As fall settles in, the notion of change is firmly in place. There is no escaping the incoming cool, grey days of winter. The snow heavily covering empty sidewalks will need to be shoveled and hands will need to slip into warm wool mittens.It is inevitable that change take place without the forethought of action. Just as the orbit of the moon moves without persuasion the changing of the tides follow in sync. Often the bringing of change moves us from what is comfortable, what is known. The bringing of change can be scary and intimidating when the outcome is unknown and the when the winds blow unexpectedly. The tide of my journey has changed form the familiarity of traditional European cuisine to the unknown hemisphere of western Africa. The movement of time has brought me from deep within the Pyrenees mountains to the waves of the South Atlantic ocean. The ebbing of waves has now shored me on the land of Angola.
The capital, Luanda, Angola rests neatly along the south-west coast of Africa. Once colonized by Portugal, Angola continues to struggle to find its own sense of statehood.However, over recent years Angola has become one of many countries producing fuel for the rest of the world. Oil production and exportation are the main sources of economic resource within Angola. The land is semiarid in areas and rainy in others. Due to the high fluctuation in geography Angola does not maintain a steady lot of land used for crops. The crops that are grown include okra, tomato, sweet potato and ground nuts. Being a coastal country, Angolans utilize the fresh resource of fish and seafood as a main protein source in their diets. Since its independence from Portugese colonization in 1975, Angola retains a high influence of Portugese style cooking in its local cuisine.
Despite the influence of Portugese cuisine, Angola holds its own style of west African cuisine that peeks my interest as well as nerves. For the first time I am encountering cassava. Cassava is the potato of Africa. Angolans make use of both the leaves and root of the cassava plant. When I came across a traditional Angolan recipe calling for cassava flour I was intrigued and am currently challenged on this new culinary adventure. I am curious to see how it will arouse my senses and bring me closer to the African continent. So here is the plan for the upcoming weekend of Angolan exploration:
* Calulu de peixe ( a fish and okra stew)
* Funje ( cassava flour possidge)
* Radish, fennel salad with lemon dressing
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