Cooking in Africa - The mortar

 The Mortar

#AFH

African cooking methods are often different from conventional ones in terms of food processing, cooking, and utensils used. This week's theme is "traditional cooking instruments" and the first one I would like to cover is the mortar.

The mortar is a pounding utensil that consists of two hardwood components, the bowl to put the ingredients in and a pestle to pound the ingredients into either a paste or a powder. It is a very old and sacred instrument used all around the continent. 

The mortar and pestle is usually carved from the wood of a tree, and unlike the sharp blade of the modern food processor that bruises the ingredients, the pestle crushed them in a way that helps release their fresh flavors and oils - and the difference in taste is palpable.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The concept

Image
  The Concept African food history was born out of a passion that exists since a very young age in my grandmother’s kitchen. The African continent is recognized worldwide for its great cultural diversity and its gastronomy is one of the richest and vastest resources of the latter. I would therefore like to share with all of you the secrets learned from this gem while getting educated on the origins and historical background of its various meals. The goal of the blog is simple: discover together weekly recipes from various countries with themes on a type of food or family of foods. Let us educate ourselves on this tasty subject!!😍💪🍛
Read more

SUYA / SOYA

Image
  SUYA The second recipe we are going to see this week is another famous street food known all around the continent called Suya or Soya depending on the regions and the countries. This snack is made with skewered meat (beef or any other fatless meat). It mostly originated from the Hausa ethnic group, one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They would set up their BBQ pits in most neighborhoods, on street corners, selling grill meat, some skewered others not, till every single stick is gone. However, we are going to discover an alternative way of roasting it in the oven. Ingredients 1 cup salted peanuts 1 tablespoon paprika 2 teaspoons onion powder 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon garlic powder 2kg of fatless tender meat part of beef (preferably, beef sirloin steak), thinly sliced against the grain 2 tablespoons canola oil 1 teaspoon salt 1 medium onion, cut into wedges 1 large tomato, cut into wedg...
Read more

OKRA SOUP / SAUCE GOMBO

Image
  OKRA SOUP The second recipe we are going to look at is one of the most eaten meal eaten around the continent, and it is none other than OKRA SOUP! This meal’s base is OKRA which can be grounded or sliced. It grows all around the continent, is very low in calories and has a slimy yet consistent texture. The soup is very appreciated because it can be made with any meat, seafood or greens. This is a very healthy meal, you must try and every bite is an explosion of flavour! Recipe for 6 persons Ingredients 700g Okra half minced and half sliced 1 red bell pepper 1kg of Smoked Turkey wings ( or any meat) 1 Small onion minced 1 scotch bonnet or hablanero pepper 3 Tbsp crayfish 200g Spinach 500g shrimps 1 large dry Fish 4 Tbsp Locust bean (also called Iru, or soumbala) (optional) 1/2 to 3/4 Palm oil 1 Tsp Seasoning powder or cube 4 to 5 cups water Instructio...
Read more