Cameroonian Cuisine

After years hours of preparation, Thursday was our first stop of our "Tour de Palate." To reiterate the challenge, we randomly selected one country per week to serve as the basis for a three course meal--providing us with an opportunity to sample diverse foods from around the world over the span of a month.  While we initially thought that this challenge would break the bank, at least for this first week we were pleasantly surprised with how affordable (and tasty) Cameroonian cuisine can be.  As promised, each week we'll share our experience with the food, as well as the recipes we used and any general tips we learned in the process. We will rate the difficulty of preparing each dish and the taste - obviously we may not always agree so two scores (his and hers) and may be provided!

Course One:  Plantain Chips

*Difficulty: 1.5 out of 5 stars
*Taste: 2.5 and 4 out of 5 stars

We thought we would start with something somewhat familiar but with a Cameroonian twist - despite our avoidance of fried foods. Outside of finding a place to buy plantains, slicing these up and frying them was straight-forward.

Course Two: N'Dole with Corn Fufu

*Difficulty: 3 out of 5 stars
*Taste: 3.5 out of 5 stars

N'Dole is considered by many to be one of the national dishes of Cameroon. While we had to make some ingredient substitutions due to the lack of  certain ingredients (e.g., 'bitterleaf'), we tried to stay true to the recipe. While the dish was slightly time consuming, it was surprising how good peanut butter tastes with steak! As for the Corn Fufu...well let's just say that did not taste much at all but when you see the recipe you will understand why.

Course Three: Sweet Potato "Cake"

*Difficulty: 2.5 (if you use a food processor and microwave!)
*Taste: 3.5 and 4.5 

After seeing that the recipe called for a stick of butter, we knew it would be good :) We were excited because it was the first flourless cake we have made, but we have to admit it turned out more like a really good sweet potato pie than a cake. Next time we makes this (and we definitely will), we will whip the eggs to stiff peaks so that the dessert will better hold its shape. Also - make sure not to peek as the dessert is souffle-like and will fall if you are too eager.

Wrap-Up

We did not realize this when designing the challenge, but it was really two challenges in one: correctly cooking and timing the preparation of a three course meal and cooking a new type of cuisine. So our top three
1) If it looks like corn meal, and smells like corn meal... it will taste like corn meal.
2) Food shared with company is always better than eating leftovers by yourself (thanks Cath and John!).
3) When preparing a multi-course meal, always look at the cook times required by each and plan accordingly.

Recipes Used

All the ingredients we used!
Estimated total cost: $15!

Plantain Chips

2 plantains
frying oil (vegetable oil)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Preparation
1) heat pan and oil (enough oil for frying - we used about an inch of oil in the pan)
2) peel and wash plantains. Cut into thin chips.
3) put onion, pepper, and salt in Ziploc bag and mix. Add plantains and mix until covered by seasoning.
4) once oil is heated (test by adding single chip and seeing if it sizzles) add single layer of plantains. Cook until golden brown on both sides (about 15 minutes total and flip halfway through or when edges look golden brown).
5) Remove plantains to plate covered with paper towel to remove excess oil.

N'Dole

1/2 lb sirloin steak
1 bundle collard greens (or any bitter leafy greens)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1/2 tbsp celery seed
1/2 tbsp thyme
1/2 cube beef bouillon
black pepper to taste

Preparation
1) Boil large pot of salted water.
2) Chop collard greens into small pieces and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes.
3) Slice steak into strips and pan fry (use some oil if needed).
4) Add cooked steak, beef bouillon, onion, salt, celery seed, thyme, 1 cup of water into pot and cook for 5 minutes.
5) Add peanut butter to pot and cook for 2 minutes or until thickened.
6) Add collard greens and allow to simmer for 2 minutes.

Corn Fufu

1/2 cup corn meal
2 cups water

Preparation
1) Microwave 2 cups of water until boiling (about 2 minutes).
2) Add half of water to pot and return to boiling. Add all of corn meal and stir to remove clumps.
3) Add 1/2 cup of water and allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds and then stir to mix.
4) Add remaining water and allow mixture to boil until consistency is like thick mashed potatoes.

Sweet Potato Cake

1 lb sweet potato (about 1 large sweet potato)
7 tbsp butter
2 eggs
7 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp orange peel (recipe called for lime zest)
1 tbsp rum (yummmm)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt

Preparation
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2)Peel and slice raw sweet potato (thick slices are good) and place in a large microwavable bowl filled with water.
3) Microwave potatoes until cooked and knife easily pierces potato (ours took about 12 minutes)
4) place potatoes into food processor and pulse until texture of mashed potatoes (do not over do it!)
5) add butter and pulse

7) Add egg mixture to food processor and pulse to mix.
8) Add to well-greased cake pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until toothpick through center comes out dry.