Traditional Banana Dessert from Gabon

As I have a slight sweet tooth today, I thought I would just blog a recipe.

Bananas are plentiful in Gabon and lots of dishes feature this fruit.

This is a traditional Gabon recipe for a classic dessert of bananas coated in breadcrumbs that are lightly fried before being oven baked and served with sour cream and brown sugar.

Ingredients:
8 bananas cut into three equal diagonal pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten in 2 tbsp orange juice
100g breadcrumbs
120ml vegetable oil
24 tbsp sour cream
8 tbsp brown sugar

Beat the egg with the orange juice and dip the bananas in this before rolling in the breacrubms. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the bananas in this until they begin to brown lightly. Transfer to a baking sheet and place in an oven pre-heated to 170°C for 5 minutes.

Serve 1 banana per person, topped with 3 tbsp sour cream and sprinkled with brown sugar.

Street Food in Ghana

Ghana has a huge market for Street Food and this market has increased in recent years. Due to the influx into towns by working people and students, with a large proportion of these people travelling vast distances between home, work and schools, it is easier for them to rely on street vendors, offering food for sale.

In Ghana, it is common to find waakye , fufu, Ga kenkey, rice balls (Omo Tuo), Fanti kenkey, cooked rice, fried plantain, roasted yams, cooked beans and boiled yams, khebabs, bread, salad and fruit juice on offer from street vendors.

However, although the street vendor business in Ghana, specially Accra, employ over 60 000 people in this informal industry, and most of the street vendors are women, with no or hardly education, but turns over thousands of dollars, there is a concern over hygiene in this industry, due to the fact that the street vendors do not have access to clean water and proper facilities for waste disposal. And due to this, there have been numerous incidents of food poisioning as a result of this.

It is a pity as Ghanian food is delicious. An alltime favourite will always be Fufu.

"Fufu (variants of the name include foofoo, foufou, foutou) is a staple food of West and Central Africa. It is made by boiling starchy vegetables like cassava, yams or plaintains and then pounding them into a dough-like consistency. Fufu is eaten by taking a small ball of it in one's fingers and then dipping into an accompanying soup or sauce. In the French-speaking regions of Cameroon, fufu is sometimes called couscous (couscous de Cameroun), not to be confused with the North African dish couscous.[1]"



My favourite, as I am a bean lover, is beans and rice with a side order of fried banana. This is also called Waakye. This dish is very popular in Ghana and sold by most vendors on the streets. Some cooks add tomatoes, chilli and other spicey ingredients, which is a obvious must for me and also fish or meat sometimes.

When going to Ghana and you want to try the street food, make absolutely sure it comes from a clean environment. However, you will find it a most satisfying experience.

I will be posting a recipe for a typical Ghanian meal in the near future.

Walkie Talkies anyone?

Walkie Talkies. Hmmm, I think it is an apt name for the dish of chicken feet and the heads. Don’t you? Some call it runaways, but I like the name Walkie Talkies. In Xhosa it is called “amanqina enkukhu” and in Johannesburg, Guateng “maotwana”

At most street food vendors in South Africa, you will find the Walkie Talkies offered with pap (porridge). Walkie Talkies are a common snack food in South Africa and although it is not unique to South Africa ( you can find it in countries such as China, the West Indies and Korea), it is a popular snack food. Chicken feet are high in protein and low in kilojoules.

Now, you get it served cooked in many ways. Sometimes you only get the walkies (feet) or together, in a curried stew. The Walkies (chicken feet) can be marinated and grilled or braai as the people in South Africa calls it. It is a sticky delicacy, best eaten by hand. So definitely not for the person who needs a knife and fork. Just tuck in and enjoy it. It is amazingly crunchy and even though you might think there is no meat on this little Walkie, you will be in for a pleasant surprise.

But, commonly and most popular will be the curried stew version of the WalkiseTalkies, served with the traditional pap (porridge).

So next time you see a street vendor offering Walkie Talkies, dont be afraid, try it. You will be in for a real treat.

The Humble Bunny Chow

Well, I never!!! I have just read, on a food blog, that the Bunny Chow originated during the apartheid era in South Africa, when people were restricted from using cutlery!!! What hogwash. O yes, and a loaf of bread was scooped out and filled with atchar or fufu? Huh??? Why not fill it with tofu and raw vegetables??

The humble Bunny Chow originated in Durban, KZN. No where else. Durban is famous for their Bunny Chows and it is a popular “street” food. In fact, if you have not eaten a Bunny when you have visited Durban, you have missed out on a big part of the food culture there.

Now, the perfect Bunny is either half or quarter loaf of white bread, preferably fresh. Then it is hollowed out and in goes the curry. The most popular always will be mutton of course. But you can also choose between beef, mince, chicken, sugar beans and vegetable curry. With this you will get some sambals, made from grated carrots, onion and chillies or tomato, onion and chilli. I prefer the carrot version. Some curries are much hotter than others. Especially if they have used “mother in law’s tongue” masala.  But then again, people who have lived in Durban for many years, like me, or still live there, are not scared of a little curry and chillies. In fact, we get withdrawal symptoms when we have not eaten a Durban Bunny or curry for a period of 2 weeks. And if you do not live in Durban anymore, you have a serious problem. No other city (even though they try), have the proper Durban Bunny Chow. The Durbanites are very proud of their Bunny Chows.

Now, a Bunny Chow, is unfortunately not for the elegant eater. You get your Bunny on a plate or wrapped in paper, you take the loose piece of bread off the top. Now you break the Bunny, first in half and then you tuck in. Dipping the loose piece of bread into the sauce and then you eat the rest of the bread with the meat and potato and some of the sambal. Of course the only way to break the heat, will be if you have either a glass of beer, a glass of water or an ice cold coke at hand. Some of us connoisseurs in Durban believe you should have a glass of milk. I go straight for the kill and have neither water, milk, beer or coke. As you can see, I am a tough old bird. And my favourite is “quarter chicken with sugar beans on the top, please”.

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We are blessed to have this “street food”. The Bunny Chow has been perfected by the Indian South Africans, descended from the first Indians in South Africa from around 1860 and most live in and around the city of Durban, making it the “largest “Indian” city outside India. And from them the Bunny Chow was born. As to where the name Bunny Chow came from? Well, it is still one of the great mysteries of the food world.

Oh…how I miss my Bunnies!!!!