also pretty wide in the North stretching from East to West above the Equator and then narrowing as it goes southwards. With tropical and subtropical areas, deserts, high mountain ranges, low coastal plains and plenty of rivers and lakes the topography is ideal for growing a huge variety of crops.
Africans speak in different tongues (languages), their skin colour ranges from light brown to deep brown-black, their morals and codes by which they live/lived are also very different between the individual tribes. Some were/are very peace loving, other tribes were/are extremely war faring. Some tribes are distinctive for their height (East Africa/Sudan), others for their large hips (Khoikhoi) and yet others are very short (Central Africa/Congo Delta).
Their dress codes are very individual, some tribes adorn their necks with beaded necklaces that stretch the neck, and other tribes put hoops in their ears so that the holes are eventually very large. The adornments were usually done as a deterrent to other tribes who made it a habit to raid.
Cooking in the Caribbean in the 16th -18th centuries would have been done much the same then as now-a-days in the African bush. Stews would have been the choice of the day as tough old animals or fowl would be tenderized by long slow cooking in cast iron pots over charcoal or wood fires. Plenty of greens would be added to the pot giving the stew nutritional value.
The African kitchen is traditionally outside or in a separate building apart from the sleeping and living quarters. By far the most traditional and, to this day, the most common sight in an African kitchen are large black, cast iron pots filled with meat, vegetables, and spices simmering over a fire. The pot usually sits on three stones arranged in a triangle on the mud floor, and the fire slowly consumes three pieces of wood that meet at a point under the pot.
Calalu
An African-style recipe with an African name, always includes greens, there are some gastronomic references to Calalu in Western Africa, though these are outnumbered by recipes for Calalu from the Caribbean.
Ingredients:
1. Palm oil or any cooking oil
2. 2 to 3LBS meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
3. 2 LBS or more pounds of greens: cassava leaves, taro leaves, sorrel leaves, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, spinach, or similar, (combination of any of these); stems removed and cleaned (note: taro greens must also be parboiled and rinsed before further cooking)
4. 2 - 3 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
5. 1 cup dried shrimp or prawns
6. okra, chopped (optional), onion, chopped (optional)
7. garlic, minced (optional), hot chile pepper, cleaned and chopped (optional)
8. salt, pepper, red pepper or cayenne pepper (to taste)
Method:
Heat the oil in a large pot. Fry the meat and onions until the meat is browned.
Add all remaining ingredients and enough water to partially cover them. Cover, reduce heat and simmer on a very low heat for two hours or more.
Serve with rice.
Dictionaries say the word Calalu means greens (particularly various species commonly known as taro, cocoyam, eddo, or dasheen). The word also refers to soups and stews made from these greens, the word comes from the Arawak languages of the Caribbean and entered European languages via American Spanish. But the taro or cocoyam plant and the custom of eating its leaves cooked as greens arrived in the Caribbean with enslaved Africans, probably from Western Africa. That the plant came from Western Africa to Caribbean, while the name went from the Caribbean to Western Africa is evidence of the connections, gastronomic and other, that exist between these two regions.
In the Caribbean, Calalu (also spelled Callaloo, Calalou, Callilu, and Callalou) is made from almost any combination of crabmeat, fish, dried fish, lamb, shrimp, smoked meat, bacon or salt pork, salt cod or stockfish, garlic, okra, onions, tomatoes, spices and always greens.
Africa in general; West Africa
A proud and strong people who introduced to the Western world a plethora of new herbs and cooking techniques.
Bantu means ‘the men or people’. Bantu is used as a general label for 300-600 ethnic groups in Africa of speakers of Bantu languages, distributed from Cameroon east across Central Africa and Eastern Africa to Southern Africa. The Bantu family is fragmented into hundreds of individual groups, none of them larger than a few million people (the largest being the Zulu in South Africa, with some 10 million). ‘Wikipedia’
The story of Africa and its peoples is a complex one but very interesting and intriguing. So much has been written about the slave era throughout the world and, of course, in the Caribbean and St. Maarten/St. Martin, places to which these slaves were transported, is no exception. Slaves were first introduced to the Caribbean in the 16th century with the main influx being in the 18th century. Slavery existed in Africa long before the 16th century, between the Arab countries in the North and various Africa regions down towards central Africa.
For the purpose of this column it will be appropriate to describe some of these ethnic dishes from different tribes but first we would need to know a little more about Africa.
Africa is a very large continent that is washed by the Mediterranean Sea in the North. The Southern part of Africa has the Atlantic Ocean to the West and the Indian Ocean to the East and these two oceans meet, more or less at a promontory called the Cape Peninsular, in the South.
The continent is also pretty wide in the North stretching from East to West above the Equator and then narrowing as it goes southwards. With tropical and subtropical areas, deserts, high mountain ranges, low coastal plains and plenty of rivers and lakes the topography is ideal for growing a huge variety of crops.
Africans speak in different tongues (languages), their skin colour ranges from light brown to deep brown-black, their morals and codes by which they live/lived are also very different between the individual tribes. Some were/are very peace loving, other tribes were/are extremely war faring. Some tribes are distinctive for their height (East Africa/Sudan), others for their large hips (Khoikhoi) and yet others are very short (Central Africa/Congo Delta).
Their dress codes are very individual, some tribes adorn their necks with beaded necklaces that stretch the neck, and other tribes put hoops in their ears so that the holes are eventually very large. The adornments were usually done as a deterrent to other tribes who made it a habit to raid.
Cooking in the Caribbean in the 16th -18th centuries would have been done much the same then as now-a-days in the African bush. Stews would have been the choice of the day as tough old animals or fowl would be tenderized by long slow cooking in cast iron pots over charcoal or wood fires. Plenty of greens would be added to the pot giving the stew nutritional value.
The African kitchen is traditionally outside or in a separate building apart from the sleeping and living quarters. By far the most traditional and, to this day, the most common sight in an African kitchen are large black, cast iron pots filled with meat, vegetables, and spices simmering over a fire. The pot usually sits on three stones arranged in a triangle on the mud floor, and the fire slowly consumes three pieces of wood that meet at a point under the pot.
Calalu
An African-style recipe with an African name, always includes greens, there are some gastronomic references to Calalu in Western Africa, though these are outnumbered by recipes for Calalu from the Caribbean.
Ingredients:
1. Palm oil or any cooking oil
2. 2 to 3LBS meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
3. 2 LBS or more pounds of greens: cassava leaves, taro leaves, sorrel leaves, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, spinach, or similar, (combination of any of these); stems removed and cleaned (note: taro greens must also be parboiled and rinsed before further cooking)
4. 2 - 3 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
5. 1 cup dried shrimp or prawns
6. okra, chopped (optional), onion, chopped (optional)
7. garlic, minced (optional), hot chile pepper, cleaned and chopped (optional)
8. salt, pepper, red pepper or cayenne pepper (to taste)
Method:
Heat the oil in a large pot. Fry the meat and onions until the meat is browned.
Add all remaining ingredients and enough water to partially cover them. Cover, reduce heat and simmer on a very low heat for two hours or more.
Serve with rice.
Dictionaries say the word Calalu means greens (particularly various species commonly known as taro, cocoyam, eddo, or dasheen). The word also refers to soups and stews made from these greens, the word comes from the Arawak languages of the Caribbean and entered European languages via American Spanish. But the taro or cocoyam plant and the custom of eating its leaves cooked as greens arrived in the Caribbean with enslaved Africans, probably from Western Africa. That the plant came from Western Africa to Caribbean, while the name went from the Caribbean to Western Africa is evidence of the connections, gastronomic and other, that exist between these two regions.
In the Caribbean, Calalu (also spelled Callaloo, Calalou, Callilu, and Callalou) is made from almost any combination of crabmeat, fish, dried fish, lamb, shrimp, smoked meat, bacon or salt pork, salt cod or stockfish, garlic, okra, onions, tomatoes, spices and always greens.