African diet

[Joey]

Well,my cat,Vader,is laying next to me purring right now and I'm about to eat breakfast. Cat doesn't sound appealing,I think I'll have blueberries and oatmeal as usual.:-)

[obed]

Well , here, at least among nzemas, there are no such thing as pets. We keep cats, dogs, and others but they all eventually become dinner.

[Joey]

How do you keep them?Do you raise litters of them like pigs?We used to raise pigs and chickens to eat when I was little.

I had read about you eating cats and dogs there,and many other countries do also.It is not a normal practice here though people eat rabbits here.

Though rabbits are also kept as a pet by many and they would never eat them.I had rabbit stew a brother had killed and cooked while we were camping last fall.It had a lot of pepper in it.

[GrumpysWife]

My Chinese friends make "Cliddy Soup" but I haven't tasted it yet. Seems that the neighborhood is void of cats lately. Every once in awhile I hear them calling, "Here Cliddy, cliddy, cliddy."

[obed]

How do you keep them?Do you raise litters of them like pigs?We used to raise pigs and chickens to eat when I was little.

I had read about you eating cats and dogs there,and many other countries do also.It is not a normal practice here though people eat rabbits here.

Though rabbits are also kept as a pet by many and they would never eat them.I had rabbit stew a brother had killed and cooked while we were camping last fall.It had a lot of pepper in it.

[obed]

We raise them as pets but as time goes on, that 'pet' factor disappears.

[obed]

Do you know gari?

[Joey]

No,we don't have that here.

[NSSewer]

I recently discovered this delicious Butternut squash soup from Kelly Osborne, it's not exotic but it is very yummy and so filling with so few ingredients that i purchase from one of the international markets in the neighborhood. Obed my mom ate cat when she was a little girl in her home country. Her constituition is very sturdy and strong to this day!

 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
 2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, diced small
 1 large, or 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, then cut into 1 inch cubes
 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 potato, Yukon gold or russet, cut into 1 inch cubes
4 cups vegetable stock or water
1 cup canned coconut milk
Salt and pepper as needed

1. In a large pot, heat oil to medium-low. Add garlic, onions and a pinch of salt, stirring until translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes.
 
2. Add squash, carrots, potato and stock, bring to boil, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until vegetables can be easily pierced with a fork. Remove from heat and add the coconut milk.
 

3. Puree soup in a blender, working in batches so you don't overflow. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
 
4. Garnish with a sprig of thyme or chopped parsley and a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil.
 
Makes six 1-cup servings. Each serving: 219 cal, 13 g fat

[Holly]

Do you know gari?

Garri (also known as gari, garry, or tapioca) is a popular West African food made from cassava tubers. The spelling 'garri' is mainly used in Nigeria, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and 'gari' in Ghana.^[1]

 

^{I like tapioca!}

Edited August 27, 2013 by Holly

[NSSewer]

^{I like tapioca!}

Tapioca scares me! I hate to see clusters of holes together!

[obed]

haha oh why do you hate gari. You eat cornflakes with milk, we eat gari with milk.

[GrumpysWife]

Gari, or as we call it tapioca, is one of Grumpy's favorite desserts. After Ice cream, of course.

[Poly Ester]

^{I like tapioca!}

Tapioca scares me! I hate to see clusters of holes together!

It reminds me of frog spawn !!

[surfergirl]

I agree Vernalee.

Mum used to make a baked custard with the tapioca.

I also think they look like frogs eggs.

But they are delicious.

[Toy Poodles]

I have a question about the snails and worms. Don't you have to do something with them to make sure they are clean from the inside out, like feed them something that helps get rid of their waste?

[obed]

Well, for snails, crash the shell and remove the snail. Then we discard some part of the snail like it's digestive tract. The remains are washed with lemon juice to get rid of it's slimy covering. Lastly, it's washed with salt water.

[Joey]

Can you eat any kind of snails?We have these big snails here in our lakes,a lot of them.I wonder if we could eat them.

[Toy Poodles]

Do you have certain kinds of mushrooms that you eat in Africa? We love Morels!!

http://growyourownmushrooms.net/moral-mushrooms/

Edited September 3, 2013 by HorseJump

[Toy Poodles]

I finally got the picture to attach. These are wonderful!!

[rbrown1205]

I knew a brother who made beef with peanut butter in it - that was delicious, over rice!!

Another brother that I knew made something that he called fu-fu - it was like dough that you eat with stew.  He said he had to make it with substitutes, but it was really good, too!

[obed]

Can you eat any kind of snails?We have these big snails here in our lakes,a lot of them.I wonder if we could eat them.

No no no! please don't! Water snails are dangerous! I can't assure you that those ones you mentioned are safe but here any fresh water snail is not edible except terrestrial ones and the ones in the ocean.

[obed]

I knew a brother who made beef with peanut butter in it - that was delicious, over rice!!

Another brother that I knew made something that he called fu-fu - it was like dough that you eat with stew. He said he had to make it with substitutes, but it was really good, too!

Fufu is the real deal in Ghana! The brother was right. He made it with substitutes. Fufu is made by pounding boiled cassava and unripe plantain together with a pestle and mortar and energy of course. Fufu is not eaten with stew. Soup rather. Fufu with groundnut soup and either antelope or "enyenle"(python meat) is just paradise!!
Edited September 4, 2013 by obed

[obed]

Do you have certain kinds of mushrooms that you eat in Africa? We love Morels!!

http://growyourownmushrooms.net/moral-mushrooms/

I really can't tell but we don't eat all mushrooms. Some are not edible.

[Toy Poodles]

I know that people around here eat rattle snake but I didn't know you could eat python.