Feijoada

Feijoada (European Portuguese: [fɐjʒuˈaðɐ], Brazilian Portuguese: [fejʒuˈadɐ]) is a stew of beans with beef and pork,which is a typical Portuguese dish. Feijoada is also typically cooked in former Portuguese colonies such as Brazil, Macau, Angola, Mozambique and Goa (India). However, the recipe can differ slightly from one country to another.


Brazilian feijoada made with black beans
The name comes from feijão, Portuguese for "beans".

The basic ingredients of feijoada are beans with fresh pork[3] or beef. In northwest Portugal (chiefly Minho and Douro Litoral), it is usually made with white beans; in the northeast (Trás-os-Montes), it is generally prepared with kidney beans (Feijoada à Transmontana), and includes other vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, and cabbage. The stew is best prepared over low heat in a thick clay pot.

It is usually served with rice and assorted sausages, such as chouriço, morcela (blood sausage), farinheira, and others, which may or may not be cooked in the stew.

Dovyalis caffra

Dovyalis caffra (Warb.), Aberia caffra (Harv. & Sond) the Umkokola, Kei apple, Kai apple, or Kau apple,[1] is a small to medium-sized tree, native to southern Africa. Its distribution extends from the Kei River in the south, from which the common name derives, northwards along the eastern side of the continent to Tanzania. The ripe fruits are tasty, reminiscent of a small apple.

It is a usually found in dry types of woodland when it grows to 6 m tall. In moister types of open woodland it reaches its greatest size of about 8–9 metres. It is a rather straggly tree, with sharp, 3–6 cm long stem spines in the leaf axils. Buds at the base of the spine produce clusters of alternately arranged simple ovate leaves 3–6 cm long.

The flowers are inconspicuous, solitary or clustered, with no petals. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, though some female plants are parthenogenetic.

The fruit is an edible bright yellow or orange globose berry 2.5–4 cm diameter, with the skin and flesh of a uniform colour and containing several small seeds. Production is often copious, weighing down the branches during the summer. They are juicy, tasty and very acidic.

Cultivation and Uses
A traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known fruit has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.

Kei-apples are often eaten fresh, or sprinkled with sugar to complement their natural acidity. Aside from being eaten fresh, the fruit can be made into jam, used in desserts, or pickled (their natural acidity means vinegar is not needed).

Although it is native to Africa, it has also been introduced to the Mediterranean, California, Florida and other regions with subtropical and warm temperate climates. In these places it is most often grown as an ornamental plant, being popular as an impenetrable hedge. It is salt and drought-tolerant, so useful for coastal landscaping in dry regions.

Although a subtropical species, the Kei apple is able to survive temperatures as low as −6 °C. Gardeners who want fruit require a female plant; a fertile female plant and fertile male plant is ideal. Kei apples are propagated by seed. Plants will bear about four years later.

Ẹchịcha

Ẹchịcha (also, Achịcha) is a dish native to the Igbo part of Nigeria consisting mainly of dried cassava, mgbụmgbụ, and palm oil. It is traditionally eaten in the dry season when fresh vegetables are hard to come by.
Ẹchịcha is made by steaming the dried cocoyam and mgbụmgbụ until they are soft, then mixing the two thoroughly with a sauce made of palm oil, ụgba, onions, fresh pepper, and salt.

Duqqa

                             

Duqqa (Egyptian Arabic: دقة  pronounced [ˈdæʔʔæ]) is an Egyptian condiment consisting of a mixture of herbs, nuts (usually hazelnut), and spices. It is typically used as a dip with bread or fresh vegetables for an hors d'œuvre. Pre-made versions of duqqa can be bought in the spice markets of Cairo, with the simplest version being crushed mint, salt and pepper which are sold in paper cones. The packaged variety is found in markets that is composed of parched wheat flour mixed with cumin and caraway.

The word is derived from the Arabic for "to pound" since the mixture of spices and nuts are pounded together after being dry roasted to a texture that is neither powdered nor paste-like. The actual composition of the spice mix can vary from family to family, vendor to vendor though there are common ingredients, such as sesame, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper. Reference to a 19th-century text lists marjoram, mint, zaatar and chickpeas as further ingredients that can be used in the mixture. A report from 1978[citation needed] indicates that even further ingredients can be used, such as nigella, millet flour and dried cheese. Some commercial variants include pine nuts, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.

Duqqa is now becoming popular in some countries outside Egypt. In the United States it has gained exposure through such TV shows as Top Chef, Chopped and Iron Chef America. In Australia several companies now make it in a variety of flavours. It has become popular in the past ten years, probably due to recent Lebanese and Arabic immigration as well as television cooking shows such as SBS Food. It can be found in supermarkets, specialty stores and many farmers' markets.

How to cook Duqqa

                                     

Diospyros mespiliformis

                                             

Diospyros mespiliformis, the Jackalberry (also known as African Ebony and by its Afrikaans name jakkalsbessie), is a large deciduous tree found mostly in the savannas of Africa. Jackals are fond of the fruits, hence the common names.

Mature trees have dark gray fissured bark. An adult tree reaches an average of 4 to 6 metres in height, though occasionally trees reach 25 metres. The foliage is dense and dark green with elliptical leaves, which are often eaten by grazing animals such as elephants and buffalo. The tree flowers in the rainy season; the flowers are imperfect, with genders on separate trees, and are cream-colored. The female tree bears fruit in the dry season and these are eaten by many wild animals; they are oval-shaped, yellow and about 20-30mm in diameter. When the fruits ripen they turn purple. The tree, like Marula, is favoured by the Bantu, who will leave them growing in their cultivated lands in order to harvest the fruit.

Fruit
A traditional food plant in Africa, this fruit has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.

The fruit is edible for humans; its flavor has been described as lemon-like, with a chalky consistency. They are sometimes preserved, can be dried and ground into a flour, and are often used for brewing beer and brandy.

The Ovambo people call the fruit of the Jackalberry eenyandi and use it to distill Ombike, their traditional liquor

Medicinal
The leaves, bark and roots of the tree contain tannin, which can be used as a styptic to staunch bleeding. The roots are consumed to purge parasites and is thought to be a remedy for leprosy.

Anonidium mannii (Junglesop)

                   

Anonidium mannii (Junglesop) is a fast-growing tropical African tree that grows to 8–30 m high, with a girth of up to 2 m.[1] It has 20–40 cm long leaves and large flowers which produce edible fruits generally around 4–6 kg, but which can be up to around 15 kg. Fruit flavor is rich but variable and is sometimes described as an acquired taste, though the fruits are generally in high demand in Africa, with large fruits commanding high prices. The fruit is a favorite with local people (who refer to it as "bobo" and other primates, especially bonobos.

Fruit
After approximately 10 years, junglesops begin to produce fruit seasonally. Normally around 5 kg, some are up to 15 kg, making the junglesop not only the largest of the Annonaceae but one of the largest fruits in the world, though not as large as the jackfruit or Telfairia pedata. Inside the tough, leathery brown skin patterned with raised diamond-shapes is a soft yellow-orange pulp with a somewhat peachy but unique flavor ranging from sweet to sour depending upon the genetic qualities of the tree concerned and upon its ripeness when harvested. Some fruits do not taste good, but its rich flavor appeals to most palates and it is rich in Vitamin A.

Cultivation
Recommended cultivation distance is 8 meters square, and planting several trees together is recommended to ensure good pollination. Trees reportedly prefer a rich, acidic and moist but well drained soil. As an understory tree, it is shade tolerant, but susceptible to wind damage. Attempts at cultivation have also been hampered by insect attack and fungal diseases.

Where it occurs naturally, the tree is not generally cultivated, possibly due to the availability of the fruit from wild trees, possibly due to the fact that although fast-growing, trees take so long to bear fruit.

Distribution
The natural range of the junglesop is jungles of central Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, Zambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Gabon and Cameroon. As well as in lowland rainforests, it grows on fringing forest and adjacent savanna especially next to rivers, provided the soil is well drained.

It has also been planted in Hawaii, Malaysia and Australia, but has not yet set fruit.A single tree is known to be growing in the continental US, in the Miami garden of pomologist Bill Whitman, though it too has never fruited.

Ogbono soup

                                     

Ogbono soup (Igbo: bush mango) is a Nigerian dish made with ground ogbono seeds, with considerable local variation. The ground ogbono seeds are used as a thickener, and give the soup a black coloration. Besides seeds, water and palm oil, it typically contains meat, seasonings such as chili pepper, leaf vegetables and other vegetables. Typical leaf vegetables include bitterleaf and celosia. Typical other vegetables include tomatoes and okra. Typical seasonings include chiles, onions, and iru (fermented locust beans). Typical meats include beef, goat, fish, chicken, bush meat, shrimp, or crayfish. It can be eaten with fufu, pounded yam, or with rice. In other countries the soup may be available in packaged prepared form in some markets that specialize in Western African foods.Ogbono soup has a mucilaginous (slimy) texture, similar to okra soup.

How to cook Ogbono soup

                                           

Indian jujube

                                         

           
The Indian jujube is native from the Province of Yunnan in southern China to Afghanistan, Malaysia and Queensland, Australia. It is cultivated to some extent throughout its natural range but mostly in India where it is grown commercially and has received much horticultural attention and refinement despite the fact that it frequently escapes and becomes a pest. It was introduced into Guam about 1850 but is not often planted there or in Hawaii except as an ornamental. Specimens are scattered about the drier parts of the West Indies, the Bahamas, Colombia and Venezuela, Guatemala, Belize, and southern Florida. In Barbados, Jamaica and Puerto Rico the tree is naturalized and forms thickets in uncultivated areas. In 1939, 6 trees from Malaysia were introduced into Israel and flourished there. They bore very light crops of fruit heavily infested with fruit flies and were therefore destroyed to protect other fruit trees.

Varieties
In India, there are 90 or more cultivars differing in the habit of the tree, leaf shape, fruit form, size, color, flavor, keeping quality, and fruiting season. Among the important cultivars, eleven are described in the encyclopaedic Wealth of India: 'Banarasi (or Banarsi) Pewandi', 'Dandan', 'Kaithli' ('Patham'), 'Muria Mahrara', 'Narikelee', 'Nazuk', 'Sanauri 1', 'Sanauri 5', 'Thornless' and 'Umran' ('Umri'). The skin of most is smooth and greenish-yellow to yellow.

Couscous

                                                 

Originating from Angola, cocada amarela is a heavy dessert made principally from eggs and coconut and has a distinctive yellow colour due to the large quantity of eggs used. The name, cocada amarela, literally means yellow cocada.

As a former Portuguese colony, cocada amarela is highly influenced by Portuguese pastries, known for the large quantities of egg yellow in traditional recipes.

Couscous (/ˈkʊskʊs/ or /ˈkuːskuːs/; Berber: ⵙⴽⵙⵓ, seksu, Arabic: كسكس‎, kuskus or كسكسو kseksou) is a berber traditional North African dish of semolina (granules of durum wheat), which is cooked by steaming. It is traditionally served with a meat or vegetable stew spooned over it. Couscous is a staple food throughout the North African cuisines of Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Libya and to a lesser extent in the Middle East and Trapani in Sicily.

Couscous was voted as the third-favourite dish of French people in 2011 in a study by TNS Sofres for magazine Vie Pratique Gourmand, and the first in the east of France.

In some regions couscous is made from Farina or coarsely ground barley or pearl millet. In Brazil, the traditional couscous is made from cornmeal.[8]

Preparation 

Brown couscous with vegetables in Tunisia

The semolina is sprinkled with water and rolled with the hands to form small pellets, sprinkled with dry flour to keep them separate, and then sieved. Any pellets that are too small to be finished granules of couscous fall through the sieve and are again rolled and sprinkled with dry semolina and rolled into pellets. This process continues until all the semolina has been formed into tiny granules of couscous. This process is labor-intensive. In the traditional method of preparing couscous, groups of women came together to make large batches over several days,[citation needed] which were then dried in the sun and used for several months. Couscous was traditionally made from the hard part of the durum, the part of the grain that resisted the grinding of the millstone. In modern times, couscous production is largely mechanized, and the product is sold in markets around the world.

In the Sahelian countries of West Africa, such as Mali and Senegal, pearl millet is pounded or milled to the size and consistency necessary for the couscous.

A couscoussier, a traditional steamer for couscous.

Properly cooked couscous is light and fluffy, not gummy or gritty. Traditionally, North Africans use a food steamer (called aTaseksut in Berber, a كِسْكَاس kiskas in Arabic or a couscoussier in French). The base is a tall metal pot shaped rather like an oil jar in which the meat and vegetables are cooked as a stew. On top of the base, a steamer sits where the couscous is cooked, absorbing the flavours from the stew. The lid to the steamer has holes around its edge so steam can escape. It is also possible to use a pot with a steamer insert. If the holes are too big, the steamer can be lined with damp cheesecloth. There is little archaeological evidence of early diets including couscous, possibly because the original couscoussier was probably made from organic materials that could not survive extended exposure to the elements.

Local variations

Couscous with various toppings

In Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Libya, couscous is generally served with vegetables (carrots, potatoes, turnips, etc.) cooked in a spicy or mild broth or stew, and some meat (generally, chicken, lamb or mutton).

How to cook Couscous