Pineapple Flour and AJFAND: African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development

I've been in the kitchen today experimenting with some pineapple flour from the Food Research Institute in Ghana (part of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), a potential culinary innovation being tested. It's made from dried pineapple chaff that would normally be discarded as waste. Katie wrote about it last summer when we had some experimental cake and cookies ("biscuits") at Barbara Baeta's house. I just took out of the oven some citrus-ginger-pineapple-carrot bread I dreamed up. I must say it smells great! We'll taste it tonight and I'll let you know how it turned out, including the recipe if it's a keeper. I also have some more ideas for the flour I'll be sharing in upcoming posts.

 

However, for some time I've been meaning to plug the multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal  AJFAND: the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development.

The title pretty much describes this wonderful resource.  Since 2001 it has been published in Nairobi, Kenya by the Rural Outreach Program. As long as I have been aware of it, Prof. Ruth Oniang’o has been the editor. I see on the current editorial page that she recently has been elected to succeed the late Dr. Norman Borlag as Chair of Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) and the Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education. I wish her well in her new post, and congratulate the journal for its history of excellence.

Recipe #52: Rice balls (omo tuo), white and brown, large and small

Here's the recipe I promised for the oh-so-easy-to-make rice balls, just like those Katie captured at Commonwealth Hall at the University of Ghana campus in June. Rice balls go well with almost any West African soup.

Rice Balls (Omo Tuo)

1 cup white rice (I use long-grain, but not precooked)

~4 c water

½ teaspoon salt (optional, I usually omit this)

·      Bring the rice, water and salt (if using) to a boil in a large heavy pot (or a rice cooker)

·      Turn down the heat to low, cover, and allow the rice to cook for about 20 minutes.You may have to take off the lid and let it cook down another 5-10 minutes.

·      When the rice is cooked (but not too dry), turn off the heat and let it sit until it is cool enough to handle.

·      Using a potato masher, a strong wooden spoon, a heavy glass, or something similar, mash the rice until it is fairly smooth. (If you have a wonderful wooden masher from Ghana like the one here, lucky you! It's easy to hold and use.)

·      Fill a cup with cold water and put it next to the pan.

·      Wet hands or dip an ice cream scoop or spoon into the water, then scoop up enough of the rice to shape into a ball, like a snowball. If the balls will not stick together, put the rice back on the stove to dry it out slightly.

     To accompany a main dish soup, a cup of rice makes about 6-8 rice balls, depending on the size.

To serve in place of rolls as a first course, say, with groundnut or light soup, I use a small spoon or melon baller (dipped in water first) to scoop out the rice and then shape tiny balls. I serve 2 or 3 in each bowl of soup. Rice balls can be made ahead of time and warmed in the oven or microwave just before serving.

NOTE: It's also possible to make this using a rice cooker: just add everything, but use at least a cup less water, and turn off the cooker when the rice is cooked and most of the water is gone. Also, it is possible to make these using brown rice, though I've never had them that way in Ghana (remember my theory that white is somehow always perceived as somehow better or purer). Brown rice balls are somewhat heavier. Just use less water, and allow more cooking time.

Nutrition, health and the W. African diet

As I prepare to travel to Ghana, one of my main goals while there will be to refine a nutritional breakdown of the classic recipes in the cookbook Barbara Baeta and I are writing. A Penn State undergraduate student, Katie Cochrane, see Eat My Work, is helping with the nutritional analysis. Katie is majoring in both food science and integrative arts, and will assist also in doing some interviews and  in developing a collection of food-themed Ghanaian textile images, such as as the design I commissioned on the right, or this classic VLISCO wax print rendition of yam leaves.

Speaking of nutrition and the classic West African diet, you might like to check out  a recent article on the subject at The Ismaili Nutrition Center that makes suggestions on how to monitor and  modify intake of salt and fats, and also how to adjust cooking techniques for better health.

Ready, set. . . . preparing to leave for Ghana and Nigeria

You'll note that there were few posts in April. Things have been heating up here with preparations to travel to Ghana and Nigeria for the summer. Last week I also gave a presentation at Penn State on Ghanaian cookbooks, and served Ghanaian snacks (if you're interested in viewing the powerpoint, my slides are up at google doc http://bit.ly/cFZTUX )

A week earlier, I hosted a Ghanaian dinner for a visiting Korean distinguished professor and his Vietnamese student. Lots of cooking: this week I'll prepare a catered (African) luncheon for a symposium on May 6. Plus I've been hustling funds for an undergraduate assistant to travel with me to Ghana for 2 weeks, and generally dealing with a long list of things to do: ordering equipment, arranging immunizations, contacting people and setting up meetings in Ghana, etc.

It's likely that I'll be pretty quiet this summer as far as posting on betumiblog. My main goal is to meet with Barbara Baeta and work as hard as possible in getting the Ghanaian cookbook into shape for publication--while my writing and credentials are respected, we've yet to locate a publisher willing to publish a lavishly illustrated African cookbook on a single country ("no U.S. market" is the common explanation). If any of you have suggestions, please let me know. Self-publication is a last, last resort.

Incidentally, Katie Cochrane, who will accompany me for part of the time in Ghana, noted in the blog she's just begun for this project a recent positive New York Times restaurant review of a new Ghanaian restaurant,  Papaye, in New York City.

Candy (toffee), Ghana-style: Recipes #44 Groundnut "cakes and #45 Coconut "cakes"

Ghanaians use available ingredients to create simple candies, or "toffees." Here is a version of "peanut cakes" (recipe #44) and a similar "coconut cake" made with toasted dried coconut instead of peanuts (#45).

Recipe #44 Groundnut toffee (peanut cakes)

This relative of peanut brittle requires only 3 simple ingredients:  peanuts (dry roasted, unsalted), sugar and a little water.

The only equipment needed: a measuring cup and tablespoon, a rolling pin (or meat tenderizer or something similar), some waxed paper or sturdy plastic or paper bag (optional), a heavy 2-quart saucepan, a long-handled metal or wooden spoon for stirring, a flat glass surface like a cutting board or a baking pan,  a spatula, knife, or spoon, and a stove.

Measure out:

3/4 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts

1/2 cup of sugar

2 Tablespoons of water

1. Coarsely crush the peanuts (easiest between 2 pieces of waxed paper or in a plastic or paper bag) with a rolling pin or other heavy object like a meat tenderizer.

2. Wet a glass cutting board or pan (like a lasagna or cake pan) with a little water and set aside.

3. Also wet (or rub a little margarine or butter) on the spatula, spoon or knife and set it aside, too.

4. Put the water and sugar into the saucepan and briefly stir it on medium high heat just until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Turn it to medium and let it continue cooking on MEDIUM WITHOUT STIRRING  it at all until the mixture turns brown (probably around 10 minutes). If crystals form you probably stirred it too long or your heat wasn't high enough.Turn the pan gently if the burner browns unevenly. Be careful once the mixture begins to brown so that it doesn't burn and turn into charcoal.

5. When it is a nice golden brown, remove the pan from the heat (turn off the stove) and quickly stir in the nuts.

6. Immediately turn the toffee onto the wet cutting board and use the prepared spatula or knife or spoon to press the toffee flat. It will be VERY HOT so do not touch it with your fingers.

7. As the candy cools it will harden. You can simply break it into pieces, score it while it is still warm into squares, diamonds or triangles and break them off when it is hard (top row in top photo, right), or take small spoonfuls of  the warm, but not hot candy, and roll it into balls (top left in photo above)

A yummy treat that will also keep well.

Recipe #45: Coconut "cakes" (toffees)

To make coconut candy (aka coconut "cakes"), you will substitute unsweetened dried grated coconut for the peanuts.  

Before beginning, preheat an oven to 350 degrees farenheit (medium heat). Put  3/4 cup dried, unsweetened flaked or grated coconut onto a cookie sheet and toast it in the oven, shaking the pan every couple of minutes. It will probably take only 4-6 minutes to lightly toast the coconut (it smells wonderful, by the way). Immediately remove the cookie sheet and set it aside. Follow the instructions above for making the carmelized sugar syrup, but instead of adding peanuts, add the toasted coconut, then follow the same steps of pressing it onto a wet platter or board to make the crisp "cakes" (the bottom row right in the top photo above). The candy on the left bottom row of the photo at the beginning of this post is made with fresh coconut and makes chewier toffees. I'll describe how to make them another day.

The day I cooked these I sent a batch of both types of candy with my husband to share with his students and colleagues at Penn State. No candy came home with him.

Special thanks to Katie Cochrane for her help in the kitchen and with the camera this week.