Aloco

A very popular dish found in the small roadside restaurants of the Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), Aloco (Alloco, Aloko, or Bananes plantains à l'huile de palme) is plantains, fried in palm oil, plus tomatoes, onions, and chile peppers, usually served with grilled fish.
Note: as in the case with other African dishes made with red palm oil, other oil (e.g., peanut oil) can be substituted; but using red palm oil results in an authentic flavor and color which cannot be duplicated with other oil.

What you need

• red palm oil
• several ripe plantain bananas, peeled and cut into discs or cubes
• salt
• one onion, chopped
• two tomatoes, peeled (if desired), and chopped
• one chile pepper, cleaned and chopped (optional)

What you do

• Heat a cup or two of palm oil in a skillet. Sprinkle the raw plantains with salt. Fry the plantains until they are golden brown. Remove the plantains from the oil and drain on absorbent paper (paper towel). It may be best to fry the plantains in a few batches.
• In the same skillet and oil in which the plantains were fried, fry the onion, tomato, and chile pepper for a few minutes, stirring often. Add a few spoonfuls of water, reduce heat, and simmer for a several minutes until a thick, chunky sauce is obtained. Some cooks add a splash of vinegar.
• Place the plantains on a plate, cover them with a grilled fish (see below), and pour the onion-tomato mixture over them.

Many people feel it isn't really aloco unless the fried plantains and onion-tomato sauce is accompanied by a grilled fish. To follow the custom: rub a whole, cleaned fish inside and out with a marinade made from minced garlic, minced fresh ginger, and a bit of oil. Let the fish marinate for fifteen minutes before grilling over hot coals (or, if need be, broiling in a hot oven).

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Grilled Tilapia

Many species of Tilapia are native to the lakes and rivers of Africa, where it is often called Ngege. Outside of Africa, Tilapia is called St. Peter’s Fish. Tilapia is best known for being easy to raise and harvest in man-made ponds. (They reproduce and grow quickly, are disease-resistant, and omnivorous.) Tilapia aquaculture has become common all over the world in the last few decades, but was first practiced in Egypt and Israel in ancient times. In Africa, both farm-raised and wild tilapia are commonly eaten. Tilapia could be substituted in most of the fish recipes in The Congo Cookbook. Tilapia grilling over a charcoal fire is a common sight in African kitchens and on African streets. For this recipe, use a charcoal grill if possible, if not, resort to the oven broiler.

What you need

• one cup vegetable oil
• salt
• red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, or African Hot Sauce (to taste)
• juice of one lemon
• one onion, finely chopped
• one sweet green pepper (or bell pepper), finely chopped
• one spoonful of vinegar
• whole tilapia (one per person), one to two pounds each; cleaned (or tilapia fillets)

What you do

• In a glass bowl or baking dish, combine all the ingredients except the fish. (For the simplest recipe, use only the oil, salt, red pepper, and lemon juice.) Stir until everything is well mixed.
• Cut three slits across each fish on both sides, rub the oil and spice mixture onto and into the fish. The fish can be allowed to marinate in the bowl if desired (twenty minutes to an hour should be enough).
• Cook the fish over a charcoal fire in an outdoor grill (a grill basket made to hold fish while grilling is very helpful), or broil in the oven, turning once or twice.
• Serve with an African Hot Sauce.

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Couscous

Couscous (Cous-cous or Cous cous) is a traditional staple food in North Africa; it is also common in Western Africa whence it has spread into Central Africa. Couscous is a pasta, made by mixing flour and water to form a paste which is then formed and dried. Most couscous is made with flour ground from durum wheat, but rice, maize (corn), or cowpea (black-eyed pea) flours are sometimes used. Home-made couscous is rare these days; even in rural Africa most people buy ready-to-use couscous from a store or market.

In Northern Africa the word couscous refers not only the pasta itself, but also to a dish of stewed meats and/or vegetables that is served with the pasta (just as the word spaghetti means both the noodles or a dish of noodles with sauce). The traditional method of preparing couscous is to steam-cook it in a special pot called a couscoussière. The couscoussière consists of two parts: the lower part is a cooking pot, usually rounded on the sides like a barrel, the upper part is a second pot (with a lid) that fits snugly on top of the bottom pot. The top pot has holes in its bottom that admit steam from the lower pot. The stew cooks in the bottom pot while the couscous is steamed on top. (Real couscous is always steamed, never boiled.) Most traditional couscous recipes call for the couscous to be dampened with water (or oil), then steamed, removed and allowed to cool, mixed with butter or oil, then steamed again, and then perhaps cooled and steamed a third time. If your kitchen is not equipped with a couscoussière, you can improvise with a metal colander inside a normal cooking pot and a lid to cover it all. Note: the boxed couscous available in grocery stores, which is prepared by pouring the couscous pasta into boiling water, is really pre-cooked "instant couscous". Cooking "instant couscous" in the traditional method described here may result in mushy, overcooked pasta. Obtain real (not "instant") couscous from a specialty store, or, if using instant couscous, reduce the cooking time by at least half.

What you need

• six cups couscous (not "instant couscous")
• two cups warm water, mixed with two teaspoons salt
• one-half cup cooking oil (olive oil, melted butter, or similar)
• chicken broth (or any North African vegetable or meat stew)

What you do

• Put half the couscous in a large bowl. Sprinkle half the salted water over the couscous. Rub your hands with a bit of the oil and sprinkle the rest of the oil over the couscous. Use your hands to evenly distribute the oil and water into the couscous. Let the couscous form small pellets, but break any lumps. Add the remaining couscous and continue the process, adding more water and oil to make the couscous uniformly damp, but not wet.
• Place the couscous on a clean cloth, cover it with another cloth and leave it to rest for an hour or two. (Some cooks let it rest for a much shorter time.)
• Bring the chicken broth (or stew) to a very gentle boil in the bottom pot. Place the couscous in the top pot, cover, and let the couscous steam for about an hour over the simmering broth (or stew). Make sure that the steam is going up through the couscous and not escaping out the sides, especially if you are using an improvised couscous cooker.
• Remove the couscous from the steamer and place it in a clean bowl. Massage some more oil or butter into it (careful not to burn your hands) and let it cool for about fifteen minutes.
• Return the couscous to the steamer and let it steam for another half hour. Test for tenderness. The last two steps can be repeated.

Even if you don't make couscous the traditional way, now you know there's more to it than dumping it from a box into a pot of coiling water.

Serve couscous with Tagine of Chicken, Preserved Lemon, & Olives or Poulet Yassa. In Northern Africa, couscous (the pasta plus a meat or vegetable dish) is often served with harissa sauce.

COUSCOUS

Method

1. Wet the finely ground flour with cold water and knead it until flour particles agglomerate.
2. Force the mixture through a fine screen (1.5 mm mesh).
3. Place the grains in a perforated pot fitted over another pot containing boiling water.
4. Put a cloth seal at the joint between the two pots. Heat the lower pot to steam the grains above for about 15 minutes. They will form a single large chunk.
5. Take out the chunk, break it into small aggregates and transfer them back to steam for another 15 minutes.
6. Remove the chunk, break it into aggregates and sift them through a sieve (2.5 mm).
7. Dry and store for future use.
8. To prepare couscous for serving, sprinkle cool water on the aggregates.
9. Mix thoroughly with fingers.
10. Mix the grains with ground baobab leaf powder and other ingredients such as peanut paste, okra, etc. and give it a final steaming for 15 minutes.
11. Allow it to cool slowly
12. Serve with sauce or milk, or dry it and use as a convenience food.

West Africa

Ingredients

Finely ground sorghum or millet flour

(Some recipes based on sorghum and millets)

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Brochettes and Dibbi

Kebabs, kabobs, or shish kebabs (from the Turkish, siskebabi, roasted meat) are popular all over the world. What could be more basic than roasting meat on a stick? Scholars think that meat (or other food) was first cooked in Africa tens or hundreds of thousands of years ago -- and Africans have been roasting meat ever since. In French-speaking Africa, sticks of roasted meat are called brochettes, (from the French word for "skewer"), and they are often sold by vendors on city streets. There are lots of ways to prepare brochettes. Lamb (meat and kidneys) is preferred in Northern Africa; in Sub-Saharan Africa various meats are used. The basic process is to marinate the meat, thread it on a skewer, and grill it over a fire. There are no quantities for the ingredients in these recipes: how you make your marinade depends on how much meat you're cooking and what ingredients you like. (However, as a guide, the ingredients are listed by volume from largest to smallest.)

What you need

• a few pounds of beef (or lamb, or goat; or beef or lamb liver, kidney, or heart); cut into bite-sized pieces (kidney, especially, should be rinsed several times in cold water)
• onion, sweet green pepper, tomatoes (optional); cut into bite-sized pieces



• Marinade # 1 ( Peri-Peri style)
  • oil
  • fresh hot chile peppers (red peppers are typical), finely chopped
  • lemon juice or lime juice (or cider vinegar)
  • garlic, minced
  • cayenne pepper or red pepper, or dried red pepper flakes
  • paprika
  • salt



• Marinade # 2 ( Coupé-Coupé style)
  • oil
  • Maggi® sauce (L'Arome Maggi®) or Maggi® cubes mixed with water
  • cayenne pepper or red pepper, to taste; (try "Sand's" brand from Nigeria)



• Marinade # 3 (Western Africa style)
  • oil
  • vinegar (or cider vinegar)
  • tomato, chopped
  • onion, finely chopped
  • garlic, minced
  • fresh ginger, minced
  • cayenne pepper or red pepper
  • salt



• Marinade # 4 (Northern Africa style)
  • oil (olive oil if possible)
  • vinegar (or cider vinegar)
  • onion, finely chopped
  • chile pepper, finely chopped
  • parsley, minced
  • cumin
  • black pepper
  • paprika
  • salt



• Marinade # 5 (Northern Africa style)
  • oil (olive oil if possible)
  • pimentos, finely chopped
  • black pepper
  • salt

What you do

• Use a mortar and pestle or a food processor to grind together all of the marinade ingredients. In a glass bowl mix the meat and marinade, thoroughly covering the meat. Allow the meat to marinate for at least an hour, several hours if possible.
• Place the meat (and vegetables, if desired) on skewers.
• Cook the skewered meat on an outdoor grill, or under the oven broiler. Baste with the remaining marinade, being sure that the marinade is fully cooked after the last basting.
• Serve with Rice or bread, and African Hot Sauce or Pili-Pili Sauce.

Other African Meat-on-a-Skewer recipes

Other meat-on-a-skewer dishes found in Africa are mishkaki, suya, and sosaties, and kofta.

Mishkaki -- Swahili shish kebabs (from Eastern Africa) with an Indian flavor.

Suya -- West African shish kebabs with a peanuty spice rub.

Sosaties (soesaties, sasaties, sassatees, etc.) -- a Malay-inspired dish popular in South Africa, related to satay of Malaysia. Making sosaties involves briefly cooking a complex marinade (of seasonings, spices, apricot fruit or jam, etc.) in which lamb meat is marinated for two or three days before being grilled. (See the "Rare Recipe" excerpts from African Cooking by Laurens van der Post. )

Kofta -- evidently of Turkish origin, brought to Eastern Africa from India and Arabia, are made with a mixture of minced meat and seasonings. It is then molded onto skewers and cooked on a grill. It can also be formed into patties or meatballs and cooked in a pan.

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This salad is a common first course type of a dish from Africa. Btw, Salade Mechouia means Grilled Salad. That's a strange concept, maybe. But the result is good

5 sweet bell peppers, combo of red and green
2 hot red chilies peppers
2 hot green chilies
3 tomatoes
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 eggs
One dozen black olives
Salt

Make hard boiled eggs.

Remove seeds from bell peppers, place in baking pan and set to broil for a few minutes on each side. After peppers have been turned once or twice, add the tomatoes to the pan. After 10 minutes, add the chilies and garlic clove into the pan. Remove peppers and tomatos from oven and let cool.

Peel any charred skin off the tomatoes, bell peppers and chilies. (Might help to put them into a ziplock bag while hot and let them stem for a minute or two, then skins can be rubbed off). Place peppers and tomatos into blender and chop into a thick consistency, perhaps 10 seconds.

Salt to taste. Pour contents into a bowl and drizzle olive oil all over the surface. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to slightly chill.

Next, cut hard boiled eggs into quarters and garnish the salad with both the eggs and olives.

Serve with warmed pita bread or french bread.

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Poulet  Pane

At the risk of generalizing, it seems that Africans possess a talent for finding just the right nickname for a thing. This fricassee of chicken, vegetables, and savory spices is called Poulet Pane, pronounced the French way, "pannee", bien sûr! Poulet pane, a favorite restaurant dish among the movers and shakers (les grands types) of Senegal, is Poulet pane poulet (chicken) for le Directeur Général (the big boss). Bon appétit.

What you need

• one chicken, cut into serving-sized
• one-quarter cup oil
• salt and black pepper to taste
• one Maggi® cube and/or a one-inch piece of fresh ginger root (peeled and minced) or a teaspoon of powdered ginger and/or fresh herbs of your choice (parsley, celery leaf, etc.)
• one garlic clove, minced
• two carrots, chopped
• haricots verts or thin French green beans, ends trimmed (optional)
• two or three sweet peppers (bell peppers): green, yellow, orange, or red, cleaned and chopped (optional)
• two tomatoes, chopped or canned tomatoes (optional)
• one onion, chopped

What you do

• If desired: Combine chicken, a tablespoon of oil, spices, carrots, green beans, and peppers in a bowl. (It's better to have most of the "optional" ingredients; carrots and bell peppers are the most common, tomatoes the least common.) Stir well. Let marinate for one to three hours.
• Heat remaining oil in a very large skillet or dutch oven. Add onions and fry briefly, until they begin to become translucent. Add chicken and fry over high heat until lightly browned.
• Add remaining ingredients, except tomatoes which should be saved for last. Reduce heat. Do not cover.
• Simmer, stirring regularly, until chicken is done and liquid partly evaporated, leaving some sauce. (Add warm water by the tablespoon if the pot becomes dry before the chicken is done.) Add tomatoes (if desired), and simmer for a few minutes more.
• Serve with Rice, Salade, Vermicelli, and Fried Plantains.

The Poulet Pane can be mixed with the fried plantains immediately before serving.

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