Idylls of Cusine, #76
[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]
Tag Archives: Africa
BY WAY OF AFRICA: Seafood on the Plate
Africa, West “…with a legion of cooks, and an army of slaves.”–Lord Byron– Five hundred and eighteen years ago, an …
Not Nuts (The Natural History and Far-Flung Adventures of the Lowly Peanut)
A nguba is an arachide is a cacahuete. Or Gedda, French, and Spanish for “pea‑nut,” if you prefer. Arachis hypogaea looks like a nut, tastes like a nut, but is actually not a nut at all. More like a legume or bean. The name “groundnut” tries to get the thing situated correctly but even that is incorrect. Botanically, peanuts belong to the beans/legumes clan and are NOT nuts. Gastronomically, peanuts can’t compete with those culinary wunderkind, caviar or truffles. But peanuts don’t aspire to knighthood or a title. In the U.S., peanuts usually take the form of peanut butter or salty snacks. However, peanuts have both an ancient history and a tremendous potential in the cookpot, nobility or not.
Tomatoes, Dust, and a Tasty Soupçon of Africa, Too
My nose burned a little and an odd sensation on my forehead no doubt meant more freckles popping out. I didn’t care. I sat right where I wanted to be on that late August day, in the dirt between two rows of leafy tomato plants. Red globes of all sizes dangled like Christmas ornaments from the plants, the vines sinking into the dust from all that ripe weight.
Idylls of Cuisine, #59
[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]
The British Melting Pot
I recently ran across these books, mentioned on an interesting British Web site providing glimpses and glances at cookbooks published …
Cooking Fish — Let Us Count the World’s Ways: Africa
It’s Lent. That means fish to a lot of people, even today, despite the relaxed rules of the Church. But …
Lent, According to American Cookery, the Magazine, That is
Lent can be a really interesting time of the year. For some of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, a …
A Cook’s Finger, or, A Pearl Beyond Price, Part 2
Continued from January 7, 2010: In the beginning, dealing with Michel’s injured finger didn’t bring out the best in me. …
A Cook’s Finger, or, a Pearl Beyond Price, Part 1
I won’t pretend that living in a Francophone sub-Saharan African country like Burkina Faso was some romantic T. E. Lawrence …
