Country 27 - Burkino Faso

 Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa. it is surrounded by six countries: Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast. it's capital city is Ouagadougou.
The country was formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta and it became independent from France in 1958. It changed its name to Burkina Faso in 1984.
Northwestern Burkina Faso has been inhabited since 14000 BC, it was invaded by France in 1896 and became part of French North Africa in 1904.

Burkina Faso is a very poor country that relies on adequate rainfall each year as 80% of its population is engaged in subsidence farming - cotton being the main crop. There are few natural resources although copper, iron, manganese and gold are mined there. In 2013 it ranked 65 out of 78 countries for food insecurity.

The cuisine is typical for western Africa with the staple foods being sorghum, millet, rice, maize, peanuts, potatoes, beans, yams and okra. The most common sources of protein are chicken, eggs and fresh water fish.

It has been over six months since our last food adventure. To be honest we kept putting it off because the recipes didn't sound that appealing. As I researched Burkina Faso and realized how poor the people are I become aware how lucky we are to be able to choose our food!

Having spent some time searching for recipes where we could find all the ingredients we eventually decided we would use the same recipes as a website called International Cuisine. They are making the same journey as us.

They started their meal with chips d'igname, or yam chips. We couldn't actually find any yams but we did find these ready made chips that contained yam - and very nice they were too!

Gary was in charge of the main dish Cuisses de poulet a la puree de patates douces. We used chicken legs rather than just thighs. 

Frying the skins to try and crisp them up before adding the sauce.

 The sauce is peanut butter, tomato puree, coconut milk, fresh ginger, whole chilli and lime juice.

 It smelt really good.

We also boiled some sweet potatoes and mashed them.

For no particular reason other than we didn't have any millet fermented Burkina Faso drink we had this homemade wine with our meal.

 I was responsible for the vegetables - Burkina Faso style green beans. These are basically beans stir fried in onion, fresh ginger, chilli and garlic.
We knew they wouldn't take long so we left them until the chicken was nearly ready to cook them. Gary began serving the chicken as I busily stir fired - then we realized the chicken was really still a bit raw! 
While the chicken benefitted from longer in the pan, the onion and garlic didn't and burnt! If I made this dish again (unlikely!) I would par-cook the beans first and then toss them in the onion and garlic. The beans were very al dente and the garnish was very charred!

Our final meal, very orange with a blackened garnish!

Everything was much more tasty that we had expected, a bit Thai-ey in fact. The chicken skin had pretty much dissolved into the sauce and the whole chilli actually added quite a kick. 
An interesting experience. 

Country 26 - Bulgaria

 The Republic of Bulgaria is in south east Europe. It is bordered by Serbia, Romania, North Macedonia, Greece and Turkey as well as the Black Sea. The capital is Sofia.

Culture in Bulgaria dates back to 6,500 BC. It has been a battleground for Persians, Celts, the ancient Macedonians and was conquered by the Roman Empire in AD45. The Bulgars formed the first Bulgarian Empire in AD681, following this there were years of multiple wars and feudal strife until the Ottoman rulers took over in 1396. Finally in 1991 the country became democratic with a sovereign and a parliament.

An essential part of Bulgarian culture comes from folklore with fire being used to banish evil spirits and illnesses. The food is similar to the other Balkan states and has strong Greek and Turkish influences. In 1989 it was the world's second largest wine exporter, most being sent to Romania, Russia and Poland. The national drink is Rakia, a fruit brandy.

Bulgarian food is fresh and hearty with pork and chicken being the most popular meat. Many of the staples are also found in Turkey, Greece and Serbia but they are given their own flavours. Banista can be found in bakeries all over the country, it is a pastry stuffed with cheese - usually feta. Kebapche is an elongated piece of minced meat - similar in shape to a hot dog. It is usually a mixture of beef and pork with spices such as black pepper and cumin. Lyutenitsa is a thick relish of peppers and tomatoes which can be spread on toast.

After considerable debate we decides that we would make banista and palneni chushki, which are stuffed peppers.


First of all the peppers. 
We knew we had a lot of peppers in the fridge so we didn't get more when we were out shopping for this meal. We'd bought a big bag of misshaped peppers last weekend but what we hadn't accounted for was that none of them would stand up - they are misshapes obviously!!!! and so we had to find a pan that we could wedge them upright in, a bread tin was just right. We cut the tops off, removed the seeds and stuffed them with ground beef, onion, some herbs and rice. Then we filled the pan half full of water and covered with foil. This was roasted for 45 minutes. We expected this to be bland - there really wasn't much in it!

The peppers ready for the oven. 

Now onto making the banista. Someone had forgotten to take the filo pastry out of the freezer so we had a bit of a panic while we debated whether it could be defrosted safely in the microwave - it could, lucky!!!!!! 😀

So we cut the thin pieces of pastry and melted the butter and started layering. It was like making lasagne. After every 5 layers of pastry we put a layer of crumbled feta which had been mixed with milk and egg. 

Finally it was ready to go in the oven for 25 minutes.

The Banista is ready.

The Palneni Chushki is ready.

Our Bulgarian meal ready to be eaten. It is served with tomato puree.

The Verdict

Well once again we were surprised that so few ingredients and such simple food could be so tasty. The Banista was like a quiche with really flakey pastry. The herbs in the filling of the peppers really added flavour. Although I don't think we will make these dishes again I think we might be making quiche with feta rather than cheddar in the future - maybe with some olives or spinach too!

Country 25 - Brunei

The Nation of Brunei - The Abode of Peace, is on the northeast coast of the island of Borneo in southeast Asia. Apart from its coast line with the South China sea Brunei is surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak - it is actually split into two parts by Sarawak!

Brunei has been part of Spain and Britain and was occupied by the Japanese during WW2. It became independent in 1984 with its wealth coming from petroleum and natural gas. It has a population of just under half a million with most people living in urban areas. 65% of the population is Malay with 10% being Chinese, Malay is the main language but English and Chinese are also widely spoken. The country is mainly Muslim with some Buddhists and Christians.

Bruneian food is mainly influenced by Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia cuisine, with China, India, Thailand and Japan also being important. Fish and rice are staple foods, beef is also used but is expensive. Because the country is Muslim pork is banned and all food is halal. Alcohol is also prohibited.

Food is often spicy and is accompanied by rice or noodles. Ambuyat is popular - it is a sticky ball of flavourless sago starch that is wrapped around a bamboo fork and dipped into a sour gravy!!!! mmmm.

We struggled to decide what to make this week in the end we returned to the blog of Sasha Martin (the instigator of the whole World Food Adventure and author of the Global Table Adventure Blog). 

We made Sayur Lodeh - shrimp and vegetable curry, with Lontong - rice in banana leaves (without the banana leaves as we couldn't find any in Nova Scotia!) 😁

Rempah - the curry paste.

First to make the curry paste. Cashews, garlic, onion, lemongrass, anchovy puree, turmeric, chilli, and ground coriander.



Put all the ingredients in a blender and bend!

Now onto preparing the Sayur Lodeh ingredients. Raw prawns/shrimp, cabbage, green beans, carrots, mushrooms all sliced into bite sized pieces and a mixture of coconut milk and water.

First the Rempuh - curry paste is cooked in oil - we used coconut oil. The coconut milk and water are added followed by the vegetables which are cooked until nearly done. Finally the prawns are added for a few minutes. 

Meanwhile, we cooked the rice in coconut milk and water. In Brunei once the rice is cooked it is cooled, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. Then the tubes of rice are sliced into small discs.

Our finished meal

The Verdict!!!!

It was delicious! It was lovely and coconutty and very fresh tasting. 

This is one of the few meals that we will cook again - next time maybe adding fresh chilli  and cilantro to make it a bit spicier. It would also be good with chicken or beef.

You should try this!!!! 😀

Country 24 - Brazil

The Federative Republic of Brazil is the largest Country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country and fifth most populated country. It is also one of the the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations.
The Atlantic Ocean is on Brazil's east coast and it also borders every other South American country other than Chile and Ecuador. 
Brazil was inhabited by many tribal nations before 1500 when it became part of the Portuguese empire. It gained its independence in 1822. 

Brazil's culture is influenced mainly by Portugal but also from Africa, it's Indigenous peoples and other european nations. The food varies greatly depending on the region reflecting the Indigenous and immigrant population of each area. Feijoada is considered the national dish with a typical meal consisting of rice, beans and meat.

For our visit to Brazil we made feijoada, couve-a-mineira and brigadeiro washed down with our version of caipirinha.

The feijoada went on first as it need to cook for several hours. It is very meat heavy so we left out the pork shoulder because you can have too much meat! We were able to track down some ok-ish chorizo in our local supermarket and we used ribs that were very meaty to make up for the lack of pork shoulder. We also used tinned black beans so we did not have to buy a huge bag of dried ones.

Meat and beans being added to the onion, garlic and chilli.

Simmering for a few hours.

The liquid has reduced and the dish is ready to be tasted.

The collard greens finely chopped and sauteed with shallot, garlic butter and olive oil.

We don't usually make desserts but this recipe sounded interesting. 
As I cooked the condensed milk, butter and cocoa powder I was reminded of a friend I shared a flat with at university. She used to make her version of banoffee pie by boiling a tin of condensed milk for a while then opening it and dunking a banana into the resulting goo! 😆

The milk, butter and cocoa powder were boiled for 10 minutes - it smelt good!

It was then left to cool for 2 hours before being formed into small balls and rolled in ground almonds or dessicated coconuts. (Our bag of coconut has an expiry date of 2015, it was unopened!!! Used it anyway! 😅

All ready to be eaten!

 The national drink of Brazil is Caipirinha. It is made using a Brazilian rum which is made from cane sugar rather than molasses called cachaça. We were unable to find Brazilian rum but we tracked down some from the Dominican Republic which is also made from cane sugar. 

So each cocktail is made from 1/2 a lime cut into small piece, 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 ounces of rum, and we added lots of ice too! HIC!

Our final dish.

and for dessert!

The Verdict

It was ok. Gary really liked it. I really don't like black beans so I guess I had already made my mind up before hand maybe. The meat was really tender and tasty and the cabbage was good - we make similar recipe using kale. The chocolate truffles were firm and chewy, not like regular truffles at all. They were lovely with a strong cup of tea! 

A good learning experience but nothing we will make again - not what we were expecting from Brazil at all.

I nearly forgot to mention the Caipirinha! It was very good, we tried it with less sugar but it needed the sweetness. Did I mention it was good? In fact I'm slightly surprised I didn't wake up with a headache! Very good - like a mojito but without the mint, mmmmmm delicious!

Country 23 - Botswana

The landlocked country of the Republic of Botswana is in Southern Africa. It became independent from Britain in 1966 and is the oldest Republic in Africa.                      Botswana is a very flat country with 70% of it being the Kalahari desert. It is bordered by South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. It also has a 100 metre border with Zambia!

Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world with a population of only 2 million. Ten percent of the population live in the capital city, Gaborone. Although Botswana used to be one of the world's poorest countries it now has one of the fastest growing economies, being dominated by mining, cattle and tourism.

The official language is English although Setswana is widely spoken. Setswana is also the word used to describe the rich culture of the area.

The cuisine of Botswana is similar to that of South Africa. Examples of  the food are pap (maize porridge), boerewors ( a type of sausage) and mopane worms!!!!! 😂

      

  

Unfortunately we couldn't source any mopane worms locally so we couldn't make this dish! 

Well it is over a year since we last travelled around the world trying new recipes from various countries. We actually bought meat to cook Botswanan food a few months back and then chickened out! It just didn't appeal to us. But yesterday we decided we would just go for it and hope for the best!

Eventually we decided to make Seswaa, Pap and Morogo.

Gary did most of the cooking for the Seswaa. It should be cooked over an open fire in a three legged metal pot. It was minus 18 and snowing outside and we didn't have a three legged pot so we used the slow cooker - similar! The ingredients are: beef with a bone in; an onion; bayleaves; water and salt and pepper. It all goes into the pot together to cook for a long time.

After being in the slow cooker all day.

The juices have to be reduced so we did this on the stove.

The meat has fallen apart and is ready to be eaten.

Seriously 'Pap" has got to be the most unappetizing sounding food. 
It's meant to be made from white cornmeal but we could only find yellow. Apparently white has a more roasted flavour and is cooked slightly differently. 

So the recipe calls for cornmeal and vegetable stock. You bring the stock to the boil and whisk the cornmeal in slowly and then simmer for 20 minutes until it is cooked. 
Well! As soon as the cornmeal hit the water it thickened up and bubbled so much - even on the lowest heat setting - that it was spitting out boiling hot bits that burnt my hand. So I took it off the heat and put the lid on the pan to keep warm for 20 minutes instead.

Yellow cornmeal - pretend it's white!

So gloopy cooked pap ready to start erupting over the cooker and my hand!

Finally the Morogo. This should have been made from wild African spinach leaves but they didn't have them in the local supermarket so we just bought baby leaves. the recipe also included onion, tomatoes, red and green pepper, allspice, ginger and chilli flakes. Everything except the spinach went in the post with some vegetable stock.

Once the firmer vegetables were well and truly stewed
we added the spinach for 5 minutes.

Our local liquor store didn't have any Botwanan/South African beer so we had to make do with a rather nice South African red wine. 

The finished meal.

The Verdict.

After over a year of procrastinating ....... it was actually quite good. The vegetables were really tasty if a bit overcooked for our usual tastes. The stew was lovely - some mushrooms would have added to it but I guess that wouldn't have been traditional. The pap tasted a bit like polenta, a bit gloopy but great with the meat. 

So we are very glad that we have embarked on our World Food Adventure once again! 😀