To be fair, I DID attempt to do some research on this one.\u00a0 I discovered that Michigan State University has a cookbook collection,<\/a> so I went to check out their one and only Burkinabe cookbook:<\/p>\n For starters – it’s in French.\u00a0 This was a bit of a problem, as I don’t remember my two years of French from Ms. Carr’s class in 1988.\u00a0 Second problem – as far as I can tell, this book is a SUPER colonialist attempt by a Canadian NGO to tell Burkinabe folks how to prepare their own traditional dishes in a way that’s more nutritional.\u00a0 While that may or may not be a laudable goal, the whole thing comes across as horrifyingly patronizing.<\/p>\n And the third problem is the following: *pause for Googling*<\/p>\n Even if I thought I could convince Leigh to eat caterpillars, I’m really not sure I can find a good local source of the edible kind.\u00a0 And I’m not brave enough to just go out and scoop up wollybears and toss them into a pot.\u00a0 You’d probably need to peel them or something.<\/p>\n So, back to Cooked Earth it was.\u00a0 Fortunately, they had a set of very tasty looking recipes made with things we CAN find or order.<\/p>\n Starting with Zoom Koom, which is great fun to say.\u00a0 Zoom Koom literally means “flour water” and is an extremely… hearty beverage served to start a meal.\u00a0 It contains pineapple, ginger, tamarind extract, a pinch of hot pepper, and… (checks notes) a cup and a half of millet flour?\u00a0 That’s pretty hearty, all right.<\/p>\n Zoom Koom ingredients. Not pictured – tamarind liquid.<\/p><\/div>\n We started by boiling whole tamarinds for a while to make tamarind liquid. We’ve used the paste before, but never the original fruits. They’re sticky and kind of a pain to work with, but the results are delicious. You strain out the solids, and then just mix all this stuff together. The final drink was very, very thick, but quite refreshing and tasty.<\/p>\n Our main course consisted of two dishes – a fried black eyed pea fritter called “boussan touba”, and a goat and rice stew.\u00a0 For the fritters, we soaked and then boiled black eyed peas, mixed them with carrot and onion, and then fried them in peanut oil.\u00a0 The recipe only called for one egg and no water as a binder, but they pretty much disintegrated like that, so we added some more water to get them to hold their shape.\u00a0 Next time I might try another egg instead.<\/p>\n The main course was a basic stew – goat, carrot, cabbage, and onion simmered together for a long time, with the rice added at the end to cook in the liquid.\u00a0 The new ingredient to us for this one was Carolina Gold rice, which is apparently significantly closer to the varietal found in West Africa than your basic supermarket long grain.\u00a0 We ordered that on the internet, and it was definitely different – chewier and more flavorful, for sure.<\/p>\n Here’s some “in process” photos:<\/p>\n Upper right: black eyed peas. Upper left: goat stew. Lower right: tamarinds.<\/p><\/div>\n Fritters Cooking<\/p><\/div>\n The fritters also allowed us to use up the peanut oil we had purchased for Belgium, which was (checks notes)… even longer than last time ago.<\/p>\n With everything cooked up, it was time to eat!<\/p>\n Overall, a very tasty meal!\u00a0 The goat stew was flavorful and delicious, the pea fritters were crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, and the Zoom Koom was probably the highlight – what’s not to like about pineapple, ginger, and tamarind? It was, however, so thick that we actually had trouble drinking it around the ice cubes.<\/p>\n The next day, I made a peanut lime sauce to eat with the rest of the fritters.\u00a0 Not authentic, but very tasty.<\/p>\n So Burkina Faso – we appreciate you!\u00a0 Three dishes all suitable for preparation on a weeknight, and tasty leftovers for several days.\u00a0 Next up, another African country – we finish up the “B”s with Burundi, and our first attempt at a meal that is both vegan and gluten free.\u00a0 And not only free of vegans, but also safe for them to eat!<\/p>\n Recipes here: Burkina Faso begins a run of a lot of African countries coming up – six of the next eight, including this one.\u00a0 The variety of foods from the continent is stunning, but are we good enough researchers to make meaningful … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fnerk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/79502921_606391416802489_3521320446198808576_n-253x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fnerk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/78478435_851900601896268_5732565276004712448_n-1-569x1024.jpg\")
<\/a>
\nGo ahead and Google translate “Chenilles” – I’ll wait.\u00a0 Or you can just look at the picture.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fnerk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/79363356_2803273249693053_7595125591066542080_n-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fnerk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/79673508_664513460619612_868251317041102848_n-e1576607788475-909x1024.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fnerk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/79772612_957026004669041_1350117136932012032_n-e1576607881847-1024x1000.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fnerk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/79687168_991810751183675_2142326607753248768_n-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nCooked Earth blog – Burkina Faso<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"