Many of america's foods come from West Africa from yams to rice. What many don;t know is that the area also has a rich vegetarian history that can be easily incorporated into our diets. The dishes are not just good for you. They are also delicious too , with many interesting spices to liven up the veggies.
Yewande Komolafe ,a recipe developer and regular contributor to the New York Times Food section wrote about this bountiful cuisine. Ms. Komolafe herself is from Lagos, Nigeria where there is a wealth of meat free recipes. She is not new to the idea of a plant based diet as is the chefs she interviews. Also a plus is West African cooks are passionate about adaptations to their recipes. Many will balk at a new method of cooking a dish however replacing meat with plant based ingredients will provide new paths to familiar pathways. Afia Amoako ,a Canadian grad student, believes that there is no standard recipe, only standard methods for layering and building flavor. Mushrooms can easily be subbed in for chicken or beef. Chef Fatmata Binta explores the plant based recipes of her F ulani tribe , based in Ghana for her project The Fulani Kitchen. Many ingredients can be foraged along with being easily transported. The foods also have to be non perishable and preserved, usually sun dried.One chef, Salimatu Amabebe feels a connection to his father and grandparents by cooking a plant based Nigerian diet.
There are also recipes that any chef can make for the holidays and beyond. One is the very interesting roasted mushrooms in a sauce called Ata Din Din. This is roasting a host of mushrooms , from shiitake to oysters with thyme on a sheet pan. At the same time the Ata Din Din sauce is created, a fiery blend of red pepper ginger and habanero chiles topped with a pickle of onions, salt and vinegar. For another blood warming dish try the moin moin or steamed filled bean cakes from Nigeria.It's a mix of dried honey beans or black eyed peas cooked with habanero peppers along with red peppers and red onions, Mushrooms or the Ata Din Din can be used as the stuffing. They're formed by filling rolled cone shaped banana leaves. Dessert is coconut lemongrass tapioca with caramelized citrus. It's made with small pearl tapioca and ginger along witht eh lemongrass and topped with caramelized citrus slices such as blood oranges, grapefruits and tangerines. Lemongrass infused coconut milk is then ladled onto this.
West Africa has a rich culinary history. It's made even richer with plant based recipes. There may be no meat but there is a lot of flavor.
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