Lexi and I have been kindly requesting to learn—not to just observe as we have so many times. So, one Sunday afternoon we were chatting it up with our “brother” Mohamed and his friend (who became our dear friend) Sinneh and the topic of cooking came up. We relayed our mild frustrations of being kept on the culinary sidelines, and these two sweetly volunteered to help the two white girls (who cook with electricity and recipes) make an African dish—cassava leaf sauce and rice.
It’s quite the process going to the market, making a fire, pounding pepper, peeling fish, cleaning rice and boiling the sauce…all outdoors and using less than ideal utensils. In hopes of avoiding boredom, I decided not to write each step…but the pictures should give a good idea of the 2-hour process. Here are some things I learned along the way:
Lesson 1: Get to the market early. This is important for two reasons—first you avoid picking through leftovers of key ingredients and second, it gives you time to create plan B if something you need didn’t show up at the market that day. We planned on making potato leaf sauce, but when we got there late afternoon all the potato leaves were gone! Cassava it was.
Lesson 2: Don’t think about it. Fish at the market are frightening. I don’t know where they come from or how many flies landed on the piles before I arrived or how long they have been sitting in the hot humidity. What I DO think about is that meat is cooked so long at a temperature anything harmful would die three times. The scary looking smoked fish tastes really good—I was peer-pressured into trying a bite before dropping it into the pot.
Lesson 3: Piles of pepper are a constant. EVERYTHING is cooked with pepper. Hot food + hot spice + hot temperatures = guaranteed sweating at each meal.
Lesson 4: African women sit to cook. I don’t know why…this is just what I was told.
Lesson 5: African women must be able to handle hot pots. Specific gender roles have stronghold here. To be considered a fit wife in some cultures, a woman must be able to grab the handles of the metal pot that has been sitting on a fire. I would not make a good African wife.
Lesson 6: There is no way to get ALL the foreign matter out of the rice.
Lesson 7: Boil, boil, boil. Cassava leaves specifically must be boiled and cooked well to remove their cyanide toxicity…though it’s a joke here that everything is boiled probably longer than needed. This actually leads to serious concern as many nutrients are cooked out of meals, adding to already existing food nutrition problems.
Lesson 8: “Men cook better than women.” I put this in quotes as it came from a man’s mouth. Mohamed’s reasoning is that men take their time and women usually don’t. I of course questioned if the men are chasing children, drying laundry or cleaning the house when they cook. My guess is no.
Lesson 9: Don’t judge before you try. As pictured in a post on food, there are few dishes that look appetizing. Its look is worse than its bite.
Lesson 10: We make good food. I’ve had a lot of cassava leaf, and ours was darn delicious.
Joyful Journeys,
Julie
The chefs! Mohamed, Lexi, Sinneh and me!
Most stands at the market are identical to this...selling the same goods for the same price.
The scary, yet delicious, fish.
Getting the palm oil...a key ingredient in most sauces.
He's grinding the cassava leaves. (posing for the picture!)
Lexi with the goods at the market.
All the ingredients!
Where the the cooking happens...
Washing beans.
Adding palm oil.
Dropping in groundnut paste...something close to peanut butter.
Peeling fish.
Oh yes, I ate that.
Starting the sauce!
Lexi's goat lived in the kitchen.
Cleaning the rice.
Stirring the sauce.
Choppin' onions.
Mashing the peppers and onions...I really felt like an African woman!
Peppers and onions are the last to go in so they don't lose flavor.
Looks yummy, right?
The rice.
I can make this now! Any takers for a dinner party??
Loving our meal! 
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